"Mikey B3 Band"
Mikey B3 is a power trio infused of Hammond B3 Organ, Keyboards and lead Vocals of Michael Burkart AKA Mikey B3 Burkart. Jonathan Solomon on Bass and Vocals. Joseph Boucha on Drums and Vocals.
The Original Music and Sound of Mikey B3 Burkart is a blend New Orleans Funk, Reggae, Rock and Bayou Swamp woven together. Bringing you a unique and new kind of Jam Trio and a sound called Trout Jam Music.
"Mikey B3 Burkart"
 BIO:  Michael Burkart-Mikey B3
“Music is my meditation, my outer body travel, my emotion, my passion and through rhythm, imagination, dance and explosion, you see me as Mikey B3 and my keyboard and organ style.”
-Michael Burkart, Lead singer and Hammond B3 Organ player
As a native of St. Bernard, Louisiana, Michael Burkart (known as Mikey B3) grew up in Arabi, the first town of St. Bernard Parish before Chalmette, near the 9th ward in New Orleans that’s now so famous from Hurricane Katrina.  As a young child Burkart was fascinated with guitar playing, harmonica, and just rocking out like most kids his age, but figured out his true musical love would be the keys after recording with a B3 on Sweet Peas Revenge.

“I had no formal training on keys,” said Michael Burkart.  “Because of playing with the Revealers, one of the top Reggae bands in NOLA, the percussive style of skanks, bubbles, and natural roots rhythms gave me the base and foundation of the organ style you hear today.   I really developed as a musician. I never tried to sound like a typical Nola keyboard player -just myself.”
Over the past 15 years, this veteran musician shared the stage with Big Chief Bo Dollis (The Wild Magnolias Mardi Gras Indians), Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr. (The Wild Magnolias Mardi Gras Indians), Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, The Revealers, The Brass-A-Holics, Billy Iuso & Restless Natives, Mark Stone Band, Anders Osborne, George Porter Jr, Gravity A, Pepper Keenan (Corrosion of Conformity/ Down), Iko Allstars, New Orleans Suspects, Eric Lindell Sweet Pea’s Revenge  ( Jim Brown), Irene Sage Band, Captain Midnight Band, Renard Poche (Renard Poche Band & Neverwas Brothers), Reggie Scanlan (Radiators/New Orleans Suspects/Neverwas Brothers), Willie Green (Neville Brothers/Neverwas Brothers/The UnderDawgs), Tony Hall (Neverwas Brothers), Kirk Joseph (Back Yard Groove/Founding Member of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band), Juice, Jake Eckert (Jake Eckert Band/Dirty Dozen Brass Band/New Orleans Suspects), Mike Zito Band, Chris Mule’ (Honey Island Swamp Band), Eddie Christmas, Big Chief Smiley Ricks, Shamarr Allen, Mark Pentone, Eddie Bo, Aaron Wilkinson (Honey Island Swamp Band), Afro Skull, Nolatronics ( Duo Electronica with DJ Ras Dave), Ruben Williams (Thunderbirds Management/The Uppressers), Johnny Dilks and the Highway Kind, Clarence Bucaro, Jack Cruz, and Mike Doussan (West Bank Mike) just to name a few.   Along with some of the famous names Burkart has shared the stage with, he’s had the opportunity to play at several world renowned festivals including New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Aspen Creek Festival, French Quarter Festival, Ferret Street Festival, Oak Street Po-Boy Festival, Bear Creek Fest, Dog Stock Fest, Pauly’s New Orleans Blues & Jazz Festival, Shag Fest in New Orleans, Satchmo SummerFest, Riverbend Music Festival, Pass Christian BBQ & Blues Festival, Bay Harbor Festival, Street Beat Festival, French Bread Festival in Gulfport, MSm and more!  During this time Burkart honed his musical talent while making others’ dreams come true on the stage.  
 
“For years I have been a backup musician and singer for others, being that guy who helped birth others musical ideas.   I found myself never really expressing my own musical vision and realized I had to get it out in my own voice. One of my first real favorite bands was Pink Floyd, so the jammin’ psychedelic sound comes from that and my imagination takes me too many places,” said Burkart.    “I started with a trio called Master Ew which eventually became Dr. Gonzeaux.  That was the first time I started writing and singing my own music. Once I realized my potential was so much more than just a backup guy; that was it.   Chris Segar and I were the original singers in the band, but I soon had to front the whole show and decided to start a side gig as a trio at Nola’s Old Point Bar to practice my songs and vocals. Even though the band was in the studio, a break up was inevitable and I was left with my songs recorded but no band to play them with.  Like any real New Orleanian I rebuilt myself from the ruins by taking my nickname, Mikey B3 (from bringing my Hammond B3 organ everywhere) and created my own trio.”
Burkart experimented with his personal sound that he calls “Trout Jam" which he showcases on his project Mikey B3.  All of Burkart’s past musical influences have blended together like the perfect gumbo when it comes to the sound of Mikey B3.  Of course any New Orleanian knows a good gumbo starts with a great roux and local seafood, which in this case is a mixture of New Orleans Funk, Reggae, R&B, Dance, all stirred up together with some Hard Classic Rock and Motown Soul to bring the fans of Mikey B3 coming back for more every time.  
“The trout is a symbolism of the murky bayou waters I grew up in where speckled trout fish was one of the most sought after fish from my family and sometimes a hard fish to catch depending on the current and height of the waters,” said Burkart.  “You never know…that’s me always moving and we jam my songs. I swim in my musical bliss.  I'm a percussionist trapped in a guitar players’ body, that plays organ and keys while singing and dancing!”     
As a group Mikey B3, unlike most organ trios, isn’t just an instrumental band.  Powerful vocals along with meaningful lyrics weave together through hypnotic rhythms and beats.  While Burkart plays multi key and instruments at times; a Mikey B3 show always dominates with the Hammond B3 organ, hence the Name Mikey B3 speaking for itself. Some might compare Burkart on organ to Marco Benoveto on piano with all the effects and pedals.   By taking the tones of a B3 and blending it with the effects, Burkart reinvents the rhythmic beats into something completely different.  At times Burkart has been known to hit the delay pedal creating liquid space sounds, go off into a deep purple grungy grit sound, and of course bring on the traditional gospel jazz and straight up organ jam session to the stage.  Some believe the sound Mikey B3 produces is similar to Medeski Martin and Wood with vocals! Burkart can take his songbook into a long jam at any minute with a sudden change in dynamics, pace, or energy and then bam -right back into the song again.
“My life always influences me…But I’m a daydreamer and inventor of stories; some real and some not.  When I write it’s usually based upon visions, daydreams and a combination of melodies that come into my head. Some are dark while others are light,” said Burkart when describing his musical creativity.  “There is an ocean of music in me that I have not discovered or seen yet, but it must come out. I don’t want to be labeled for one style of music or ever play a show of one music or style.” 
On Burkart’s Mikey B3 recordings, the listener will find Burkart takes the sounds of New Orleans, Swamp, Rock, Jazz, Funk, and infuses it with his life experiences drenched in Hammond B3, seasoned piano, Fender Rhodes, clavinet and harp, along with vocals of pure soulful emotion to create a sound unlike any other in this region; hence the term “Trout Jam!”  Mikey B3 approaches music like a mad scientist that won’t disappoint his pupils.  To see this musical explosion live brings the laws of motion and relativity to a new hair flying head banging level as his body never stops moving while his eyes are entranced as if he’s floating in another dimension. Burkart’s hands move at extreme speeds across his Hammond B3 which has tones like no else's because of the non-traditional style and love of effects.  The natural roar of a Hammond B3 and using multiple keys gives his trio Mikey B3 the sound of a full band playing songs of all styles while always showcasing the Hammond B3 Organ. 
To make sure the Mikey B3 trio has an original style that Burkart would never find ordinary, he enlisted Jonathan Solomon (Gravity A, Mamma Ray, The Plum Magnetic) on bass and Joseph Boucha (Mamma Ray) on drums. Mikey B3 plays actual songs, not just impromptu jams that are often imitated in sound for many typical New Orleans style bands. By taking a percussive style of playing and infusing it with effects, Mikey B3 has created an appealing sound for all.  Even though Burkart has several favorite songs to play at each show, he believes “Living In The City” is probably one of his favorites as well as “Hang My Head,” because of the pure emotion, symbolism and truth the songs project.  Of course the organ jam at the end is just plain fun too!
Currently on the recording side of things, Burkart has presented his trio, Mikey B3, under Michael Burkart Presents Mikey B3, a Self-Titled album that will be rereleased Fall, 2013.  At the same time the trio known as Mikey B3 recently completed a Presonus studio live 242.2: live recording and are in the mixing process with Marc Hewitt of Sound Services Recording.  On the personal side Burkart also has just completed some projects including Mike Darby Mike Darby Band Release Date 2013 , Mike Doussan Band Untitled Release Date Fall 2013, and was featured in a Brass-A-Holics video recorded in early Summer 2013; a group he often sits in with when their key player is out of town.  Burkart will also be busy in the recording studio this fall working with The Revealers, Irene Sage Band, Billy Iuso and The Restless Natives recording in New York at the Shrine, along with a new side project that includes Big Chief Smiley Ricks and One Nation Band.
mikeyb3.com
http://www.reverbnation.com/rpk/mikeyb3band
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Joshua grew up in a small New England town during the 1980s, heavily influenced by the vibrant jam band scene that swept across the region, as well as the raw intensity of the hardcore metal club circuit of the early ’90s. This unique blend of musical subcultures inspired him to craft an audio-visual aesthetic of his own by the mid-’90s, collaborating with a tight-knit group of artists and DJs.

In 1998, Joshua moved to Chicago, and by 2004, he had relocated to Los Angeles, where he continues to produce, edit, engineer, and design across multiple media disciplines including audio, video, gameplay, and graphic design. His love for music runs deep—dating back to 1979 when he acquired his first vinyl record: the infamous KISS Dynasty, a pivotal influence that helped define his identity as both an artist and a human being.

In the wake of Warholian excess, amid the sampling and reshaping of pop culture through immersive soundscapes and technotopian visions, Joshua—under the name SOTRAB—emerged as an image-sound manipulator. Working with film, digital video, turntables, samplers, and live media, his creations blur boundaries. His films, live audio-visual performances, and installations have been featured in underground venues, galleries, and living rooms around the world. He regularly performs across the U.S. and internationally. Though originally from Massachusetts, he now lives and works in Los Angeles.

The origins of visual music can be traced to the 1890s, when George Thomas projected photographic slides alongside the song The Little Lost Child. While crude, this marked the birth of visual music. Over time, however, the medium became co-opted by commercial forces, evolving into the modern music video—ultimately synonymous with MTV and mass-market commodification.

My work seeks the lost chapters and forgotten epilogue of visual music. I reject the notion that music's visual counterpart must serve industry metrics. Instead, I pursue a form that exists independently—a visceral, intuitive embodiment of sound through image. Drawing on the legacy of Maya Deren, Stan Brakhage, Bruce Nauman, and Vito Acconci, I explore their creeds within a video techno-wonderland.

Each of my films, performances, and online transmissions probes the assumptions that reduce visual music to mere commercial artifact. By manipulating pop iconography and repurposing tools of the music video industry, I confront the viewer's biases—forcing a reconsideration of what visual music can be. In a gallery or performance space, can an audience sever the neural tether to television? Can they resist reducing my work to just another music video?

I recreate what could be sold as a slick music video, yet demand it be experienced as personal expression and experimental art. The blurred lines between context and interpretation rise to the surface: can visual music be separated from its commercial shell? Or will every video artist forever inherit MTV’s shadow?

Each of my works is a self-contained experiment—part homage, part rebellion—advancing the legacy and evolution of visual music.

................"Bad as they may be, BAD STATISTICS are a fanatical bunch of drone improv rockers, veering between prog kraut minimalism and scandinavian doom (not to mention russian trancecore), framing the inimitable civil-servant-on-acid vocals of Thebis Mutante with a semi-coordinated / semi-spastic bed of repetitive riffing, pulsing texture and motoring rhythm."============================================================================================================================================================================================

......BAD STATISTICS' second album 'Lucky Town Gone' released by PSEUDOARCANA...ORDER YOUR COPY AT http://www.pseudoarcana.com/current.htm..

======================================================================================================================================================= On the follow-up to last year's debut "Static" LP ((Kr-aa-k)3), Bad Statistics have set about laying waste to the New Zealand suburban dream with this album, a much darker and heavier affair than their debut. If "Static" were to be regarded as the Mission Statement of Bad Statistics Great Annual Report in the Sky, "Lucky Town Gone" is not the Business Highlights chapter to be expected next, but a sideways lurch straight to Appendix 17: Corrupted Data. Recorded onto degraded old cassette tape, "Lucky Town Gone" is a collection of mean-spirited practice room jams that sees the core four-piece of BAD STATISTICS further embracing the stoner doom drone rock that already defined large parts of "Static". The seven tracks of "Lucky Town Gone" are again spearheaded by the abrasive, sense-eluding vocal emissions of Thebis Mutante. Critical response to Mutante’s contributions on "Static" was deeply divided, and the new album is expected to further polarise opinions. Mutante is backed by Mark Williams (Marineville, Idle Suite, Cookie Brooklyn) on guitar, Justin Barr (Raskolnikovs, Users, Wrongdoings, Delaney Ghost Orchestra) on bass, and Johannes Contag (Jay Clarkson, Cloudboy, Sleepytime) on drums and production. Torben Tilly (Minit, Organ Eye, Full Fckng Moon, The Garbage & The Flowers) was absent due to extended interhemispherical field work.

=================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

Edwin Pouncey, The Wire, April 2009, "Lucky Town Gone" review:

If the memory of hearing Pere Ubu's The Modern Dance for the first time still sends a shudder of excitement down your spine, then hearing Bad Statistics vocalist and clarinet player Thebis Mutante (the alter ego of New Zealand improvisor Jeff Henderson) try something similar on opening track “Balloon Outbreak” might have a similar epiphanic effect. In the style of David Thomas's Crocus Behemoth persona, Mutante's vocalising becomes an alien language, where words become noises and repeated sentences become operatic howls and Beefheart-style yelps. Recorded on a frazzled cassette machine, the altered rock, free-jazz sprawl and glossolalian vocal rants that rage through Lucky Town Gone are a genuine revelation.

.. Aquarius Records review:

...... Awesome! We'd been waiting and wanting more from New Zealand's bizarre Bad Statistics ever since we got their vinyl-only debut, Static, last year. In addition to thinking they had a really excellent band name, we loved the doomic, droning weirdness of their propulsive krauty NZ noiserock, made even weirder by the utter outsider vocal garble that arose over their ritualistic music, like spirits or specters seemingly summoned from the other side. Now, huzzah, there's this new full-length, an actual cd on the Pseudo-Arcana label, and it pretty much picks up where the LP left off! 47 and a half minutes more of mysterious musical ceremony, Bad Statistics style, on these seven tracks. Again, the vocals (produced from the throat of one Thebis Mutante) are really strange, unhinged alien hippy rant-chant, like Ya Ho Wah's Father Yod speaking in tongues, sometimes looped and layered. Together with the throbbing drum beats, distorted electronic textures from guitar and bass, and hollow horn bleat and twitter on a track or two, you have the basic tempel-vibrating template for Bad Statistics' repetitive, rumbling, mesmerizing murk. Best listened to from a yogic position of spiritual openness, legs crossed, mind clear, third eye unblinking. Though, at their loudest, most intense chugging psychrock peaks, some vigorous rocking back and forth will be called for, maybe even full-on writhing on the floor. Let's take the 13-minute title track as an example... it's moaningly eased into, the percussive plod slow and sparse, but after a short while Thebis cries out quite like Can's Damo Suzuki, and the pace picks up, cymbals crashing... before another long droning lull with whistling and mumbling drifting over the slo-mo chug of the guitars and drums... then towards the very end, the singer suddenly seems possessed, his voice dropping into a guttural exhortations, the din of the instruments rising into a psychedelic swirling howl... welcome to the reverse exorcism!! Imagine the kosmic-kraut-primitivism of early Amon Duul, Tangerine Dream, or Siloah, with Circle's Mika Ratto as voice coach, encouraging Yod x Yoko vocal vibrations. Or the linear lo-fi insanity of a secret Dead C meets Reynols monster jam, if directed towards the worship of some ancient god, recorded on cheap cassette only as an afterthought. Yeah. It's pretty much awesome..... ..

..===========================================================================================================================================....BAD STATISTICS' debut LP 'Static' (KED03, only 500 copies!) is available from K-RAA-K.....TO ORDER YOUR COPY GO TO: http://www.kraak.net/en/releases.php....

CHECK
OUT THE POLARISED REVIEWS!:

........AQUARIUS RECORDS..One of our favorite new records of late, comes to us all the way from New Zealand, but via Belgium (where their label, long time AQ faves Kraak are based). A mysterious troupe called Bad Statistics, their debut a two song vinyl only EPIC. Equal parts droney noise rock, propulsive krautrock, and even some weird sort-of-doom. Drenched in swirls of chaotic FX and a blown out in-the-red recording, that manages to be fierce and murky at the same time...Each track takes up a whole side and is given plenty of time to change shape and direction, sound and spirit, transforming gradually, but managing to remain hypnotic and blissed out. The A side, begins as a doomy plod, but with clean guitars instead of downtuned distorted ones, the drums spare, and all manner of weird demon-y vocals, a sort of post rocky crawl. Eventually, synths join the fray, and along with the drums, they lock into a looped cyclical groove, over which, still more strange vocals croon and moan. And we're talking REALLY strange, mewling moaning howling weirdness. The music sounds like some spaced out Tangerine Dream, the drums a constant pound way down in the mix, the synths pulsing and throbbing, the vocals though turn it into some damaged outsider space jam. At one point the synths drop out and the vocals go crazy, sounding like they're speaking in tongues, before the band kick back in, launching into a fierce Hawkwind style FX drenched psychrock outro that goes on forever...
The second track is even better, and one of our favorite songs of the year hands down. A gorgeously blown out dirge, the guitars so hot they crumble with every downbeat, the recording super distorted and raw, but the melody and the main riff are super gorgeous, catchy and minor key, the track relaxes briefly, spreading out into a glitchy ambient murmur, over which guitars shimmer, little bits of electronics flutter, and the bass holds it all together with a simple dreamy groove. Very krautrocky, and a bit like a more lo-fi noiserock Necks. The track shifts constantly over the next ten minutes or so, to weird doomy twang, with gorgeous majestic riffing, thick bass chords, and some shapeless falsetto vocals, then to a super distorted psychdrone freakout, replete with chiming guitar harmonics, and a pulsing throbbing rhythm buried beneath a layer of crunchy buzz, then to a sunbaked space jam, all open chords, simple drumming, more shapeless vox, and finally to a washed out krautrock dirge, peppered with bits of backwards percussion, garbled voices, reverse guitar, and jagged chunks of crumbling distortion, until the whole thing slowly burns to black... Sorry to everyone without a turntable, but this just may be the blown out space psych doom kraut jam of the year!!.. http://aquariusrecords.org/cat/experimental8.html....

FOXY DIGITALIS.. This record is not as much bad as it is just terrible… Sorry, but this shouldn’t have been pressed. The band clearly has spent a good deal of time listening to some good music and probably pride themselves on as much, but the clear desire to emulate Finland’s inimitable Circle above having some krautrock/Hawkiwnd leanings is all too apparent and makes their music that much more unoriginal. As musicians, the band isn’t so bad and if they keep going I wouldn’t be surprised if they eventually found their own thing and started producing some exciting music… the potential is there… however, the vocals are just awful; uncalled for to say the least. An attempted weirdness that just doesn’t make it. Sometimes experimental means finding out what works and what doesn’t. To be fair, the b-side is far better and has a few golden moments, but I wouldn’t recommend wading through the swamp of bad taste to find those moments. Not to sound harsh, but honestly, this record would be better served if it were shelved, and the band would do better to go back to the rehearsal space and rework their sound a bit. Hopefully they’ll come back out though, because I genuinely believe there’s something worth salvaging, just not this effort... 1/10 -- Todd Brooks (29 January, 2008)....

DUSTED MAGAZINE.. Sidelong psych/Kraut/groove explorations from this mostly tasteful avant-jam sesh quintet out of Wellington, New Zealand. I’ve given this one multiple listens and there’s parts of it I keep coming back to in awe, namely when the finally hit the stride 2/3rds of the way through “If I Were a Pint of Milk,” a 22 minute colossus of slow-burn fuckery that gives way to a crashing, crushing beat, a manipulated reanimation of said beat on top of itself, and layers of bass, synths, and sax that aim right towards the sun. Make no mistake: despite the label affiliation, this is rock music, and it rocks pretty goddamn hard at that. I could really, really do without the mongoloid vocals of Thebis Mutante flittering all around this otherwise godly heap; his presence brings only distraction and annoyance to what might otherwise be a Kiwi space rock take on Endless Boogie’s endless boogie. Rein this guy in and you might have something. Side B’s medley ebbs and flows a bit in a more erratic fashion, but the peaks are still there, and give notice of some unreal, glowing, enormous promise for future outings. Edition of 500 copies, and taken in its most direct chunks, as killer a time as you’re gonna find in this realm as of late... Doug Mosurock, Dusted Magazine, Vol 4, No. 1.. http://www.dustedmagazine.com/features/708..

The scene is set in the murky depths of the forest, where electronic aficionado, Dave Jacob lurks. He hovers above his dark cauldron, cooking up some of the most gnarly, grotesque and groove-laden sonance known to man: like some sort of maniacal, Psytrance Walter White. As his discordant turbulence travels through the forest trees, a conjuring has begun. Something evil has been summoned. And this is where the fun really begins...
A whirlwind of action and madness commences, as the Swamp-Donkey and his Morning After Tab begin their psychedelic journey to the stomping grounds of Synesthesia where they will consummate their relationship. Technocalypse is truly a modern day masterpiece of catastrophic proportions.

David: “Technocalypse can fit perfectly into the dark and twisted early morning slot at any festival.” - ★★★★★

Margaret: “It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, but mostly it will make you stomp and bang your head like a motherfucker.” - 666 stars

BOOKINGS: technocalypse@gmail.com

This is big boy, bourbon & dope, fire & brimstone, cock & balls style rock & roll that's been vicariously, yet adeptly steeped and percolated through haunted juke-joints and sports arenas alike. Their music makes the sonic argument that this band would not be out of place sharing the stage with Foghat in 72, Zeppelin in 75, GnR in 88, Alice In Chains or Soundgarden in 93, Foo Fighters in 99, Wolfmother in 06, or Jack White / Black Keys / Queens Of The Stone Age today. 
      Amid the abundance of synth pop, and post rock that somewhat defines Portland’s music scene these days, Spirit Lake has emerged to offer the sweat, the swagger, and the fuel of Rock ’n’ Roll. With their E.P., Between Me and the Mountain, the band finds the basis for their sound. It's a foray into the perseverance of the human spirit. The sounds are massive, driving and have been known to send chills up one's spine with a mix of psychedelic blues and big rock. On the group’s debut full-length album, "Uncle Walker’s Amber Restorative", Spirit Lake builds upon this foundation with the proto-punk sound of the late 60s and early 70s. Arty, but primitive, it swings with a combination of blues, pop and rock like Exile era Stones, while slowly grinding in distortion toeing the line between psychedelic and country ala Neil Young & Crazy Horse. Elsewhere, the band injects moments of grunge, metal, and T-Rex-ish glam creating a blend that’s smooth but with a stiff kick.  "Uncle Walker's Amber Restorative" conjures images of dandy, bearded travelers peddling bottles of brown water and black magic. The sort of murky elixir that will at first heal the sick, then send them on a damn fool crusade into the depths of some dusky, damp wilderness in search of the prize, a figment, unimaginable to those not under it's influence. On their sophomore release Spirit Lake provides the soundtrack for just such a hallucination. Wielding big 70's sounding guitars and drums, these lads deftly interweave dark almost Gothic tales with hooky numbers to create the sort of hard rocking, yet accessible psychedelic quilt that you'd expect to be attached to someone named Followill. From the menacing riff of the records opening salvo, "Peacemaker," to the twang-laden closing jam, Walk Back To LA, "Uncle Walker's" will keep you chasing down the rabbit hole, and, when you wake, don't be surprised to find yourself, roach smoldering, dancing on Shannon Hoon's grave."  
    Despite the reservations, sometimes bigger is better. From the onset, Spirit Lake’s second full length album, appropriately titled "The Biggening," is more grandiose than the group’s past efforts. It’s fed by sweeping percussion; howling, distorted solos; and a voice resembling that of Wolfmother’s Andrew Stockdale... "Questions (You Never Ask)", with its swaggering electric guitar and touch of cowbell, shakes like a lost Electric Warrior B-side... "Hellbent", a two-minute cannonade of bombastic skins and blues riffage, is the perfect homage to a 500-horsepower muscle car... The Biggening does have its softer moments. "Santa Ana Winds" recalls the burning air that rolls off the Mojave with twanged acoustics and glimmering slide. "I Want Love" expresses longing via slow-burning, staggered guitar and an honest refrain: “I want a love, I want a love, I want a love,” sings Ferguson, as the song quietly dissipates, “that won’t break my heart.” Who doesn’t?” "The Biggening," doesn't "shy away from the oil-slick muscle rock that characterized their earlier stuff—tried-and-tattered, bruised-and-battered biker rock in the vein of Blue Cheer (the strain of acid and the band). Visceral, and completely lacking in pretense or twee introspection (The Biggening) might be the Portland band's Led Zeppelin III. On "The Town That I Died In," Spirit Lake lets their bluster blow soft, aiming for gentle ripples rather than whitecaps, but they're still at their best with bluesy, bong-ready blowouts like the swaggering title track.

Initially formed as a garage band between friends, they got their start on the local bar circuit after they auditioned for a gig at an open jam at Murky Waters Blues Club in Downtown Ocean Springs, MS. After playing three explosive songs back to back, they were immediately booked for a gig of their own at the Murky Waters in Gulfport, MS where they played to a packed house. Since then, they’ve spent the last three years paying their dues up and down the Mississippi Blues Trail and surrounding states.

In three shorts years, Magnolia Bayou has been nominated in five separate categories for the MS Music Awards, including a write up in Hattiesburg, MS-based DIME magazine, given radio play in the Netherlands and was interviewed by Ireland Based Bourbon FM for a documentary about Music in the Southeastern US.

In April 2017, Magnolia Bayou began professionally recording their debut album. In May 2018, they released their album to a sold out crowd at Murky Waters blues club, in their hometown of Gulfport, MS. The album includes nuances of southern, psychedelic, funk and blues-based Rock n Roll. Listeners describe their look and sound as a throwback to the late 60’s and early 70’s when Rock N Roll was “epic”.  

Magnolia Bayou is an independent group that self-funded and produced this debut album. It was recorded at Music Shed Studios in New Orleans, LA.

With the release, there has been positive reverberation among their rapidly growing and diverse fan base.

Xylie has her own sound which can be described as powerfully unexpected and soulful indie alternative folk rock. Putting on a vibrant and uplifting show, she moves comfortably from clean fingerpicking to wahwah induced funky folk pop. Xylie’s LP LOTUS will be released September 9th 2013. National USA tour dates will be posted on officialxylie.com

Xylie Biography
Xylie Desiree Eshleman (born September 4 1974), profesionally known as Xylie, is an American singer, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, poet and songwriter from Los Angeles, California. Xylie has a mezzo soprano vocal range. Her main genre is alternative folk rock, however she incorporates many elements of blues, jazz, alternative-country, pop, reggae, indie, electronic and jam band.

In 1994 the Grateful Dead documentary Tie Dyed was aired nationally in movie theatres and Xylie had a notable speaking part.

Xylie began glassblowing in 1995.

Xylie returned to Los Angeles in late 1995 and formed her 1st band Chakra. Notable appearances include Performing live on Poor Mans Anti Radio Show and opening for Third World.

Chakra disbanded in 1999 and Xylie took in her twin brother and sister for almost 3 years.

In 2001 Xylie went on tour with Eek-A-Mouse as a babysitter.

In 2005 Xylie wrote the music, recorded and produced Thoughts From Within, a poem by Woody Harrelson. She plays every instrument on the recording.

In 2006 November, Xylie met Dustin Bryce, her drummer and they recorded the drums to her song I Keep Thinking About You within 3 days of meeting. They spent the next 2 years recording and writing material.

In 2008 Xylie and Dustin got a tourbus and converted it to an RV and begin planning an album release and tour.

In 2009 Xylie and Dustins tourbus was stolen in Humboldt Ca, and driven off a cliff into the Mattole river. All their musical instruments and the entire recording studio was stolen.

In 2010 Xylie and Dustin got new instruments, and began performing live as often as possible, performing live on the radio, Oregon State Fair, The Hope Mountain Barter Faire and all over the west coast.

In 2011 Xylie and Dustin continued performing and started their own record label, Ecospun Records. Ecospun Records released two limited edition albums, Eclectic Frenetic and Acoustic Angst, which consisted of old and new Xylie tracks in many genres. Their 1st video for Ego was filmed in April 2011 in Los Angeles.

Xylie and Dustin spent 2012 in Costa Rica writing new material.

In 2013 Xylie and Dustin remastered their folk rock songs and put them all onto one cohesive album called LOTUS, officially announced on April 20, with a release date of September 9th 2013. The limited edition albums were removed from retailers. This was done in order to promote the best songs that were never properly promoted as well as to unify her sound into alternative folk rock as opposed to eclectic dance, hard rock, pop, alternative.

The meaning of LOTUS to Xylie is involved, on one hand it signifies the subconscious coming to light, to understanding and losing the ego. The murky water is the false self, the dark confusion we all must lose in order to meet our true self and potential. On another level it signifies the songs that never saw the light, working to reach the surface to see the light of day and realize their full potential. 
 




[Dope Recordings 011] Ghost Pirates "Pirate Ghost Ship Pt. 1"

01: All Hands On Deck
02: Lost At Sea
03: The Ship Goes Down

released/published 19 January 2006

https://doperecordings.bandcamp.com/album/pirate-ghost-ship-pt-1

From the moment you turn on the first track of the two Ghost Pirates EPs, brought to us by the musical scallywags at Dope Recordings, you can hear the ancient ship creaking through the mist, the clammy hands of the doomed reaching out to grasp at your flesh. Eerie and haunting soundscapes, matched with the deepest of dubby techno bass lines, drag you to the murky depths of funk, inviting you to shake your pirate's booty. 

After the initial spookiness of All Hands On Deck, we are dropped into the minimal contemplation of Lost At Sea. Here we feel the pensive fear of our pirates as they wander the ocean hoping for some sign of salvation. Soft entrancing synths guide you through the journey to nothingness along with more of the enveloping bass lines that help define this release. 

The final track on EP 1, The Ship Goes Down, rounds out the release nicely. A more driving and upbeat number, this is definitely one for all of the souls on the late night dance floor.  The brooding darkness that makes the Ghost Pirates EPs what they are, are as apparent here as they are on the other tracks, but it’s here that the sexiness of these songs really begins to show itself. With the last track on EP 1 we see a solid minimal groove accompany our pirates into the depths of the sea, never to be heard from again…

…Or will we? 

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[Dope Recordings 012] Ghost Pirates "Pirate Ghost Ship Pt. 2"

01: Ghosts Wandering
02: Reclaiming The Ship
03: Back On The High Sea

released/published 2 February 2006

https://doperecordings.bandcamp.com/album/pirate-ghost-ship-pt-2

On EP 2, we find our Ghosts Wandering, after the tension of the first adventure has come and gone. The first track on EP 2 is a slow building walk through the dark as our pirates attempt to get their bearings in their new un-life. Clicks and drones, sounding as if they’ve come from the deepest ocean floor float in and out through the track offering a wonderful minimal experience for other lost souls. 

On Reclaiming the Ship, the second track on EP 2 we see more of the warm minimalism found on the first piece, but this time with more of a driving force behind it. Yet another good jam for late night sessions, here we follow our pirates as they take back what once they lost, and prepare to sail again, knowing nothing else. Soft chimes and echoing sounds resonate in this track, sure to sink all of the heads deeper into the dance floor. 

And, finally, we find our pirates Back On The High Sea, changed from what they once were, but no less enchanting. On the last track of the Ghost Pirates EPs, we get the feeling that our undead guides are almost exultant to be back on the sea again, with the wind in their sails and the sun on their faces. There is a tinge of sadness though, as our 'heroes' know that nothing will ever be the same, but they are accepting of their fates, and will push on going where ever the pulse of the sea may take them. 

With the Ghost Pirates EPs we see Royale, Attentat and Alert producing some of their finest work to date. The three, impressive producers in their own right, come together here to offer a complete journey through the depths of dub, techno and minimalism over the course of 47 minutes. Each of these tracks stand easily on their own, but together offer a cohesive, immersive experience, not easily found today in the electronic music scene. 

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Ghost Pirates are:

Thomas Kamholz
Roy L. England II
Alert

http://soundcloud.com/attentat
http://soundcloud.com/roy-england
http://soundcloud.com/alerttm

Parveen Nurul is following