Month: March 2021

Thirty years deep into a stellar career, Troy Cassar-Daley has released his most remarkable album to date, The World Today, via Sony Music Entertainment Australia.

The World Today is the 11th studio album from the multiple ARIA and Golden Guitar winner and is his most personal album to date dealing with loss, acceptance and ‘story’, all while finding a will to grow stronger and move forward in these troubling times.

Troy explains, “An old uncle of mine used to say ‘it’s not all beer and skittles’ and that saying is so true. Over the last couple of years the family life and work life balance that I’d always had, shifted. It became a monumental struggle”. He added, “On top of that I lost my Dad in 2019. People knew of his passing but what I didn’t share is that he took his own life. It hit me incredibly hard and I feel I didn’t give myself the time to grieve. Then came Covid and that’s when I really hit rock bottom.”

Pulling himself from that dark time, Troy found joy in writing with old friends and playing bass and drums on some of the rough demos in his home studio, then in Sydney in the hands of producer Matt Fell with a handpicked bunch of incredible musicians and engineer Ted Howard – the record was finished in just under a month.

This new collection of songs stem from Troy’s story and his ability to write about a bigger picture that affects us all.

While Troy leads the song writing charge on The World Today, he has also worked with Australian songwriting royalty in the process. Take a look at the credits and you’ll spot alongside Troy’s own name the likes of Don Walker, Paul Kelly, Kevin Bennett, Shane Howard, Greg Storer and Ian Moss.

The album’s first single, Back On Country, is the story of loving a place and wanting to look after it. Other highlights on the record include Heart Like A Small Town, I Hear My River, My Heart Still Burns For You (a paean to his wife Laurel who he also got to sing harmonies on), the one-two punch of the prison songs about Troy’s cousins; songs that deal with the stories of those that are close to him. Parole and Doin’ Time’ are stark reminders of incarceration and of the challenges facing many men and women today.

It’s testament to the longstanding career of the 50th inductee into the prestigious Australasian Roll Of Renown and has been awarded numerous accolades including 37 Golden Guitars, 4 ARIAs, 3 APRA Song of the Year Awards, 9 Deadlys (Australian Indigenous Artist Awards), 4 CMAA Entertainer of the Year Awards plus 2 NIMAs (National Indigenous Music Awards).

After spending the majority of 2020 writing and recoding at home, Troy is currently touring with MIDNIGHT OIL & First Nations Collaborators – ‘MAKARRATA LIVE’ and has a run of solo dates coming up, including Bluesfest Byron Bay, Gympie Music Muster, Deni Ute Muster and Savannah in the Round. For more information, visit troycassardaley.com.au/touring/.

Popular country music recording artist Jason Owen is back with a rollicking version of one of John Denver’s most iconic songs – ‘Thank God I’m a Country Boy’.

The single is the first release from Jason’s new upcoming album – ‘Jason Owen Sings John Denver: The Acoustic Sessions’ which will be released mid-May. The X Factor star will tour nationally with the album from August onwards.

Jason’s new album follows on from the huge success of his first tribute album to John Denver – ‘Jason Owen Sings John Denver: The 20th Anniversary Album’ which spent seven weeks in the ARIA charts. A national followed including shows at The Sydney Opera House.

“I’m probably one of the biggest John Denver fans in the entire country, and have been ever since I was a boy,” says Jason. “The very first song I ever performed on a national stage was the Denver classic ‘Annie’s Song’ when I was first on the X Factor back in 2012. ‘Thank God I’m a Country Boy’ is one of my all-time favourites and is something I have always related to given my country upbringing in Albert, NSW. Plus it’s a great foot-tapping song with a lot of heart!”

In between putting the finishing touches on the album in 2020, Jason used the down-time of social restrictions to make enormous inroads with his charity Doin It for Rural Aussie Kids which supports regional and isolated kids in Australia.

Jason was recently nominated for two awards in the 7News Young Achiever NSW/ACT Awards 2021, which will be announced April 30. He picked up both a Freemasons of NSW/ACT Community Service Award nomination for his charity work, as well as an Ausgrid Indigenous Achievement Award nomination for his commitment to Indigenous communities.

In December last year Jason undertook a gruelling road trip covering 8,000 kms in 10 days across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to personally deliver funds, Christmas gifts and groceries to around 800 children at 21 schools affected by bushfires, drought and the fallout of COVID 19. The road trip is an annual initiative and main focus of the charity which Jason established in 2019.

Following his star turn as runner up of the X-Factor, Jason soon launched his debut album ‘Life Is A Highway’ which debuted at number one on the ARIA Country Chart and number five on the Australian National ARIA Chart. He has since released albums ‘Friday Night’ containing his first original hit ‘Damn Right’, as well as ‘Proud’, his first all-originals album celebrating his First Nations background.

Jason is now one of Australia’s most popular country artists having entertained audiences around the country including the Tamworth Country Music Festival, CMC Rocks the Hunter, the ACE Awards and the Sony Foundation’s Wharf4Ward event raising funds for youth cancer care.

Nashville based duo Calamity Janehas kicked off 2021with a new release, Give It All Away, the follow-up to a string of recent successes that began with their reimagined version of Devil Went Down To Georgia (#64 Music Row Charts, US) and continued with The Chase and The Mountain (currently at #38 on Music Row Charts, US) with the duo’s last two singles also featuring on the prestigious New Music Nashville Spotify playlist. Featuring Lucy Cantley on fiddle and Camille Rae on vocals, Calamity Jane’s distinct and evocative amalgamation of country, folk and pop sensibilities are all harnessed on Give It All Away to create a noteworthy hook-laden contemporary smash. With a lyric that explores the dynamics of a relationship under duress exquisitely brought to life via stirring, soulful performances the new release captures the essence of Calamity Jane’s style. As the groups says about Give It All Away: ‘It’s a ballad relatable to anyone who’s been through heartbreak, but also somewhat empowering in its resolution to pick up and move on. ‘With substantial airplay in the States and globally, Calamity Jane is more than just an emerging act releasing hit after hit but a progressive and significant addition to the contemporary music world taking folk and country fueled pop into the future. Give It All Away is at radio today and available to download now.

Brittany Howard is the American musician, singer and song-writer who released her debut album Jaime in 2019.
A multi-genre specialist, Howard delves into the rock, jazz, folk and R&B spaces. Her music and talent is significantly authentic, raw and represents her true artist essence.
Lead single from the album ‘Stay High’ is the powerful rock track that showcases Howard’s remarkable voice and capabilities as an instrumentalist.
London-based artists Fred again.. & Joy Anonymous have teamed up to re-imagine the track titled ‘Stay High again..’; an alternative-electronic dance track that explores another dimension.
Fred again.. is a renowned producer with a long list of production credits including Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, George Ezra and Stormzy (to name a few).
Last year he stepped out as an individual artist, releasing a collaborative mixtape with drill king Headie One titled GANG. Fred again.. also took the Producer Of The Year award at last year’s BRIT Awards.
Howard was nominated in 5 categories in this year’s Grammy Awards;
Best Alternative Music Album / Jaime
Best Rock Performance / ‘Stay High’
Best Rock Song / ‘Stay High’
Best R&B Performance / ‘Goat Head’
Best American Roots Performance / ‘Short and Sweet’

Having released her seventh studio album “Plastic Hearts”, pop icon Miley Cyrus follows up 2x Platinum ‘Midnight Sky’ and Platinum ‘Prisoner’ (feat Dua Lipa) with new focus single ‘Angels Like You’.

‘Angels Like You’ has been a fan favourite since album release.

The music video features footage from Miley’s Super Bowl pre-game performance for vaccinated frontline healthcare workers, and ends with a message for all to get vaccinated to help curb the spread of COVID-19 and see live music return to normal.

Miley Cyrus is a singer-songwriter, actress, artist and philanthropist. She has amassed over five billion streams and over four billion video views globally, and is recognized as the only female artist to have five #1 albums on the Billboard 200 Chart before turning 21, including her 2013 GRAMMY-nominated album BANGERZ. She has completed five world tours throughout her career.

Cyrus has become one of the most influential artists in pop culture. In addition to her success in music and television, Cyrus founded the nonprofit organization The Happy Hippie Foundation to rally young people to fight injustice. Since launching, the foundation has provided direct support to thousands of homeless and LGBTQ youth.

Today, alternative pop singer and songwriter bülow shares a brand new single entitled “First Place.” The single is featured today on Apple Music’s New Music Daily and The Zane Lowe Show at 12:00p ET.

On the track, she nods to her roots as a busker on the streets of London by incorporating an airy guitar riff and unshakable organic beat. Highlighting her dynamic range, it builds towards a clever goodbye as she sings wryly, yet melodically on the refrain, “we were never friends in the first place, so why you tryna be my friend now?” It’s an intimate and infectious bop, to say the least.

About the song, she commented, “It’s about somebody who wants your attention but isn’t very genuine. Since we weren’t friends, why do you care today? I definitely went through this experience with a couple of people who only reached out when it was convenient for them. Quarantine was a big light to see who was actually in my life for the right reasons and who care about what was going on. Sonically, it pushed me in the direction I’m headed.”

The new single picks up where she left off on last year’s Frank Ocean cover “Lost.” The latter gathered 1.5 million Spotify streams and paved the way for more to come.

After racking up just shy of half-a-billion streams and receiving acclaim from Vice, Pigeons & Planes, Billboard, Vogue UK, and more, bülow has learned to trust her gut when it comes to music. The songstress infuses alternative pop with clever observations, personal confessions, and boundary-breaking spirit underpinned by live instrumentation. Spending the first eight years of her life in Germany, she moved to England with her family and started busking by the time she turned eleven. She has lived everywhere from Holland to Toronto and channeled a musical wanderlust into her songwriting. Along the way, she dropped three Eps-Damaged Vol. 1 [2017], Damaged Vol. 2 [2018], Crystalline [2019], and The Contender [2019]-and collaborated with everyone from Ty Dolla $ign, Mura Masa, and The Chainsmokers to Fall Out Boy and MadeInTYO. Not to mention, she graced the bills of festivals such as Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and Osheaga and shined on NBC’s The Today Show . As the world slipped into quarantine during 2020, she settled in Holland and musically turned back the clock. Nodding to favorites from her parents’ record collection, she re-embraced formative influences, including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Kate Bush, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, and The Shins. Creative freedom defines her forthcoming new music, kicked off by the guitar-driven “First Place.”

Tr33zy is 15 year old female rapper from Sydney. Her sound is hip-hop with a mix of R&B and pop.
Growing up in a house hold where her parents listened to rappers like 2Pac, Biggie, Snoop and Eminem, Tr33zy remembers rapping along and memorizing the lyrics from a very young age
She was given the confidence to make music herself after witnessing the ascension of fellow young guns like Billie Eilish and her friend, The Kid LAROI.
Last year Lil Tr33zy released a single titled ‘Wolf’ featuring A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie which has massed over 234K streams locally, 3.6M streams WW and 116K views on YouTube.
‘I Need’ features 13 year-old Atlanta rapper That Girl Lay Lay alongside an official music video directed by JAEN Collective
‘I Need’ is produced, mixed and mastered by Mixtri who has worked with Juice WRLD, The Kid Laroi and Youngin Lipz.
Lil Tr33zy has over 16K monthly listeners on Spotify.
‘Wolf’ has over 3M streams on Spotify
That Girl Lay Lay has over 52K monthly listeners on Spotify.

When Bega teenager Felicity Dowd saw the havoc wreaked by the NSW bushfires a year ago and the rebuilding since, she decided to do more than talk about it – she’s putting her musical talents to use. The award-winning songwriter penned ‘Blue Skies’ prior to the bushfires in response to all the natural disasters that Australians had lived through including drought, floods and cyclones.

“It was written about natural disasters in general, and little did I know what devastation would occur so soon after,” she said. “After seeing the fires come down the coast and the rebuilding, the song really grew in meaning for me.”

The Year 12 student had been waiting for the right time and song to go into the recording studio to lay down her debut single and, following the bushfires, Felicity decided the time was right. It’s not just about getting her new music out there, either – Felicity is raising money for Cobargo Community Bushfire Recovery Fund through the sales of the single.

“I lived in Cobargo for five years and seeing what they went through, the town has a lot of meaning for me,” she said. “I have lots of friends who live there who were impacted by the fires, it was the first place I ever busked and Cobargo Folk Festival was the first place I ever performed.”

At the 2020 Tamworth Country Music Festival, ‘Blue Skies’ won the 2020 Tamworth Songwriting Association Talent Quest (Youth Category), and Felicity used the prize money towards the recording of the single. The talented artist added to these wins in 2021, taking home the John P Toomey Commemorative Award for Youth Songwriting at the Tamworth Songwriters Association Awards for ‘When the Party Is Over’ and the Garry Koehler Commemorative Award also at the TSAs for Novice Songwriting for her new single, ‘Blue Skies’.

“I contacted Rod Motbey from Tracking Dog Studios because I knew he grew up in Cobargo and still had family connections in the town,” she said. “I explained to him that I wanted to use my song to raise money for Cobargo and he was more than happy to help.” The single also features session musicians from the US.

In the year ahead, Felicity plans to use ‘Blue Skies’ to raise as much money as she can to help the people of Cobargo to rebuild their lives, and she wants to play more gigs, more festivals and is looking to record another song, as well as studying for her HSC and is part of the prestigious Talent Development Project. After graduation, Felicity plans to study journalism while continuing pursuing her music that walks the line between folk and country.

“I have always loved travelling to folk and country music festivals and have found my passion for playing and writing through these genres,” she said. The talented singer-songwriter has some high-profile mentors in her corner, including Golden Guitar winner Lyn Bowtell whom she met while studying at the junior course of The CMAA Academy of Country Music in Tamworth in July 2018.

To increase the impact of the story of Blue Skies, videographer Kyle Wilson has produced a video clip for the song.

As a follow up to their 2020 EP, Canto a Babalú Ayé (Remixes), DJ Reitt & Shanara have put together a selection of new remixes of their track “Saxo Mambo”. Teaming up with Cuban DJ/producer Eslan Martin, the four track EP offers an avant-garde fusion of Cuban electronic music. As for the inspiration behind the song, “Saxo Mambo pays tribute to one of the most popular Cuban rhythms and the renowned singer Benny Moré”, explains DJ Reitt.

DJ Reitt & Shanara are a Cuban house duo. DJ Reitt is a pioneer of the fusion of Cuban and electronic music and is a large supporter of Latin House in the Cuban scene. He is the creator of valuable platforms such as Space for Electronic Culture and created the 2019 Habana Ciudad Electrónica festival. Vocalist and bassist, Shanara, has acted as arranger and composer in a wide variety of styles such as: Bolero, Danzón, Bachata, Pop, in addition to dabbling in electron music styles such as house. She has participated in different festivals on the national scene such as Cuerda Viva, Las Voces Human, Eyeife. In 2018 she was selected to join the Childish Gambino band in the short film “Guava Island”.

Award winning singer-songwriter Dean Lewis returns with his brand-new single, ‘Falling Up’, the lead single from Lewis’s hotly anticipated second album. Emotive, impactful, relatable and impossible to forget, it’s a masterclass in what the songwriter does best: connect.

The official video for ‘Falling Up’ will premiere globally tomorrow on Dean Lewis’ official YouTube channel at 7:30 (AEDT) here. Dean will join fans from 7.10am AEDT for a live Q and A before the video is revealed.

In a period when we’re all stuck in shrinking rooms feeling isolated, when claustrophobia – actual, social and otherwise – is real and widespread, ‘Falling Up’ is the perfect song for the times.

In writing the song Lewis keyed into lifelong feelings of frustration and anxiety. “I always thought I would be happy when I finished school or when I passed an exam, or I got a job or a promotion or if I went travelling and then I was like – ‘ooh, now I have a record deal, what if I have a big song? Then, I had a big song, and I was on the road for three years and when I stopped, I realised it had all passed me by and I was actually less present and more anxious and stressed than ever. I looked back on my life and at all of these points along the way and I realised that I’ve never felt any better, it’s always been onto the next thing, always moving.”

The lyrics paint a picture of a man in despair: “I’m alone in the spotlight / And the walls are caving in / And I thought I’d be happy / But I’m barely breathing.”

“Those lyrics are about being online and focusing on that one negative comment in a sea of good,” Lewis explains. “You feel the negativity and it affects your life and I took it on, and I found myself feeling more and more anxious and isolated. I really struggle with that.”

Suffice it to say that ‘Falling Up’ is a bold sign of things to come. It is, once more, a jaw-dropping encapsulation of the rare skills of Dean Lewis: to make the personal universal, the singular relatable, and the inner thoughts the most accessible.

The three-time ARIA and APRA award winning Lewis went from unknown to world-wide recognition with the release of his 2019 #1 ARIA Album A Place We Knew. Accredited Platinum in Australia, the LP produced a number of local and international smashes including his debut single the 7 x Platinum ‘Waves’, the monster global hit and 10 x Platinum ‘ Be Alright’, and the 3 x Platinum selling singles ‘7 Minutes’ and 2 x Platinum single ‘Stay Awake.’ His debut album is also GOLD in the USA, Silver in the UK and platinum+ in 8 other countries. Waves has also reached Gold status in the US. But it was ‘Be Alright’ which would drive Lewis’ career even further, catapulting his music to the world stage and contributing to his music accumulating over 4.8 billion streams globally.

‘Be Alright’ spent 5 weeks at #1 on the ARIA Singles Chart, 8 weeks at #1 on TMN Hot 100 Radio Chart and earned Dean entry into the prestigious APRA AMCOS ‘Billion Streams’ Club, winner of the 2018 ARIA Video of the Year Award and becoming Apple’s Up Next Artist. It was voted as #6 on triple j’s Hottest 100 and was the 4th highest selling single (2nd Australian Artist) in Australia for 2018. Globally, ‘Be Alright’ is triple platinum in the USA and it hit #1 on Billboard’s emerging artist chart and has been accredited Platinum + in 23 other countries.

A Place We Knew in its first week, skyrocketed #1 on the ARIA Album Chart, was chosen as triple j’s feature album and debuted #1 iTunes Singer/Songwriter Album Charts. Around the world it debuted #18 on the Billboard Top 200 in the USA, as well as a Top 5 Billboard Pop Album and it reached the Top 10 in New Zealand (#7), Top 20 in Switzerland (#11), Canada (#15) and Ireland (#20) and Top 30 in Norway (#25), Belgium (#30), Netherlands (#21) and Top 40 in Germany (#32), Sweden (#37) and the UK (#37). The multi-selling album won Dean the 2019 ARIA Album of the Year and Best Male Artist Awards as well as the 2019 APRA Awards for Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year and Outstanding International Achievement Award.

Touring locally and overseas, Dean has performed at International Festivals such as Reeperbahn Festival,Lollapalooza, Great Escape, Isle of Wight, the Main Stage at Splendour In The Grass and events such as the Australian Open Tennis, AFL Grand Final, 2019 Melbourne Cup Carnival. He sold out his 2019 Australian National Tour as well as his USA Tour, performing over 200 shows in that year. Dean was the first artist to perform live on The Project Australia and appeared on US shows Ellen, Jimmy Kimmel, Good Morning America.