Tag Archives: persistence

Khari Owens is a rapper based in Oakland, California. Under the moniker MusicbyKO, he wields a barebones, but thoughtfully poignant artistic identity that encompasses a debut EP, a follow-up full-length, and over 170 thousand Soundcloud streams to boot. In a two-year span, such drive has catalyzed his consistent festival run …

Just two years on the hip hop scene, Gage Tielr is steadily earning recognition as an up-and-coming talent. The Worcester, Massachusetts rapper’s two recent self-released singles, “Flight” and “Emblem,” have generated modest positive response, with the latter garnering the most prominence thus far. Both singles are to be included in …

Following my review of The Inoculated Canaries’ latest EP, Trying Times, I felt it was necessary to gain further insight into how this band, and piece of music, came to be. The New York-based alternative rock outfit had gone through a slew of incarnations, all led by founder Mike Rubin. …

The Inoculated Canaries combine an extensively modern stylistic envelope around an old school foundation. Based out of New York City, this band is armed with a ‘rock first’ mentality that speaks for the genre’s surprising, albeit mostly marginalized presence in modern music. Kicking off the decade with the EP The …

After interviewing singer-songwriter/rapper Deuce, I decided to delve further into his follow-up solo album, Invincible. Three singles from the album, “Here I Come,” “Bitch This Is It,” and “World On Fire,” each exhibit a distinctive hybrid of hip-hop and rock. Alone, they continue the growth from Deuce’s previous efforts with …

Liverpool, England singer-songwriter Dan Croll experienced honest-to-goodness success within a relatively short span of his music career. The release of his 2014 major label debut, Sweet Disarray, was followed by an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel and, despite variable reception, a still-respectable #12 spot on Billboard’s US Top Heatseekers Albums chart. …

Jonathan Wolfe has created a wealth of buzz around his latest endeavor, Vespera. The initially one-man band began in part because of a resonant quote by David Bowie, which promptly jolted Wolfe out of his artistic slump: “If you feel safe in the area that you’re working in,” he observed, …

Veteran hard rockers Colossal Street Jam have continually proven a worthy asset of the New Jersey music scene. Releasing their debut album in 1993, the band showed honest promise during the decade’s alternative rock boom. Accumulative internal conflict led to the band’s hiatus in 1995, but that would ultimately serve …

The musical journey of singer-songwriter Steven J. Vertun is a fine one to behold. As a 5-year-old, Vertun’s behavioral difficulties had his parents strapped for solutions. Eventually, an accordion proved to be—among all descriptors—instrumental. While it did little in providing Vertun tranquility, it ultimately fostered a musical proclivity that transitioned …

New York City’s Midnight Mob has kept their music just like the environment around them—gritty, diversely expressive, and true-to-heart. Their reputation for building solid performance rapport, as well as genuinely unified communication with fans over their half-a-decade career has been rightfully earned. Both the band and fans are stoked about …

Norman and Tulsa-based Via the Verge is a collective of progressive musicians who not only do what they love, but strive to impact and inspire. Initially formed as an instrumental trio in 2013, the Oklahoma band has become a full-fledged quintet by the addition of vocalist Joseph Kelm and second …