To call Jeff Barkman’s road out of tiny Steinbach, Manitoba the one less traveled would not be doing justice to the incredible journey of this up-and-coming singer/songwriter. Music has always been the driving force in Jeff’s life and, like any lifelong relationship, it has seen its share of highs and lows. From performing on the street and selling his homemade EP out of his guitar case, to traveling across the country to pursue his passion, his struggles have shaped his lyrics and the emotion behind his unforgettable voice.

While Steinbach is a regional hub for numerous industries, Jeff knew that he would never be able to achieve his dream if he stayed in the small town where he was born. Jeff bought a ticket to London, England - home to a thriving indie music scene - where he spent six months honing his sound. While Jeff still counts grunge bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam among his early influences, his time in the UK gave him exposure to many new artists and vocal styles such as David Gray, Black Crowes and Coldplay. This contributed greatly to the evolution in his own sound which has been described as the raspy wail of Kurt Cobain combined with the vocal agility of a 1950s soul singer.

Music is Jeff’s passion, his heart, and the title track of his new album Assembly Line Surgery, exposes the struggle that Jeff has experienced in order to do what he loves. After abandoning a successful career in corporate sales, Jeff risked it all and moved back to Winnipeg hoping that a friend would help him get the start that he needed in the music industry. But it was too good to be true; his friend couldn’t deliver and, left with no job and no place to live, Jeff moved back to Steinbach into his parents’ house. After falling headlong into a deep depression, panic turned to peace with the realization that his current situation didn’t define his whole existance and that the power to change was completely within his control.

Surviving the darkness and heartache of this period caused a transformation in his heart. He returned to Toronto with $50 in his pocket, not knowing where he would sleep for more than six days, with an even stronger resolve to pursue his music, no matter the sacrifices necessary.

Jeff’s perseverance and passion have begun to pay off. His first full-length album Assembly Line Surgery was released on iTunes in October 2011 and has received great acclaim from listeners and fans. Jeff has toured across Canada performing with talented artists, including Switchfoot and The Bachelor’s Michael Stagliano, and is mining the depths of his soul to create his second album, which will further evolve his unmistakable sound and his continued ascent towards the elite of the Canadian alternative music scene.

For more information or to arrange an interview with Jeff Barkman, please contact Jennifer Nagy at jenn@jlnpr.com or 1.647.867.0093.

"Lightouts are everything I like about bands."
-John Richards, KEXP

Named one of SPIN's CMJ & SXSW "Next Big Things" & "Hottest Acts"

"Melding Sonic Youth's mangled guitars and monotonic vocal sensibilities with a taut and measured rhythm section, these Brooklynites manage to tap into an ever- expanding history of blown-out guitar rock and laconic vocals without feeling like a rehashing of rock'n'roll's recent past."
- Colin Joyce, SPIN

It started with a want ad, plastered across the board of a post-industrial space near Brooklyn's infamously filthy Gowanus Canal. The request? Quite simple: "Robert Smith / Emily Haines, where are you?" The sort of thing you'd expect from a Metric fan who, as a kid growing up in New Mexico, fell under the spell of the Cure's often bleak, yet always beguiling music at a time when riff-raking guitar heroes were all the rage.

"People would say, 'Why would you want to play like Robert Smith?,'" explains Lightouts founder Gavin Rhodes, last heard in one-man band Honeypower. "'Wouldn't you rather learn how to shred instead?"

No, not really. Better to become the backbone of a fuzz-toned band in the mold of the Jesus and Mary Chain with vocals that recall David Bowie's most spirited moments. Enter Greg Nelson, the only sane person to answer Rhodes' call.

Nelson was exactly what Lightouts needed: A seasoned natural at toeing the line between darkness and light. For proof of the man's formidable vocal chops, listen no further than to his sensual croon and sky-scraping wail on the verses and choruses of "See Clear," the band's sledgehammering debut single from 2011.

Fast-forward through the release of four ensuing singles -- each a brilliant, hook-laden monster -- plus dozens of live shows, press adulation from the likes of The Village Voice, SPIN, and Magnet, and the recruitment of an airtight rhythm section in the form of Dean Perry (bass) and Josh Fleischmann (drums). What began as an instrument-swapping duo is now a full-on power quartet, a development that's set the stage for the March 2013 release of Lightouts' first LP, Want.

A loosely linked concept album based around the idea of following forward-moving instincts while trying to keep certain desires in check, Want features a 13-track lineup that draws liberally from Lightouts' catalog of short-form releases to include all the band's singles and accompanying B-sides to date. Three new cuts bookend and bisect Want, including the sucker-punch title tune that arrives ten tracks in. Rhodes calls it "the most collaboratively written song on the album, in contrast to me writing most of the other tracks, apart from the vocals."

Why the wait for Lightouts' first full-length release? "This was always our plan," says Rhodes. "We wanted our debut album to come after we'd established ourselves as a band that made music worth listening to."

There's little doubt Want is a clear thoroughbred in 2013's best debut album horse race, and Rhodes, Nelson, and Perry are justifiably proud of their two years of work. They're also less than shy about paying homage to their strongest influences, buried in melodic distortion as they may be. For sonic proof, seek out the band's singles for phenomenally reverent updates of deep cuts by The Stone Roses, The La's, Guided By Voices, The Cure (of course), and not least of all, a devastating mash-up of LCD Soundsystem's "All I Want" and Bowie's "Heroes."

Rhodes elaborates: "While we've been compared to everyone from The Hold Steady to Surfer Blood, it's no secret that many of our touchstones are acts from the early '90s."

"I like bands who sound like Animal Collective and Yeasayer," admits Nelson. "But we're not part of the new primitive movement, you know? We're after something tighter and more structured."

"Like Smashing Pumpkins," adds Rhodes. "When they were good."

♂ What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you jabroni? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in greco-roman wrestling, and I’ve been involved in numerous secret matches in bondage shows, and I have over 300 confirmed fistings. I am trained in fucking cumming and I’m the best greco-roman wrestler in the entire locker room. You are nothing to me but just another jabroni. I will fist you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with wrestling me over the Internet? Think again, buddy. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of gay, bondage jabroni's across the USA and your leather club is being traced right now so you better prepare for the fisting, jabroni. The fisting that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You’re fucking dead, buddy. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can wrestle you in over seven hundred ways, and that’s just with my bare hands. Not only am I extensively trained in unarmed fisting, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the dungeon master and I will use it to its full extent to fist your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you jabroni. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little “clever” gachi was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking ass. But you couldn’t, you didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you goddamn jabroni. I will cum fury all over you and you will drown in it. You’re fucking ass, jabroni. ♂﻿


I finally remembered my profile login just for season 2--2023 bb

[Goblin Slayer ED was reuploaded again with a false title to avoid copyright]
-I'll just leave the bio as is though, because for some reason I actually put time into it lol.

Omg what happened to the Goblin Slayer ED?!
-It just disappeared out of nowhere and I'm afraid Goblins might be involved in its abduction.
-"Wait a sec...GOBLINS?!" The scum of this planet, the creatures from the dark side of the moon, but how did this happen!?
-Now I fear the absolute worst for Gin no Kisei. With it being a girl track and the...things these monsters are capable of, I...If she's currently being...no I can't think about that now. I have to go find her as soon as I can before it's too late.
-But what do I do? Do I submit a Missing Persons quest to the guild? No. It'll take too long and I barely have any money to offer as a reward. Look for her myself? I can barely hold up a sword. How can I possibly do anything to save her? I'm sure the first goblin I see will tear me to bits...I'm useless.
-But I have to do something. I need help. The guild is my only hope at the moment; and I pray to dear God that an adventurer will help find her.
*Running*
*Bursts through Guild doors*
"PLEASE! Someone! My friend's been kidnapped and I need help right now!"
-The room is noisy. It seemed like no one batted an eye or even noticed I was there.
-I tried pleading to several groups but they seem completely disinterested to anything I have to say.
*I approach a group of warriors drinking at a table*
"Please you have to help me. My fr--"
*One of them pushes me to the ground* Not even saying a word
-On the ground, I attempt to reach out to some more adventurers walking past me.
"I beg of you. I'll give anyth--"
*He continues to walk out*
"Please sir. If you can just..."
-Not even any eye contact. They're not listening.
-What's wrong with me. Is it because I'm just a poor farm hand? Not even worth a breath of a simple "No".
*I stare down at the wooden floor* Fists clenched
-I'm about to cry. Pathetic.
"I can't even do this..." I whispered
-I should have been the one that was taken. Not Gin. What has she done to deserve this? She had so much to offer. Everyone loved her and she had the most beautiful voice. And then there's me. A simpleton that leeches off the success of others. I have nothing to give to the world of my own.
-Why Gin? Why did you have to befriend me of all people? Why was I the one you chose to be with?
"Why...Why...Why?" I repeatedly muttered
*Tears started to flow down my face*
"THE GOBLINS SHOULD HAVE TAKEN ME!" I suddenly yelled out.
-I heard the doors in front of me close.
"Goblins?" I heard another voice say.
*I looked up from the ground towards the voice* My face flustered with incompetence.
-And there he was. An adventurer with a silver tag wearing leather armor and a red feathered helmet masking his face. I can't believe it. It really is him. The one people know as...
"Goblins, did you say?" He asked again.
I was frozen. I'm not sure if out of sheer terror or happiness but in the next moment I was able to weakly speak his name:
"Goblin Slayer"

lol what was this? But seriously the Goblin Slayer ED track is gone. It may take several days or even a week for it to be found again. Stay tuned!

Also follow the Admiral...he's somewhere around here.

Formed in New York City in March of 2004, F-Units have created their own personal brand of punk-influenced hard rock while drawing influences from some of the greatest cross-generational rock bands of our time. "F-Units" get their name from diesel engine locomotives built by General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division in the 1940s and 50s — a metaphor for the band’s sound: hard, fast, loud... fueled by power-pop hooks and raunch-rock riffs slammed together with the heavy driving force of a runaway freight train.

The band features New Orleans native Scott Bellina (vocals/rhythm guitar), Tom Meehan (bass), Max Holland (lead guitar), and Frank Coleman on drums.

F-Units released their debut album "Reject on Impact" on September 29, 2006. This DIY debut features ten blistering pop-influenced punk tracks recorded in Brooklyn and mixed in Los Angeles by Scott Gilman.

F-Units released their much anticipated 2nd studio album, "Alone in Babylon" in the Summer of 2010. Recorded in NYC's famed The Cutting Room Studios, "Alone in Babylon" features 12 punk-influenced hard rock stadium anthems also mixed by Los Angeles producer Scott Gilman (who's credits include the likes of Avenged Sevenfold, Damone, and Frank Black).

From the ferocious southern-stomp of the title track to a heart-wrenching pulse of sincerity, F-Units’ sophomore effort contains a sonic masterpiece of punk-influenced arena anthems that reaches deep into the bands’ abundance of influences — all the while brandishing a swagger that is unique unto themselves.

Regarding the release F-Units frontman Scott Bellina states, “Creating an album of this magnitude by our own accord is more than an accomplishment, it’s a statement. As the title suggests, we’ve been doing the DIY-thing in New York for so long that we’ve become masters at it. This record embodies the raw emotions of a tremendously talented group of individuals that more than deserve their moment in the sun. It’s been long in coming, but our journey through "Babylon" might just be what gets us there.”

"Get there" indeed — the title track from "Alone in Babylon" made it's primetime television debut on episode 215 of NBC's hit drama "Parenthood" on February 8th, 2011. That same day, the song was put into heavy rotation on ClearChannel syndicate WAIL 99.5 FM, Florida Keys.

Several songs from the same album ("Black California", "You're Just a Tease", "Come What Maybe", "Desperation Road") are currently in rotation on a major cable network and "Lipstick Traces" was used on the ABC Family primetime television series "The Fosters".

In July 2011, the band began an experimental phase and released the EP "Black Heart Blacksmith Shop" which portrays the band's versatility by bordering into the indie, acoustic, and alt-country genres while maintaining it's unique identity and rock credibility. The EP was written, recorded, mixed, produced, and mastered solely by the members of the band.

This experiment has proven worth it's while as F-Units have begun writing material for an sonically rock-driven and inspired third album most likely to be recorded in late 2013 into early 2014, with a targeted release in fall 2014. Some work-in-progess tracks have been released on the band's f-units.bandcamp.com profile which suggest a glimpse of some more greatness to come with tracks such "Electro Bomb", "Chemicals", "T.M.I.", and "Made of You".

With 11 CD’s now on the market, Kelli’s recording career began on Warner Bros. German label, Eagle Records with the release of a self-titled CD which topped charts at #4 in Belgium and #7 in Holland. It would be Mercury Rock-a-Billy artist, “Mr. Action” Roy Moss who would give her the thrown. After working several shows, Roy took notice of; not only her already award winning vocals, (Voice Scholarship) but also her unique and signature piano style taught to her by her Mother. He asked her along with guitar legend, Johnny Patterson to play on his next project for Eagle Records. In the album liner notes he would call her, “the Star of Texas”; however, he would soon change it to, “the Swingin’ Little Miss from Texas” and finally, “the Queen of Swing”. Kelli would later headline with R&B legend, Carl Perkins who would agree. Today she is known around the world as, The Queen of Swing™.

Her new release, “Swing-a-Billy” is adding to her legacy with fans coming in from all corners of the world. 4 STAR reviews with French critic, Bernard Boyat exclaiming it, “SUPERBES!” Set in the 50’s Jump, Swing & Rhythm & Blues style, this music graduate: Sings, Writes, Arranges and Plays all instruments except guitar. It is an amazing feat that very few artists would be able to accomplish and one the Queen of Swing™ says she is not likely to do again. From now own it will be her BAND OF FIVE, “The Swing Kings”. 4 Songs were placed by the Grammy® reviewing board for consideration in “Best Pop Vocal Performance” for the 2013 award ceremonies.

Her first recognition in the Blues came from Billboard when she received an “Honorable Mention” for her R&B original, 
“The Way Love Use to Be” from the cassette album, “Honky Tonk Rock” which would later be re-released as, “Honky Tonk Swing” receiving
 4 Star reviews in magazines around the world. She is a licensed BMI songwriter.

The CD, “Swing ‘n Blues” focused on the joining of her R&B / Blues accolades with her now Swing title and signature piano style. Her own blues tune, “Loose Woman Blues” captured the attention of the Grammy® Reviewing Board and was placed in contention for 
“Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals”. She included “Jump, Jive & Wail” from the great Louie Prima and covered 
“The Blues Brothers”, “All My Money Back.” She would incorporate this CD into an original musical review, “Swingin’ the Blues” with her performance fees subsidized by the National Endowment for the Arts. She began headlining in casinos across the country and performing art theatres. She would headline with some of the biggest names and appear in some of the biggest venues in the industry. Her new show "SWING" is a derivative of that show adding some of her new original material. Performing Art directors publicly declared Kelli, “an exceptional entertainer”. Because of her extensive research in writing her show, “Swingin’ the Blues” she  was a Table Top Speaker for the Texas Arts & Exchange Conference. 

The CD, “Blues to Me!” followed “Swing ‘n Blues” and would include several of her own blues tunes and would be considered by one of the largest organizations in the industry as a chronicle on the diverse styles of the blues; Swing, Jump, Country, Rhythm, Western and Kelli’s award winning style she calls, “Pure Blues.” 2 of those originals: “B-A-D, BAD” & “Strut My Stuff” would be placed on the Grammy® Voting list in consideration for “Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance”.

Kelli went back to her roots for the CD, “Rock-a-Billy U.S.A.” which was done for the 10 year anniversary of her mentor and friend Mercury Rock-a-Billy artist, “Mr. Action” Roy Moss. Kelli recorded some R&B, Rock-a-Billy, 50’s Swing standards, added a LIVE cut of her husband, Johnny Patterson playing the guitar instrumental, “Honky Tonk” and took the 4 songs Roy had partially recorded editing the pieces to make a complete song. Wanting to honor her mentor and friend, the CD received 5 Star reviews. Roy had started a new album but unfortunately would never be able to finish the project. He passed away from lung cancer in September 1998. She did not realize it would also commemorate Johnny's career. He passed away 2010. 

Considering September 11th, 2001 to be one of the bluest day in America’s history she wrote “Stand Up for the U.S.A.” to honor; not only her father, Seaman 3rd Class Robert Johnson but all of our veterans and the families and victims of this horrible tragedy. In 2007 she wrote the recitation, “I Wouldn’t Go …” to honor her father with the song heard in the background. Both were heard on radio stations across the country for the 70th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor 2011 with local radio stations dedicating their program to her father who was critically ill. Unfortunately, her father passed away the night before. 

Being from Texas, The Queen of Swing™ and due to her husband’s influence the late Johnny Patterson who had worked with the King of Western Swing, Bob Wills, Kelli recorded a Texas Swing CD, “Swing Like That in 2000 which was the first time her title was documented but not registered as a Federal trademark until 2006. The CD topped charts at #6 and her own swing tune #2. Due to its popularity, she was inducted into the Western Swing Hall of Fame. A few years later, Kelli wrote / recorded “Don’t Mess With Texas” for the Texas Department of Transportation, which is the reason she registered the title as a trademark. She recorded Public Service Announcements for the states litter campaign and wrote her own slogan, ‘Bag It, Trash It”. In 2009, she won the Will Rogers Award Female Artist of the Year for her CD, “Swings & Sings” and with fan voting only she was the only female nominee for the RMA Artist of the Year.

As her name and notoriety continued to grow she was one of only 209 Texas artists selected to be on the Texas Touring Roster. The Texas Commission on the Arts solicited her help to stop funding cuts to the arts with Public Service Announcements. 

With required nomination and sponsorship, Kelli was included in the Mid-America Arts Alliance Touring roster with subsidized funding by the National Endowment for the Arts. With extensive research she wrote a musical revue, “Swingin’ the Blues”. The highly acclaimed original revue, designed as a clever way to showcase her CD’s, takes the audience down a musical highway of Blues, Jazz & Swing as the Swing Queen follows the BEAT from New Orleans to New York City, Chicago to Kansas City, Memphis to Vegas and to the GREAT state of Texas. Telling little known facts and funny anecdotes Kelli demonstrates “Swings” evolution into a musical revolution. (psst, don’t tell anyone but the show is very educational) 

As an Award winning Singer, she was inducted into World Who's Who Jazz Cabaret Singers, New York, NY - Federation of American Musicians and the Heritage Registry of Who’s Who - Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.  Her vocals are low and sultry and, almost mesmerizing. Her Pop CD, “Softer Side of Swing” was ONE of only 36 albums on the Grammy® voting list for “Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album” and her own pop single, “If You Were the One” in contention for “Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance”. (Not Nominated) 

Endorsed by Jean Bennett, the responsible management for the success of “The Platters” & their 16 Gold records Jean declares Kelli “a consummate entertainer”, A TRIPLE THREAT: Singer, Songwriter and Musician and she is also very funny and, pretty.

Few artists are credited with creating their own musical style. Known for her signature piano style in which Kelli plays a walking 4/4 “swing” bass line in her left hand coupled with piano poundin’ rock-a-billy leads in the right. She combine the two styles to call her musical style, Swing-a-Billy™ which only the Queen of Swing™ can bring.


Rock is dead, long live rock!  

It’s been said before and will be said again.  The truth is that rock music is and always will be here to stay, especially when a band like Carousel Vertigo creates, feels and plays it like it does. ‘Revenge of Rock and Roll’.  The title says it all and the second album by Carousel Vertigo makes a clear musical statement; about a trend-proof musical genre, about its importance,  now and always, to the loyal millions who will forever support it – and about how that shit just never grows old, say what you will about it.

‘Revenge of Rock and Roll’ finds Paris-based Carousel Vertigo – three native French rockers and an American – doing what this band does best and loves the most, regardless of opinions or passing phases, because hard rock truly is timeless and ever-present. Carousel Vertigo’s masterful take on it, the band’s innate understanding of the history of rock’s past and a vision of its future, is convincing and current enough to have attracted some stellar accomplices on ‘Revenge of Rock and Roll’ – not least among them Garry Tallent, long-serving bass player with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, who happily guested for ‘a bottle of Bourgogne’ on one of the album’s ten tracks.

The nucleus of the band, Gibson Guitars-endorsed Parisian Vincent Martinez and New Jersey native-son Jansen Press, formed Carousel Vertigo purely out of a shared love of the classic rock music they both reveled and could play so well.  Although each came from a different culture and country, they were instantly united by the other’s ability to express that music in different but complementary ways – and a dual-lead guitar partnership of virtuosity and instinct was born.  Riding above it all, Vincent’s vocal – one moment a pure, hair-raising wail, the next soulful and sweetly emotive honey – establishes Carousel Vertigo as the real deal.

The best band you’ve never heard playing the greatest music you think you already know but don’t.

Not yet...

So try the enclosed five-track sampler of ‘Revenge of Rock and Roll’ for size: rock and roll is very much alive.  

Believe.

Serafim Þórví is following