This passion for growth has defined Phil Putnam since day one, and has driven him to become one of the most seasoned and vital voices in music today. With stunning lyrical depth and a piano-based pop/rock sound, Putnam has earned a place alongside greats like David Gray, Rufus Wainwright, Tori Amos, David Wilcox, and Ben Folds. His commitment to excellent songwriting and an ever-evolving sound have produced 6 records over the past 8 years and established him as a Artist with feet grounded in the present and eyes on a very bright future.

It’s safe to say, though, that this is not the life he thought he would lead. Born into a decidedly non-musical family in Sacramento, CA, he grew up surrounded by his father’s basketball career and his sibling’s youth sports teams. As the fat, girly kid in an athlete’s world, he rode the bench and read his books while his brain got bigger and his pride shrunk smaller. With the onset of Tourette’s Syndrome at age 9 and no solid music experience until high school, he was the clear long shot for a career in music. His ambition, however, having all the subtlety of a teenager on prom night, never let up. He studied singing through high school and discovered a shockingly strong talent in piano when he taught himself to play in college. It wasn’t long before he combined his fresh musical skills with a lifelong love of writing and was introduced to his future.

The future had a lot in store: his debut album “Healer” in 2001, “Long Story Short” in 2002, “All the Courage Required” in 2004, “Best of Intentions” in 2006, and “{What Became of the} Choir Boy” and “Casualties” both released in 2008. These 6 records have the same heart, the same core of Phil with the pen, Phil at the piano, Phil on the microphone. Everything else, though…it grew. “All the Courage Required” struck the balance between the very raw sound of “Healer” and the radio-ready pop of “Long Story Short”, “Best of Intentions” explored programming and ambience with a new level of sophistication, and “Choir Boy” took it back to the basics of piano and vocals before shocking everyone’s system with “Casualties”.

His largest project to date, “Casualties” is Phil at his absolute best. Featuring sixteen songs crafted over 3 years from the best and worst moments of life, “Casualties” is about growing up and getting on. Handing over the reins for the first time in his career to Producer/Arranger Steve Wallace, the two struck a perfect partnership and blew open new ground in the sound, look, and feel of what defines Phil’s music. Under Wallace’s impeccable creative vision “Casualties” introduces new influences and instruments to Putnam’s trademark piano-rock sound, diving deep into programming and electronic music against unflinchingly evocative string quartets, woodwinds and horns. The resulting depth of communication and new sound displays dynamic growth in Putnam’s work and boldly opens the most exciting chapter in his career.

With so much already accomplished and so much to celebrate, it may be tempting to think that he is nearing the end of his run. However, if anything is true of Phil Putnam, it is this: there is always more. There is no stopping his insatiable need to live life well and make exceptional music. He will always change. He will always sing. He will discover what he needs to write about, who he can write for, and he will never stop.

There is always more, because he will always grow.

TRACKS PLAYED ON ATLANTIC WAVE RADIO:

Track: Phil Putnam – More Than This

Track: Phil Putnam – One Little Step

Track: Phil Putnam – Sophisticated Life

WEBSITES:

http://www.philputnam.com/

MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/philputnammusic

PURCHASE LINKS:

Click Here To Visit Phil’s Store

VIDEOS:

Video: Phil Putnam – More Than This

The New York rock quintet doesn’t take no for an answer, and the result has been increasing exposure on radio, TV and an unshakable relationship with a growing fanbase that supports the band beyond measure – funding their recording, providing input, support and more. Their new album, Ugly, Broke & Sober, is a clear artistic breakthrough, displaying the benefits of their hard work, new partnerships and relentless commitment to taking their music to the next level.

Founded by lead singer Derek Nicoletto and guitarist Brad Small, Telling on Trixie’s rise has been in no small part due to their ability to think outside the box. Derek says, “Everything we’ve earned in the past year has been from our willingness to put ourselves out there and share who we’re about.” Whether through blogging about what it’s like to be an indie rock band, playing venues around the country, or opening up their creative process to their fans, the band has created followers through one-to-one communication . And the results have been tremendous: radio play on over 300 radio stations, live performances on Sirius Satellite Radio for three million listeners, and video play and accolades on MTV’s LOGO network – including Best of 2007, all in support of that year’s the self-titled, debut, self-released CD.

It’s hard to imagine how any of this could have happened without “A Band With A Plan,” the website that has encouraged fans to donate to their recording and marketing funds, and which has also been a wellspring of the band’s creativity. Explains Derek, “It’s a two way process. As I made decisions on our new album, I would share them with the fans and get their feedback. They’re involved – as if they were record executives in their own right.”

But no matter how inventive the marketing and promotion, it would be all for naught without the music, and for Ugly, Broke & Sober, the band’s addition of Tommy Kessler on lead guitar and in the production booth has helped the band break new musical and emotional ground. “I put out the word that we needed to find a great guitarist, and he wrote me an email definitively stating, ‘I am the guitar player for this band.’ That’s how Tommy operates. We got together with him and the other guys, and everything just worked.” Brad recalls. “Derek and I have worked together for a long time and have achieved a delicate balance between us. Tommy has a way of inserting his ideas and enhancing ours while still being respectful to our vision.”

While their debut had a retro/funk vibe about it, Ugly, Broke & Sober features a much more guitar based, hard-edged power-pop feel to it. That’s in part due to Tommy’s influence, but it’s also testament to the comfort that the band members found with each other after a year and half together on the road. Derek elaborates, “The players on our debut album were chosen by our producer. On Ugly, Broke & Sober, we used our own members and friends, so there was a level of comfort and trust in the studio that opened the door for some real creative risk. When there are no unfamiliar faces, it’s easier to say, “I’m going to knock on my skull with my knuckles in ‘A.N.F.O.,” or, “let’s cover Belinda Carlisle.” As you can hear on this album, this approach proves a lot more fun and inventive.”

From the opening notes of “Shooting in 60,” there’s an authority and grandeur to the music that is overpowering. Derek sings with a dramatic and almost operatic passion while Brad and Tommy’s guitars flail and crunch, enveloping in their power. The lilting and irresistible pop feel of “Crash Me Up” features random words of “A Band With A Plan” members, which Derek successfully turned into lyrics. And there is the poignant and moving title track, a tale of recklessness and redemption, of how one can turn around from a tragic period. “The song is partly about an accident I was in after getting wasted; partly about my friends who have surmounted the insurmountable, such as jumping from the Brooklyn Bridge – and surviving. Recording this song in the studio was so emotional that it was a challenge for me to sing it,” says Derek. “But it’s a song about hope – a feeling that lately, we’ve been experiencing a lot.”

Telling on Trixie is one of those special bands that have managed to marry musical excellence with an exceptional drive to have their songs heard – building something unique in the process. Ugly Broke & Sober is the fruit of all their hard work, openness and musical aspirations. Derek concludes, “Last time, we laid the foundation and established ourselves as a strong band. We created a machine built to produce a real impact. I really believe that we have set ourselves up so that anything is possible.” For Telling on Trixie, as the refrain of their title track promises, “it’s gonna be all right.”

TRACKS PLAYED ON ATLANTIC WAVE RADIO:

Track: Telling On Trixie – Crash Me Up
Track: Telling On Trixie – Shooting In 60
Track: Telling On Trixie – Halfway Back To Sane

VIDEOS:

Telling On Trixie – Orion’s Light
Telling On Trixie – Halfway Back To Sane

WEBSITES:

http://www.tellingontrixie.com/

FACEBOOK: http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Telling-on-Trixie/7943066850

MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/tellingontrixie

TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/tellingontrixie

PURCHASE LINKS:

AMAZON.COM: Click Here

CDBABY: Click Here

USA:

UK:

With their first E.P. Comandante Zero and their upcoming album, Slouching Toward Babylon, the Brooklyn duo sets a new course for electro-funk-dance, finding new ways to accomplish an ancient task – getting a crowd on its feet and dancing.

Uniquely constructed in the form of bass and drums, with a laptop behind them, Comandante Zero is comprised of Ken White and Dan Freeman, two musicians with lifetimes of experience already behind them. Dan, the bassist and lead vocalist, hails from Boston and a musical family. His grandfather and uncles on the Nicaraguan side of his family were musicians, and he started as a classical pianist, falling in love with jazz before becoming a bassist who spent a lot of time playing gospel in church. Ken, on drums and laptop is a self described “hip hop head,” and played a lot of gospel and church gigs as well as studying jazz at Boston’s New England Conservatory.

The two encountered each other at a rehearsal space in Williamsburg in 2005. Dan recalls, “Our rehearsal times overlapped, so we started jamming and it felt comfortable right away.” Ken adds, “We’re both rhythmically oriented – musically and intellectually, and we knew that creating a band with just bass and drums would challenge us creatively, and force us to come up a distinct sound.” And with influences as varied as Chic (“One of the great dance bands of all time,” according to Dan), DFA, ?uestlove and Michelle Ndgeocello, the two ensured themselves of not just being expert with a groove, but being masterful in many different kinds.

Ken and Dan’s first shows as Comandante Zero were at their loft party known as “The Future, ” in Brooklyn in 2006, but they immediately took their music international, playing shows in London and Berlin. “We hooked up some shows in London and were there for a month,” remembers Dan, “We immersed ourselves in the Electro and DJ scene there and it gave us a focus to our music.” The Indie/Electro scene had been popular in New York for years, but Dan and Ken quickly had their own unique philosophy about what they wanted to do. “We definitely defy the ‘it’s not cool to be good at your instrument’ school of thought,” says Ken with a laugh. And Dan adds, “We build all of our songs from the bottom up – we’ll take one single groove (4 bass notes) and Ken will do the same pattern. We’ll play it continuously for enormous time spans – and in that space, the song will emerge.”

Their skill as a rhythm section created a demand for their services, so the two worked as a rhythm section for Virgin Records’ electro-dance artist Xavier in Europe and in the U.S. sharing the stage with other electro acts like the Brazilian Girls and The Juan Maclean. And coming back to New York in 2007, the band began playing at various venues like Webster Hall, Crash Mansion and Club Element, experimenting with the boundaries of their music and performance – adding live dancers and visual artists. Dan says, “Our show is definitely something that is evolving – we want to bring a sense of community to the shows as well as a sense of participation.” Ken adds, “I’ve studied dance and we’re already working with choreographers and other dancers to bring that component to the show.”

In being a cutting edge band musically, stylistically and philosophically, the band is funding their album via the web, asking fans to donate and be part of the process. Dan explains, “We’re going to be blogging the album, filming it and making the process transparent. We want to create new ways that artists can fund their own work and own their own masters. If this is successful, we plan on writing a book about the experience so that it can help other artists do the same.”

But it’s the music that will establish Comandante Zero, and judging from the tracks the band is working on for Slouching Toward Babylon, they will back up any claims made on behalf of the band. Songs like “The Future” “Give It Up” and “Russian Disco,” are lean, sinewy and utterly propulsive. Dan’s vocals are slyly dark and sensual and Ken’s percussion is completely original, modern and rhythmically irresistible. The music works on various levels – you can get lost in the subtleties of all the different elements – or you can forget about all of that and dance. It’s music for the head, heart…and ass.

Comandante Zero are a thoroughly modern band – a polyglot of musical background and style who are using new technology to create utterly new ways of being a musician in both a musical and business context. And others are taking notice – the band was recently named by Music Connection magazine as one of the top unsigned bands in the country. But what will set this band apart is the soul of what they do. In 2009, with Slouching Toward Babylon and upcoming performances, there will be many who see for the first time what this immensely talented and inventive duo are capable of, on levels musical, technological and danceable.

TRACKS PLAYED ON ATLANTIC WAVE RADIO:

TRACK: Comandante Zero – Enter The Rain

WEBSITES:

http://www.comandantezero.com/

PURCHASE LINKS:

USA:

UK:

Larzz Principato, the main member of Show Me The Skyline, has had his guitar glued to his body for the better part of the last five years. But, when you are obsessed with music, young, and gifted with the ability to create something that makes people crave more — sometimes you’ve got no choice. At just 16 years old, this young artist, hailing from New Fairfield, Connecticut, is determined to make his mark. Drawing influence from artists such as Hellogoodbye, All Time Low, and Dashboard Confessional, Larzz is focused on his game plan to stand on the shoulders of the heroic artists that have had an impact on him, and to produce a fresh sound.

The name Show Me The Skyline is taken from lyrics of the song “Sticks, Stones, and Techno” by All Time Low. Larzz began writing in the summer of 2008 and entered the studio in the fall. The January 2009 release of Show Me The Skyline’s first EP, titled “Rain or Shine”, was produced by P.J. Bianco and J.P Rende. P.J. Bianco is an award-winning multi-platinum producer/songwriter whose discography features The Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato.

This artist’s story is just starting, and the “Rain or Shine EP” is only the first chapter to a tale that is destined to be one filled with opportunities and challenges. Larzz is doing exactly what he has set out to do, which is to have fun, to meet lots of new people, and to pay tribute to the style of music he grew up listening to.

TRACKS PLAYED ON ATLANTIC WAVE RADIO:

Track: Show Me The Skyline – Clock & Calendars

Track: Show Me The Skyline – Get On Your Feet

WEBSITES:

PURCHASE LINKS:

USA:

UK:

ARTIST PROFILE: JASON HARROD

Jason Harrod draws from the best traditions of American music to create a sound all his own. His songs about lost love, found joys, and spiritual longing have garnered him a loyal following across the country.

Harrod’s latest release, Bright As You, finds him backed by a crack group of musicians featuring Phil Madeira (Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Al Green, Mavis Staples). The songs, sung in a rich, brooding tenor and underscored by inventive guitar work, range from the Beatle-esque “Bright As You” to the blues-infused “Night, Fall On Me,” to the dark, ambient lament “Messed Up Everywhere Blues,” which will appear in the upcoming film “The Wager,” starring Randy Travis.

After releasing 3 albums to critical acclaim as half of the folk-pop duo Harrod and Funck, Jason ventured out on his own. In 2000, he won first place in the bluegrass category of MerleFest’s Chris Austin Songwriting competition, an honor held by Grammy Nominees Tift Merrit and Gillian Welch. He followed that up with a first place win in the 2001 North Carolina Songwriters Co-op contest and in 2002 appeared on the Legendary Arthur Smith’s “Carolina Calling” television show along with Alison Krauss and Union Station. In 2005, Jason performed at the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IMBA) annual gathering as part of an emerging artist showcase.

Living in Skin, Jason’s acoustic-based first album, features the award-winning songs “When I Get Home” and “Carolina,” the latter of which was included on WUNC’s compilation CD, Best of Back Porch Music.

TRACKS PLAYED ON ATLANTIC WAVE RADIO:

Track: Jason Harrod – When I Fly Away

Track: Jason Harrod – My Mad Girlfriend

WEBSITES:

http://jasonharrod.com

PURCHASE LINKS:

http://jasonharrod.com/recordings.html

USA:

UK:

Wikipedia has this to say:

“Brother Love, aka Larry Florman, is perhaps the first artist to receive truly large-scale recognition through his involvement in podsafe music. His music was popularized to a large audience of podcast listeners when his song “There She Goes” was featured on Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code, and rebroadcast through many more shows courtesy of Podsafe Music Network.

His rise to the top of Chris Doelle’s podsafe music chart, PMC Top10 further propelled him into podcast stardom as the two worked to promote his music throughout the podosphere. The song “Summertime” spent eleven weeks in the countdown including an unprecedented five at the ..1 spot.”

Tracks played on Atlantic Wave Radio:

Track: Brother Love – Push

Track: Brother Love – Summertime

Track: Brother Love – There She Goes

Websites:

http://www.brotherloverocks.com/

http://www.myspace.com/brotherlove

Purchase Links:

USA:

UK:

Artist Profile: Anemo

ANEMO began life in September 2002 when Kingsley Sage was auditioning singers for a song writing and recording project. The results had been universally disappointing (to put it mildly), until at the 11th hour a former actress and talented vocalist called Hazelle Woodhurst entered the picture. The two immediately got on well, with their shared love of different types of music and, of course, a good English cup of tea. The two set to work on penning a number of songs that would later become the basis of the ANEMO’s first album. They decided that the project needed a rock edge, and to that end guitarist Matt Palmer was added to the mix.

After countless evenings at the band’s basement studio in Brighton, the three had amassed an impressive collection of pop-meets-rock-meets-electronica tracks. At this point, the group took on the name ANEMO, a word that means “changing forms”, to reflect the blend of styles and influences that was brought to the music. The strong vocal melodies and distinctive style caught the attention of Trebor Lloyd, CEO of New York-based upcoming independent record label City Canyons. In summer 2005 ANEMO signed a 3 album record contract with CC and began to record the final tracks for their first album.

The trio’s debut album Slowburn was met with critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic.

Tracks played on Atlantic Wave Radio:

Track: Anemo – Shipping News

Track: Anemo – Music Box

Web Links:

Official Anemo Website

Purchase Links:

CD Baby

USA:

UK: