Texas based indie band, Big Red Rooster, fuse infectious funk rock jams with tongue twisting rhymes and soul melting melodies.

Proof that Indie Collaboration is Worth More Than Label Support.

Leave it to Amanda Palmer to be up to something interesting. Starting in 2007, rumors began to fly about a pair of conjoined twins – former circus act(s) – whose musical talent had been ‘discovered’ by Palmer and accordion-wielding-street-performer extraordinaire, Jason Webley.

The twins – known as Evelyn Evelyn – released the EP Elephant Elephant in 2007, and are now prepping for the liberation of their first full-length album and world tour, supported by Webley’s true-blue indie label, Eleven Records.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Are the world’s first Parapagus Tripus Dibrachius indie superstars about to break down barriers for conjoined twins everywhere, or are the twins, in fact, Palmer and Webley themselves? And either way, what is this world tour gonna look like?

Photo by Lenka Sindelarova

The only thing that can be said for certain is that Evelyn Evelyn is yet more proof, by way of Amanda Fucking Palmer, that hard creative work, not major label support, is the key to a great career in music.

Palmer got her start as part of the Dresden Dolls – a duo of experimental, cabaret-style punk rockers – and has since moved on to a successful solo career, which – rather than being a solitary pursuit – has involved constant collaboration with other musicians, artists, and stage performers of all kinds.

Born in Melbourne in 1969, Lisa discovered her passion for music at an early age. Encouraged by her musical family, she began piano lessons at the age of six. At the age of eight she gave her first solo performance to an audience of 400 people – for an eight year old, this was a very important experience. From here on Lisa knew that her life would be music!

Today, wherever she performs, she dazzles her audience. Although only 164cm tall, Lisa has a big voice which covers 3 Octaves. Additionally she is a trained pianist, actress and dancer. Following her comprehensive training at the “Australian College of Entertainers”, Lisa worked in Television, Film and Theatre. To name a few examples, she performed in the musical “Cinderella”, was a member of the well known “Swing Sisters Trio”, was a regular guest on the Television show “Good Morning Australia” and was also active as a singer/pianist in the renowned hotels of Melbourne. In 1994 Lisa travelled extensively on cruise ships presenting her own solo show. In 1995 she released her first CD with the Title “Don’t Let Go” featuring a number of her own compositions.

Supernova.com is a community that grew out of the largest Battle of the Bands operator in Canada, and into the ‘web 2.0’ world by building the most active Canadian social community dedicated to music. They currently have over 21,000 independent bands and artists, and over 200,000 total community members including fans and industry.

The site’s mantra is to provide new / undiscovered musicians with the same caliber of experience as a rockstar would get.

The Battle of the Bands shows put these young acts up on big stages, provide professional sound and staffing, and DO NOT take any payment from the bands. Instead, they front all the costs and provide bands with the tickets to sell (or return, if unsold). They also coordinate industry and media attendance at the events, and have seen some really impressive acts play on our stage: Billy Talent, Sum 41, Three Days Grace and many others have played the Supernova stage.

Gabe Hizer is a Nashville, TN-based singer-songwriter, originally from Long Island, NY. He attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, played in various rock and pop cover bands in the 70s, and more recently led a blues band for a couple of years. He is now performing as a solo artist, featuring his complex guitar arrangements, well-crafted songs, and wide vocal range.

He is clearly influenced by the singer-songwriters of the ’60s and ’70s, such as James Taylor (especially in his guitar parts), Joni Mitchell (especially his use of high falsetto notes), Jackson Browne, etc.

A born musician, Gabe Hizer was already playing the accordion at the age of 6, the ukulele by the time he was 8 and the guitar by age 9. Known for his amazing guitar skills and his ability to incorporate blues, jazz, soul and pop into his original songs, Gabe has come a long way since his ukulele-days.

Featured Blog:

Baxojayz-Centricity

http://www.baxojayz.com/

Find out about anything in the universe worth mentioning in this weblog. The infinite knowledge of the BAXOJAYZ will guide you to happiness previously known only by those of my inner circle. Feel free to comment. Sit back, read, let go of your stresses and enjoy.

Featured Podcast:

Third Eye Blind had their time in the mainstream spotlight, but wanted to continue to make music. Embracing all the internet, music industry and technological resources that have been able to brand their name once again.

What do you do when you feel like your business has lost its identity?

Members of the band “Third Eye Blind” know that situation all too well. After years in the mainstream, they took back control of their brand by going independent.

Check out the video feature on MSNBC here.

And if so, why?

Surprising discovery – Grammy Awards are not, in fact, automatically assigned to the artist who sold the most albums in a given year. Nope. People actually vote on these things. Here’s how it works.

“…honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position.” – Grammy.com

All record companies and Recording Academy members are welcome to submit artists and albums and records and singles and all that business for consideration. Emphasis on the “All record companies” bit, right?

Next, however, 150 “industry experts” screen submissions then vote on which of them should be entered into up to NINE of the Grammys 30 categories. The ones who get the most votes become nominees.

Finally, members of the Recording Academy vote on the winners in up to EIGHT categories, presumably the ones they are most knowledgeable in. In this way, a small cotillion of across-the-board winners – from RCA, Columbia, Interscope, Atlantic, and other labels under Sony and Warner – is produced.

This year, Beyoncé won in 6 major categories. Who else did well? Taylor Swift, The Black Eyed Peas, Kings of Leon – the usually cast of automatic winners who surprise only in how shockingly predictable and generic the selections are.

Osaru is a multi-talented musician, composer and vocalist who lives and works in the heart of the Piedmont Triad in North Carolina, USA. He also works full time as a Physician.

His debut CD, ‘home’ released in September 2008 was a work of art. It took you on a journey through his early adult years to the present day. It celebrated life, love and long term commitment. He used powerful vocals filled with soulful melodies to complement punchy bass lines, hip hop chants, jazzy undertones and ‘head bobbing’ percussive rhythms. The result was his amazing musical story.

Home with the keys is a follow up to Osaru’s debut album. It is smooth jazz at its best. From silky soprano phrases in “last night” to funky tenor sax lines in ‘let’s begin’, he manages to express the story behind each song using his keyboards, a breath controller and his wind controller. His background training as a physician is many a time evident in the meticulous craftsmanship of his songs and bedside manner in which he delivers his message.

One rule people:

The Size Of Your E-mail List = The Size Of Your Income

So, how big is yours?

Myth: I don’t have any shows to promote. Therefore, I’m not going to do a newsletter.

Reality: 50% or more of the artists that I work with don’t have any shows to promote. Zero, zilch, none…and they still want to be artists in the world getting their music out and heard and liked and listened to (why in the heck would you hire me if you did not want your music out there?).

“World Of Imagination Vol.3″

(Square foot Exhibition)

3/5/2010

2000 paintings in one gallery at one time….

Do you want to be a part of it?

For the third time, APW Gallery is presenting the largest exhibition at our new location. Last time we had over two thousand 12″ x 12″ paintings on display at our gallery.

This time we want to supass the previous and present the biggest and best square foot exhibtion in NYC.

Indie on Air! & Music in Action w/ host “Classic”

The Voice of Independent Music featuring industry professionals & great indie music.
Indie on Air! broadcasts live every Friday 12:30pm CST from Chicago via the BlogTalkRadio platform
Music in Action broadcasts live every other Wednesday 2:00pm CST from Chicago via the BlogTalkRadio platform
Both shows are available 24/7 as an archive immediately following the live broadcasts.

Q) Tell us a little bit about your Internet radio show. What inspired you to start it?

Not every musician wants to become rich and famous, but everyone wants the work they do to translate into the ability to have what they want in life. Often, struggling artists content themselves with very little, but this lifestyle can become savagely wearisome when it limits our ability not just to have, but to give.

Since the earthquake in Haiti, celebrities have donated enormous amounts of money to relief efforts. The Hope for Haiti telethon alone raised over $58 million. But for a lot of indie musicians, producers, songwriters, engineers, instrument-makers, and artists of all kinds, even small donations can be a stretch, which is enormously frustrating.

So how can a struggling artist contribute to Haiti relief efforts, or to any instance of human tragedy or environmental disaster desperately in need of funds?

Throw an Indie Event

As we’ve seen over the last few weeks, you don’t need to be a huge celebrity to make an important contribution. In communities all over the world, independent musicians and artists have been coming together and producing events to raise money for Haiti.

From an indie hip hop label in Minneapolis, to a spontaneous collective of artists in Chicago, to a youth ministry in San Luis Obispo, to a music blog in Culver City, musicians all over the country, and the world, are using their talents to raise money. And anybody can do it.

Find a Charity to Work With