SINGER SONGWRITER KELSEY DODD STOPS IN AND TALKS ABOUT HER NEW EP TITLED "FOREVER EVERGREEN" AND MUCH MORE!

Kelsey Dodd’s New EP "Forever Evergreen" Celebrates Holidays, Family, and Timeless Memories

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By Natalia J

Kelsey Dodd, at just 17, is no newcomer to music. Since age five, Kelsey has been on a steady journey fueled by her passion for singing and the performing arts. From vocal lessons across genres and styles, to musical theater, and training on piano, ukulele, and (a recent dabble in) guitar, she’s set to release her debut EP, “Forever Evergreen.” Originally planned as a holiday project of reimagined Christmas classics, Kelsey shares that during the process of selecting songs, she became inspired to create an original track that captures her deep, imaginative connection to the colors, emotions, and memories of the holidays and family. 

Based in Saratoga, New York, Kelsey brings a vibrant blend of musical influences to her work, from contemporary pop, soul, jazz, and classical sounds. She’s drawn inspiration from greats like Barbara Streisand and Ella Fitzgerald to contemporary artists like Adele and Kelly Clarkson, for her ability to sing powerfully, and convey deep emotion through her voice. Kelsey shares that her style has also been shaped by her background in musical theater, where she’s learned to give each performance its own narrative. She really commits to delivering the story behind each song—something you’ll experience when you listen to “Forever Evergreen.”

The EP’s title track, “Forever Evergreen,” co-written with Cassandra Kubinski, and produced by Joel Moss and Jim Mastrianni, is the emotional centerpiece of the project. This original song embodies Kelsey’s authenticity and love for the holiday season, which she describes as a time when, no matter what happens throughout the year, the holidays serve to reconnect with family, yourself, and the things you cherish most. 

“No matter what we’ve lost, no matter what we knew,

Who had a golden year or who’s feeling blue

Those memories wrapped in red on that snow white scene

The moments that we share this season stay forever evergreen,” she sings in the chorus line. 

Kelsey describes the Evergreen tree as a symbol of both nostalgia and continuity—a constant rock, much like family and tradition. The color green represents the refreshing, and regrounding elements of connecting with her family, where each time, they get to create new moments with one another.

In addition to her original song, the EP includes four classic Christmas covers. She laughs that the selection process started with her bringing a binder full of 30+ Christmas covers to her team that she knew and loved, but needed support narrowing down. Her team comprises Grammy-winning producer Joel Moss, whom Kelsey met through the Saratoga Children’s Theater, producer Jim Mastrianni, and musical director Cassandra Kubinski. The team’s creative process included brainstorming over dozens of these holiday tracks, finally landing on the songs that sparked the most joy and musical uniqueness with Kelsey’s delivery. 

Joel played an instrumental role helping Kelsey cultivate an animated experience in the EP, full with live instruments like saxophone, clarinet, and organ to capture that classic Christmas warmth. She mentions not wanting to give too much away, but loved some of the creative touches they made to each track; Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song,” features a nod to the Nutcracker, while “Let It Snow” gets a jazzy twist with playful hints of “Jingle Bells.” Each song infuses Kelsey’s emotional connection to holiday memories and colors, and combines nostalgia with the newness of each season. While initially planned as an EP of just covers, the team delightfully realized that an original track would complete the collection, rounding out the project. 

For Kelsey,  “Forever Evergreen” represents more than a musical project. The EP celebrates self-expression, authenticity, gratitude, family, and tradition. Through her music, she hopes to inspire fans to embrace their own roots and cherish the people around them. “This project allowed me to bring myself to the table, to share my memories, and to watch them come alive in the lyrics and music,” she says. It captures a very real and foundational part of herself. 

As Kelsey steps into her future with dreams of performing and releasing more original music, she’ll be headed to NYC to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theater. 

To readers and future fans, Kelsey offers a closing piece of advice: “Don’t be afraid to share yourself with the world, being genuine and authentic can lead to some of the greatest gifts life could give you. Don’t be afraid to open those doors.” 

For a musical reminder to celebrate family and the little things that make this season so special, 

Catch “Forever Evergreen” coming out November 15th. 

THE BLAST HAVERS STOP IN AND TALK ABOUT THEIR NEW TRACK "TESTED ON ANIMALS" AND ALSO AN EXLUSIVE NEW TRACK DUE OUT IN JANUARY!

Blast Havers debut their paradoxical blend of slower beats and high energy while examining life’s absurdities 

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When Bay Area electronic outfit Blast Havers sits down to make new music, they do so with the dance floor and the people on it in mind. 

But that’s not all––after all, the group is isolated and often seated at a desk when a new tune comes to life. And so Blast Havers aims to make music with more than just danceable beats in mind, and the group’s quirky sound design and witty lyricism are meant for a wider audience. 

“The audience has to be expanded to people who want to be on the dance floor at the moment but aren’t,” the group says. “We’re listening to it in the car, at a desk, and we’re imagining where we want to be at that moment, having fun. We’re bringing a different angle to it where it’s not just on the dance floor and losing your mind to the music, but maybe there’s something else that hooks you.”

To that end, the music from Blast Havers––technically tech house––features a slower tempo that allows for more space within the beats. The result is something more chill and laid back, but still brimming with raw energy, and it fits the group’s overarching goal: make you dance while taking you back to the roots of electronic music. The group says they thrive on paradoxes, like the slower BPMs and some “high-energy tricks” that keep momentum going. But at its roots, the music from Blast Havers is about taking listeners on a whimsical journey through what they call “a musical maze.”

Blast Havers’ first single, “Tested On Animals,” is a perfect encapsulation of the outfit’s refreshing spin on electronica, and love of the absurd. It was inspired by a package of dog treats in a store that carried the label, “Product is not tested on animals.” That everyday irony is what fuels the group’s creative engine. 

“You have to throw some tricks in there to keep it interesting and that’s where the lyricism comes in; we’re sometimes a bit more heavy on words than most of that genre and with the space between the beats you can throw a lot more in there,” Blast Havers say. “By slowing down the tempo it allows everyone to slow down a little bit. We’re always in a rush for everything and the trends in music are to push the tempo and make things faster. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be higher energy. The roots of house music came from disco, which was a little slower. And the connection between these absurdities we see in life and mentioning them in song is hopefully something that connects a lot of people.”

Blast Havers was inspired by everything from James Brown old-school funk to Daft Punk, Gorillaz and Pendulum, with hip hop flair from the likes of De La Soul. 

That first single is set for November release, and the group plans to release a string of singles going into 2025, including “Content Schmontent” in January and “Take The Ride” in February. They also plan to expand their visual efforts in the future. 

At its core, Blast Havers is just about having fun––for the audience, and the creators. Or, a better way to put it: “Just having a blast,” the group says. 

Stay connected to the group for new music, videos and social posts: 

https://soundcloud.com/blasthavers

http://instagram.com/blasthavers

http://facebook.com/blasthavers

https://blasthavers.bandcamp.com

SINGER SONGWRITER RECORDING ARTIST " ROSE PRINCE" STOPS IN AND TALKS ABOUT HIS NEW SINGLE "FREAK" AND MUCH MORE!

Rose Prince Encourages Listeners to Carpe Diem with “Freak”

By: Paul K. Barnes

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Rose Prince is an artist who thrives on the emotional authenticity of his music. And, through his own emotional authenticity, he hopes to find relatability with his listeners. His new single “Freak” is one that compiles a series of late night adventures he's had in his life. He hopes it reminds people of their own exciting nights out.  

“I’m picking up diamonds and curating certain experiences from my life. I want to say it's like a dark dream…somewhere between fantasy and reality. It’s not like my life is like this every day…but I wrote this song because I’ve been there.”

Written over the course of years, “Freak” is a song Rose Prince hopes people queue up in their pre-game moments, add to their *spicy* playlist, or blast through bass-boosting car speakers on the way to the afterparty. As a songwriter who always writes with intentionality, he wants the lyrics of the song to resonate with people. He also wants the song to give people confidence in their “carpe diem” moments. Through the song’s entrancing production, heavy bass and overall mystical sound, the dreamlike state Rose was going for is strong throughout the entirety of the track.

“When people hear this, I want them to be like ‘Oh wow, this is hard.’ I want them to feel that way about the beat and the lyrics.”

Rose Prince is an artist that doesn’t only create or listen to music but absorbs it. When listening to his favorite artists, lyrics and production stand out to him clearly. He admires artists like The Weeknd, A$AP Rocky and Metro Boomin, who are all known for immersive sonic cohesion in their music. The emotional resonance he has with lyrics of his favorite songs is the blueprint for the effect his own music is written to have. 

“I write the music I want to hear.”

The song “Freak” is a track whose lyrics paint specific pictures in the listener's mind. They take the person hearing Rose Prince’s words to the moment he was in and the mindstate during those events. 

“There’s no limit to what you can write. Lyrics are pure emotion turned into words and you take that emotion and build whatever you want with it.”

For Rose Prince, the sounds around the lyrics are just as important. Rose often envisions melodies and sounds in his own head and works with producers to bring the full concept to life. Sometimes, the producer brings something different than what he had in mind and the end result is one that is even greater than what he envisioned. Collaboration is something he embraces and he’s well aware of the positive results it can create. 

“I’d say my strength is in songwriting…I want to find producers who can take my vision for a song and craft a professional quality production…I’m not willing to sacrifice quality…I think combining skill sets is important as a creator.”

While “Freak” sits in the lane of electronic, pop, rap-signing, Rose plans to go for something completely different with his next release. However, the intentionality with the music remains. By having such a diverse interest in the multi layered beauty of music, Rose Prince is able to take inspiration from his influences and craft something that best reflects who he is. He knows that no matter what he writes, they will be his words and they will be expressed in the way that he wants them to be. The emotional resonance and relatability will remain at the forefront as he crafts his story his way. 

You can keep up with Rose Prince on the following platforms:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rosexprince/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rose.x.prince

HIP HOP ARTIST "BURT BANKKZ" TALKS ABOUT HIS NEW SINGLE 'DREAMS' AND MUCH MORE!

Burt Bankkz puts his music to melodic work in hip-hop statement track “Dreams”

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By Kurt Beyers

On the surface, “Dreams,” the latest single by Burt Bankkz, is a righteous hip-hop ballad about going after dreams, in his case, music as a way out of the hardship of growing up on the streets of a hard section of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“I made the song based on the past struggles that I’ve been going through with life, growing up as a kid in a poor community and stuff.”

The guitar and the beat gently rock through his story of escape. Burt delivers the lyrics at speed but in waves set to the slower pace of the melody, telling a story of dreams, not just in life and livelihood, but also in music.

The song is based on his life, but it is also about what he wants to do with his music.

“It’s basically just to shine light on areas where, like nowadays, rappers are mostly rapping about killing people or all this other stuff, all this other negativity. I’m just trying to shine a positive light.”

I’ve been down this road

They tellin’ me slow down

’Cause I’m getting’ too old

I do this for my family

And people up the road

The lyrics delivered by featured artist T-Rell come fast and hard, focusing on the work that makes the dreams reality.

I ain’t never lettin’ go

I got too much to do

I got big dreams

The video and the track dropped simultaneously.

Bankkz has been rapping since age 11, growing up in the hardship and violence of the Deepside neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale. 

“The neighborhood wasn’t too good, you know, a lot of robbing, killing and selling drugs and stuff like that. Just a typical neighborhood.”

He started rapping with his older brother, who encouraged him to continue with it. Gradually, he began putting his focus to the music instead of the street. 

He put in the work, “the hustle,” and “Dreams” is about the work as much as the dream. For the video, he drove 20 hours from Fort Lauderdale to Oklahoma City, where T-Rell was, to shoot the video because “it would have been more money for me to fly him down to Florida for the shoot.”

His previous releases have been more straightforward rap, but with “Dreams” the music, the melody and the rhythm out front.

“I want to take a different path, because, like I say, everybody around me is doing the same thing. Especially in Florida, everybody’s doing the same thing. So, I wanted to try to give the world, who I really am, just do stuff naturally, how I feel I should do it.”

“Dreams” pulls the listener in. The dream is told through Bankkz’s lyrics, coming in bursts that are tied to the easy rhythm of the instruments, and the slow beat. Together, they create a dreamy vibe yet build up to the intensity of T-Rell’s insistent declaration of purpose.

Going forward, he said, his music will be more like “Dreams,” and his last two songs, the melodic “Only God Can Judge Me” and “They Don’t Know” rather than the machine-gun rap of “Clark Kent” and “Check.”

“I’m trying to find a clearer route, a clearer crowd,” he said. “I’m just trying to find more ways where I can be creative and learn.”

His plan is to develop his music and do the work involved in seeking his fan base — writing and putting out more songs.

And learning the business of music.

“I plan to hit the ground running, trying to network with mainstream artists, and get to the next level, elevate my music and get it heard — learning more about promotion, running ads, the whole nine yards.”

Connect to Burt Bankkz on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.

“Dreams,” YouTube

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THE STEWARTS STOP IN AND TALK ABOUT THEIR NEW SINGLE "STAND" AND MUCH MORE!

The Stewarts are back with the fast, dance infused R&B-funk-Motown gospel single “Stand”

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By Kurt Beyers

With a message of brotherhood, sisterhood and faith — gospel delivered at high speed in a joyful fusion of pop, funk, R&B, Motown and dance — The Stewarts, brothers Del and Garry K., are back with “Stand.”

Joy is a hallmark of all their music.

“‘Stand’ is a good-message song for the world, for brothers and sisters to come together, to show love to one another,” said Garry. “No more hatred. Show love. Pick up your brothers and sisters when they fall down. Pick them up.”

“In my personal opinion,” said Del, “‘Stand’ will generate hopefully more conversation about coming together, about treating people fairly, standing up for each other — brothers and sisters coming together.”

“And stand up for your faith,” added Garry.

Show the love of Christ

If you have the choice of colors, do you love one & hate the others

We’re all sisters and brothers — show love, show love,

Show love to each other, oh stand, stand up for each other

“We were going with the drum beat initially, and the words just came to us,” said Dell. “We were ping-ponging the words back and forth because we knew people needed to hear a positive-message song about brotherly love and sisterly love.”

On the mix of music, Del said, “Garry and I, we sat down and we went back to our roots. We went back to the ’70s.”

The clavinet sound comes from Stevie Wonder, and others come from the Dayton, Ohio, group Slave from their song “Slide.”

“We were listening to their production, and we incorporated that as well as the Stevie Wonder production into our song,” said Del.

The Stewarts, who have been writing and performing since the ’70s, were opening a new phase of their career back in 2020, getting ready to move out into the world with their music. That was when “Stand” was written, but they put it on hold because two other songs, “His Door Is Open” followed by “Faith,” took off, reaching the top of the Upcoming charts, Nos. 1 and 2 respectively.

About the time they were ready to push out “Stand,” Covid hit. The virus took down Del and Garry at different times.

“It threw us behind,” said Garry.

“But also we know that God is good, and once we started feeling better, we started putting things together,” said Del. “We said, ‘Hey, let’s get back on our feet and rock and roll.’”

“Sometimes, when you experience setbacks,” he said, “it also makes you stronger when you come back, because God is good all the time, and when you fall, you gotta get up and continue to try.”

The brothers come from a musical family. Johnny Hodges, who played sax for Duke Ellington, was a cousin. Their mother, Corinne, sang gospel with Sam Cooke. Del and Garry were introduced to Motown’s Howard Davis by another cousin, Luther Bond of Luther Bond and the Emeralds.

Their faith infuses their music. R&B, rock, funk, pop and Motown help propel the gospel of The Stewarts. Joyous worship accompanies the messages in their songs, messages indicated in the titles: “Stand,” “His Door Is Open,” “The Truth,” “Walk With Me Jesus,” “Battle of Survival,” “Family Affair.”

They are working on other songs, including an EP, but for now the focus is on promoting “Stand” because, said Del, “the world needs to see the video and listen to the lyrics, and, hopefully, we can captivate a different type of audience.”

“This is a song for everyone, from the young to the old,” said Garry. “You can be 8 years old and get something from this song.”

“We want the listener to enjoy the song. The beat hopefully would capture the attention, but the lyrics would also capture the attention as well, because we were writing the song so that it’s uplifting,” said Del.

Share the music of The Stewarts on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.

“Stand,”  Spotify

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THE JIMMY DIXON GROUP STOPS BY AND TALKS ABOUT THEIR NEW SINGLE "IN THIN AIR" AND MORE!

Old school rock and roll storms in with “In Thin Air” from The Jimmy Dixon Group

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By Kurt Beyers

If rock and roll songs were rated like hurricanes, “In Thin Air,” from The Jimmy Dixon Group, would be a category 5.

First rain, then distant thunder, now driving, insistent piano and, ten seconds in, thunder riding on guitars crashes inside the earbuds. The storm rages righteously for another four minutes.

“We just tried to write a good, old fashioned rock and roll song,” said Jimmy, “where the listeners would wonder what happened to their socks: well, they got rocked off by The Jimmy Dixon Group! So, we wrote a little rock and roll tune for our vintage electric guitars and plugged ’em into an amp.”

Mission accomplished.

“Hopefully, people can dig the groove. It's just a song that makes you feel good.”

For those who want to groove on the lyrics:

Up in the thinnest of air

Fading a sense to care

No more pain

Lost touch of what is sane

“The great thing about a song is that it can have one meaning to one person and mean something completely different to someone else. And neither one is wrong. For me, it’s about, I guess, being on a higher plane,” said Jimmy, “however one gets there, and being able to think about who you are, what you’re doing, how you’re spending your time.”

Like, listening to rock and roll?

“That’s right. Exactly.”

The Jimmy Dixon Group is seven people, all with the surname Dixon (no relation anywhere) as far as anybody outside the group is concerned. The website carries the highly entertaining origin story, and anybody willing to believe it is welcome to do so.

 

Jimmy is lead vocals and, with his 1955 Martin D-28, “some guitar.” Chubbs Dixon is the drummer. Cranky Dixon has a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Special and his wife, “Midnight” Mae Dixon, is the pianist. Gary Dixon plays a 1968 Hofner 500/1 bass and sings backing vocals.

Capo Dixon, rhythm guitar, is supposedly named for his love of using a capo on his 1967 Martin D12-35 12-string acoustic and his 2017 Rickenbacker 660/12 electric.

Benmont Dixon plays strings.

“In Thin Air” is the second of 10 tracks on the album Rough Demos, released this year. This is the first music the group has released.

 

Jimmy tells the story of these seven people who just wanted to get together with their vintage instruments and their love for vintage rock and roll and write and play music. A couple years ago, they did just that. They gather in person from time to time but otherwise work and collaborate from a distance.

“We didn’t go into it thinking we would make an album. We just went into it thinking we’d have a little fun together, writing some songs and playing together. We spent a lot of time on it, and then all of a sudden we had songs that we had a lot of fun making, and we thought somebody would get a little joy out of listening. So we scraped together what we had in the studio and made an album.”

The Rough Demos name has its own origin story, supposedly being “recorded whenever and wherever the group could find an empty studio and an engineer who had his back turned,” according to the official group bio. Believing that is optional.

“We really love, and we’re really proud of, the album.”

Their music is inspired by “the roots of rock and roll,” said Jimmy.

He cites ’50s Chicago blues — Willie Dixon (no relation), Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Little Walter — then moving into the ’60s with artists such as Dylan, and on to the ’70s (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers).

The tracks, whether fast and furious like “In Thin Air” or meditative and whimsical like “Capo 5th Fret No. 2” (“Art is dead, long live the art/Priced to move at Neil’s new store”), are full of wonderful performances by the musicians.

They are about 90 percent done, he says, with the music that will be Rough Demos II, which will be released early next year.

They love the tones of the old instruments too, he said, especially the ’50s and ’60s Fenders, Gibsons and Martins.

“They just have their own unique sound that we really love. Nothing wrong with the new stuff, but we love the sound that you get from an old tweed amp after you plug in that Gibson Les Paul.”

“In Thin Air,” a fine piece of old-fashioned rock and roll, has, says Jimmy, “a nice groove to it and people can feel the rock and roll.”

He says the band has no career destination.

“We started out not really having a goal in mind, just playing and creating, having fun and getting joy out of music. We take it one small step at a time, and if we can connect with a couple people here and there who really like our music, that is tremendously exciting for us.”

Feel a vintage groove in modern form and connect to The Jimmy Dixon Group on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.

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SINGER SONGWRITER 'JAMES ATLAS' TALKS ABOUT HIS NEW SONG "RETAIL THERAPY" AND A LOT MORE!

James Atlas takes off in a new direction with fun, electro-pop shopping anthem “Retail Therapy”

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By Kurt Beyers

With a ditty-bopping, hand-clapping dance beat and playful lyrics, Australian artist James Atlas makes fun of and celebrates a kind of mall and shopping culture in his latest synth-pop release “Retail Therapy.”

“It’s about my own shopping addiction, and it’s about me kind of laughing at that while also reveling in it,” he said.

In fact, the inspiration came from one of the world’s most famous malls.

“When I listened to the arrangement for that one, I was walking around Dubai. I’d just been to the Dubai Mall, and the track took my mind straight to what I had just been doing at the mall. They were so closely related in style that I thought it would be funny to do a song about shopping addiction.”

“How do I fill / this void inside of me?” the song asks, and answers:

Oh I know / oh I know

Take it all / home with me

I want more / Of every thing

And I don’t care / what it takes from me

“It’s the craziest mall I’ve ever seen. I've never seen anything like that,” he said.

“Retail Therapy” is the first of 12 tracks to be released in the coming year for what will be his first album, the self-titled James Atlas. The song is also an inflection point in James’s musical style. He has turned from the acoustic sounds of earlier years to a more experimental treatment.

“It’s pretty much electro pop,” he said. “It’s got all synths in it and kind of ’80s style drums and different elements. I put some experimental kind of things in there, like cash register samples and credit card swipes that we thought would be kind of humorous to throw in.”

He says it is a dance track that can be played at a club or that people can sing along with.

“I’m trying to encourage people to use it as a soundtrack to shopping-haul videos or unboxing videos.”

His musical career started as a drummer in metal bands while studying jazz and exploring different kinds of music. He started releasing his songs in 2020 as an acoustic singer-songwriter.

“I started writing on the acoustic guitar—it’s obviously like the perfect instrument to write songs on.”

In his earlier work he was experimenting with the guitar, “and I realized I liked a space vibe.” His Spotify tagline is “Music from the cosmos.”

He got a pedal to trigger samples over the guitar, and then began running the guitar “through different kinds of spacy foot pedals as well.”

Speaking of space and retail, he has used his background in 3D modeling to design and produce a rocket.

“And in the porthole of the rocket will be a QR code, and people can scan the code on their phones and it will take them to the album. I will eventually put them up on the website, and we’ll be selling them at the shows. I think each show we’re planning to give away one rocket—whoever makes the most noise, or something.”

His move to pop, and work on the album, began in earnest in the early part of this year, when he met DJ server and started trying out different sounds.

Born in Australia, he has lived in the United States and Europe. His music incorporates elements of lo-fi, pop, rock and jazz.

“‘It’s the direction I’d love to head in moving forward, and obviously I’ll still mix it up stylistically. We’re already talking about a second album. It was definitely a big, big move for me and pushed me out of my comfort zone in the different genres.”

Of “Retail Therapy,” he said, “I just want it to be everyone’s new shopping anthem.”

Launch with James Atlas on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.

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