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Lucinda Belle

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Lucinda Belle is a musician who is putting a jazz twist on modern music. Here is what she has to say about her music.

I think your style of music is fresh and new, what made you take this path with incorporating the harp into your music?
I started out playing the harp as a young child, but classically. In my early 20’s I discovered how to play Jazz on the harp in Nashville, of all places, right! Jazz…. I said.. not country…. well that was a game changer for me. It was at that point I realized I could start to incorporate the harp into my music, but it’s felt like an uphill battle at times, trying not to be categorized as something I’m not simply because my instrument is a harp. I bring rock ’n’ roll timeless and glamorous rebellion to what I do.. perhaps I fit in, perhaps I don’t… don’t care! I just do what comes naturally to me.

Who would you say are your biggest inspirations for the style you play?
This album is heavily influenced by the great American Songbook era, 50’s inspired vibes paying homage to the greats like Louis Prima and Billie Holliday but it also cites my earlier influences in reggae and hip hop, I made subtle changes in post production the beats ensuring we maintained the authentic 8 track recording we made, but adding more weight to the groove. I want people to get into the groove even though it may not be EDM but the groove just makes you wanna nod along in time!  My harp playing is inspired by none other the great Harpo Marx and Dorothy Ashby and the slightly more etherial darker songs on the album are influenced by my earlier EP ‘UrbanLullabies’ which is where I discovered the beauty of combing the harp with dark surf guitar.

Your Urban Lullabies EP is an unique take on the songs featured, what was the creative process like for that EP?
I was on a roll when I made this. I simply love adapting songs and truly casting my own unique impression on them. Simply doing a cover sometimes is great but it’s more challenging to completely re invent a song. My first album ‘ My Voice and 45 Strings’ was a fusion of country bluegrass and jazz and I felt the harp got lost in that record, so I wanted to deliver something totally unique that gave the harp a platform to truly shine. Obviously the harp lends itself to relaxing music and so I came up with the idea of Urban Lullabies. turning rap into lullaby with TI’s Slideshow and turning rock into romance with Nirvana’s ’Smells like Teen Spirit’.

Your next release, Think Big: Like Me, what can we expect from that? Release date set yet?
I’m very amped up for this release and it’s actually coming out in early December (exact date TBD). My second single is due for release October 28th along with the video. It’s called “I’ll be Loving you” and it’s the first song I wrote on the album. I literally had just been dumped by my boyfriend and I wrote it with my collaborator Simon Harris, taking breaks to cry and laugh at the same time.  I’m totally excited about this album, I feel proud of the body of work and in that sense it’s a true album, a body of songs that tell a story and compliment each other, reflecting on a period of my life.

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Here’s where you can find Lucinda

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SoundCloud
iTunes

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Alessa Ray Interview

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Alessa Ray is an up and coming pop singer who is bringing her own Latin flare to the industry. Alessa took some time out to answer some questions about her upcoming singles, EP and shows.

Tell me about your song Mamacita? What is the inspiration behind it?
The song Mamacita was inspired by real life experiences. I decided to add a little bit of latin flavor mixing Spanish and English to show my South American roots.

Can we be expecting an EP or album from you in the future?
I will be releasing a new EP later this year or in early 2019. I’m so excited to show my audience who I am as an artist and songwriter. A few years ago I actually released a 6 song EP but since then my style has changed. This time around I am adding more latin influences and styles of music that will get people dancing. I want my audience to have fun like I do!

I see more latin inspired music moving its way into the mainstream radios, do you think its important for more latin artists to try and get their music in this market?
I believe that Latin artists can go in both directions if they want, and the overall market for Latin music is huge as well in both North and South America. If you have the chance to go in both directions I believe that it’s a great bet.

What is next for you and your music? New singles? New shows
Yes. My new single “Game Over” will release this Friday (9/21) and I will be performing at Bar 20, doing an acoustic show in Los Angeles on September 26th. After that I plan on releasing singles from the new EP every few months on top of new shows being announced shortly.

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Be sure to check out Alessa Ray’s music and follow her on her social media site linked below.

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“Mamacita” Music Video

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Lydia Ford Interview

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Lydia Ford is a singer/songwriter that is making new waves in the electronic pop scene with a new sound and approach to writing.

I had a chat with Lydia to discuss this change and what is to come next from it.

Tell me a little about your song Bittersweet.
Bittersweet is a pop song that has elements of The Weekend and Disclosure, as I’d like to say, and its a bit of a new direction for me. I used to do singer/songwriter type stuff and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

The song is about a date that I had where I had fun but it was all over a little too soon. The song starts off a little sexy and coy and then ends quickly with rejection and its a little bittersweet.

What made the change from singer/songwriter to this new pop direction?
That was actually to do with the producers that I work with, Steam Phunk. I worked with them on a few feature songs on SoundCloud, and I loved it! I liked how things sounded more perfectly polished and I decided that I wanted to swing that way with my own music. But this is the first track that went under my name.

Do you think you will be continuing to work with Steam Phunk on more songs?
Yea I think that is the plan at the moment. I still write with guitar but then I send the demo track over and they just make it nice and polished.

Any plans for an EP?
I think it will just be singles for now. I put out an EP last summer which was more of the singer/songwriter style. But it seems that singles are more of the way to go right now in the industry, so I think I will stick with that for awhile. And maybe once I work up enough material I can release an EP or maybe even an album one day.

Do you tend to lean towards a concept when writing or is it whatever comes to you?
I think it unintentionally turns out to be around a theme. But its not like I think this is the concept that I’m working on. I like to have an overall sonic identity where when you hear it you’re like “that’s a Lydia Ford song.”

Who are some of your biggest inspirations?
I first started playing guitar and writing music because of Avril Lavigne. But more modern, I really love Sigrid, Dua Lipa, and in Ireland (which is where I’m from) there are a few up and coming artists that I’m really looking forward to seeing what they do.

Any plans for upcoming shows?
Its a little up in the air right now because I want to work out my electronic set. I actually wanna play it instead of sing to a back up track, so I got to work out how to play it and make it an actual show. I had a few opportunities come up but I’ve turned them down because I want to be an actual performer.

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Make sure to check out Lydia’s song ‘Bittersweet’ and all her social media sites to stay up to date on her music.

Bittersweet
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Nick Arneson Interview

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Portland based musician and producer, Nick Arneson, is an indie rock artist who recently released his new album, MidLifeCrisis on August 17, 2018.

Arneson’s raw emotions come out to play a major role in this new album, and I had the pleasure to chat with him about the meanings of the songs.

Tell me a little about the album, is there an overall message being told?
The overall theme is kind of in the title. I joke with my friends that I am going through a midlife crisis. This is almost like my sports car or model girlfriend. The message is about all the shit you have to take care of when you get to be my age (39).

But there is also another layer, if you spend some time with the album the bigger meaning is societal. As a country, we are kind of going through a midlife crisis as well. With social media now its hard to rally around a cause because we can’t focus on one problem at a time to help fight the evils of the world.

Which song on the album sticks out as having a personal meaning to you?
The whole thing is personal, there’s not an ounce of bullshit. But there are a couple relationship songs on there that are super personal. Try and Stay are really close to home, but the latter half of the record is more existential in nature.

Tell me about the inspiration behind the song ‘Once’?
I quit drinking recently, it was something that I had dealt with for a long time. The song Once is basically me talking to myself about that. Whatever vices people face, its about that inner voice that everyone has telling them its not worth it, but their body just isn’t listening.

If you had to pick one song to tell people to listen to that would sum up the whole album, what song would it be?
I would say, Inertia. Its the most outlaying song and my favorite on the album. Its the most rock and roll, and I played all the instruments except for bass. It starts out very inward talking about the process and then it goes into social commentary talking about whats going on around us. It has a lot of my over all message of the album. But I would also pick Outsiders, it talks about not quite fitting in with the crowd and being a little different.

What can fans except to see from you in the upcoming months?
I feed the internet. I do live performances, I have a place I call ‘The Barn’ and I do a live stream on there. So in the next few weeks I’ll be doing a performance on there and I typically announce them weeks out. Sometimes we do full album performances, and we did one for the album release.

But musically, I’ve been working on the next album. I got so much material that I just don’t know what to do with it. So I’ve been trying to stay on this album for a little bit long and then move on to the next.

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You can keep up to date with Nick and his music on his website www.nickarnesonmusic.com

Photos provided Bradley PR and Marketing.

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Andrew Carter Interview

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Andrew Carter is a true son of the south that is bringing back good ol’ fashioned Southern Rock to the forefront of country music. His self-titled album “Andrew Carter” tells a story and brings the feeling of home and nostalgia wherever you go. A few days ago I got the chance to sit down and chat with Andrew about his music and more.

What was the music scene like for you growing up?
In Stockbridge, where I grew up, it was okay; we really grew up on Atlanta’s music scene. But in Jacksonville, the music scene has always been here, although its hard to get people to come out to shows and support you. Once the world knows who you are, Jacksonville just starts to listen to you.

What music did you listen to growing up?
My mom would trick us into cleaning the house by turning on the radio and cleaning to classic rock. So a lot of Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Lynyrd Skynyrd. But as I got older, I really got into punk rock, really anything Discord Records was putting out. But I kept listening to Classic Rock and I had a step dad that had every country vinyl ever so that was fun listening to that.

I read that you started out as a drummer. How did you get interested in drums?
I had three brothers and one was a natural born musician. He taught me how to play the drums. He would set it up and it was just a snare, high hat and kick drum. And for the longest time I could only hit the snare and high hat. I couldn’t quite get my foot to kick that pedal. But one day it happened and I made a beat and I was hooked every since. However, I don’t have a kit right now, but I do go to the Guitar Center and play the kits they have set up.

Who are your biggest musical influences?
What I’m pulling from right now with this last album and the next two to come, I’m pulling from those classic southern rock bands. I went on tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd and worked as an assistant to their piano player. I learned a lot of from them because they are great performers. You have to be a true professional to be in that band, because they are true professionals. They are an amazing rock and roll blues band and I pull from them a lot.

I am all about the show. Anyone that you talk to that have seen me perform, they will tell you that I am all about the show and Lynyrd Skynyrd puts on a show. So who wouldn’t want to emulate that?

How would you describe the vibe of your self-titled album, “Andrew Carter”?
They have a sense of nostalgia. They sound like sounds that your parents might have listened to, and I like that. I think that some people will be refreshed if it was on the radio and I think people will appreciate the air that it is familiar to. People will recognize the familiarity.

Talking from one musician to another in Nashville, people are ready for this. They are angry with what is on the radio right now because its almost more pop than country. Nothing wrong with pop or rap, I listen to that and love it, but make a pop song and don’t call it country.

What would you say is your favorite song on the album? What is it about?
Long Road Home. Its the slowest song on the album. The story about is that my friend was going through a hard time in Nashville. Her brother offered her this RV, but she had to pick it up in California and drive it back. It was the best time for her to go out there and get the RV and drive it back and think. I was talking to her back and forth while she was doing that and I wrote down what she was telling me. I just put it together and I really like the instrumentation of it and the story of it. Its the only story song, it doesn’t have a chorus, just three verses. But all the songs are my favorite.

What is the highlight of your musical career so far?
Performing with my band The Bumbs. Being able to play and tour together has been the highlight so far. They are the band that is on the album and they put all that music together because I couldn’t have done that all by myself. That band is just amazing and being able to work with them is the highlight.

If you had to choose a concert line up, open for or headliner, who would be on the bill?
I would like to open for would be two of them. Lynyrd Skynyrd or Tom Petty. I think it would be amazing to open for either of those bands. If I did a headlining tour, I would like to form a band behind me so The Bumbs could be my opener.

Plans or goals for the future?
 I got two new albums in the works. One I will release pretty early in 2018 and the other one will be out in late spring of 2018. But 2018 is full of touring, my label is working on getting me out on the road a lot for hopefully all of 2018. Festivals are in the workings for being booked, but nothing confirmed yet.

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andrewcarter

You can listen to Andrew Carter’s self-titled on his website. You can stay up to date on all events and current news for Andrew Carter by following him on his social media sites, linked below.

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Photos provided by Wendy Ford PR