contact: otismacmusic@gmail.com

The sounds of Shuggie Otis and Michael McDonald inspired a man to write a song. A couple of Mondays later, that song inspired an Identity. The name is Otis McDonald. The mission? Good Music. 

From the mind and ears of producer/multi-instrumentalist, Joe Bagale, comes a sound that is fresh but tangibly rooted in nostalgia. When taking a listen, one may recall the soul of the 60s or the funk of the 70s. Or perhaps it’s pop radio from the 80s or the boom bap beats of the late 90s. What ever it may be, Otis McDonald is the sound of an artist who manifests a lesson in versatility and growing perspective.

The production can be dense at times, yet through it’s syncopated rhythms and unexpected harmony, Bagale is able to find the space that counts. Starting out as a studio experiment, Otis McDonald was developed over a 3 month period which found Bagale writing short snippets of music, playing all of the instruments, sampling those snippets, playing more instruments and and eventually creating entirely new songs. 

Musically it’s both playful and emotive, while giving listeners a sense of optimism and joy. Just because it’s rooted in the blues, doesn’t mean it has to have the blues. There are beats that’ll make you wanna sweat on the dance floor. A thumpin’ bass that inspires folks to make love. Synths, guitars and horns that’ll cut through to your core, and a voice that reminds us all what it’s like to be human. 

In 2015, Bagale put out 30 tracks for free, under the name Otis McDonald. Released as copyright free music, exclusively through the YouTube audio library, these tracks have been downloaded over 5 million times, streamed over 10 million times and already have appeared in thousands of youtube creators’ videos. Take a second and search Otis McDonald on YouTube and you’ll find pages upon pages of videos featuring these songs. This being a very unusual way to release music, it may be the best music nobody has ever heard. Funny how the business works. As of 2016, Bagale has formed the Otis McDonald live experience, featuring some of San Francisco and Oakland’s finest players. He’s recorded new music, soon to be released for sale and for streaming, and at least 10 new free tracks for the YouTube audio library, due out later this year.

Combining the skills of a musician, with the power of both old and new technology, the sound of Otis McDonald was born, reminding us that music is a universal language that will always have a past and always have a future. 

Already proven as a talented, sought after songwriter and revered platinum-selling artist, Marsha Ambrosius is meeting the next challenge in her already impressive musical career by reinventing herself as a solo artist with her J Records debut disc LATE NIGHTS & EARLY MORNINGS. Hailing from Liverpool, England, fans first got a taste of Marsha’s talent as the singing half of the duo Floetry. Their 2000 debut Floetic produced signature singles like “Say Yes" and "Getting Late" as well as four Grammy nods. Following the 2005 release of their second studio album, Flo’Ology, the ladies veered creatively and personally. While the split was difficult, Marsha continued to build a name for herself as a songwriter and producer, creating “Butterflies” for the late Michael Jackson and other hits for artists such as Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Jamie Foxx and Nas. She’s been nominated for a total of six Grammys and has been honored by BMI as their Songwriter of the Year. Over the years, Marsha has stayed relevant as an artist via touring, writing/producing and mixtapes like 2007’s Neo Soul is Dead, 2008’s Yours Truly and 2010’s Yours Sincerely. She also appeared as a featured artist on projects from Patti Labelle, The Game, Busta Rhymes, Jamie Foxx and Earth, Wind & Fire, among others. Eventually, Marsha signed with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Records however a much-buzzed about solo debut never materialized due to creative glitches. Equipped with plenty of her own talent, she found herself being given songs from producers that were “great but not songs that made sense in relation to each other.” Marsha calls her sound “honest and consistent” and it was important for her to make an album with an overall cohesive sound. She explains, “I think with an album everything has to make sense, like ‘Where is this story going?’” But that wasn’t the only situation posing a challenge for Marsha. A basketball player since childhood, when her music career took off, her diet remained the same as when she was regularly active. Constantly on the road touring and promoting wasn’t conducive to a healthy diet and resulted in her gaining 70 pounds in just one year. She finally got serious about her health and lost the weight safely and slowly over about a two-year period. Now at a strong place mentally and physically, Marsha’s ready to present her sound to the world. The first single, “Hope She Cheats on You (With a Basketball Player),” is an anthem that women and men can relate to. Marsha explains, “It’s the reality of a bad break up. We wanna be decent human beings and say the right thing, you know, ‘I wish you well.’ But this is ‘Everything that could go wrong for him I want it to because my ego is bruised and I’m acting out.’” There’ve been many songs written about heartbreak, but Marsha’s approach to “Hope She Cheats on You” gets in your face rather than plays the victim. LATE NIGHTS & EARLY MORNINGS is destined to be a classic, as Marsha offers a candid glimpse of her life and perspectives as a woman. Inspired by musical icons like Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Prince, she concedes there is an overall male influence in her songwriting, such as the assertive sentiments heard on hits like “Say Yes.” She explains, “My pen and my point of view has a certain aggression to it because I’ve listened to a lot of male influenced music, which I think makes me one of the most outspoken writers out here. Sometimes as a woman you don’t wanna say what’s on your mind for fear of being judged. But why wouldn’t I say it like that if that’s how I felt?” Musical peers recruited to contribute to the project include Alicia Keys, a reunion with Dre and Vidal (producers of “Say Yes”), Just Blaze and Focus. While her success in the industry is already solidified, Marsha knows it’s never easy to win over fans as a solo artist. Fortunately, she says, “It’s like being thrown in the deep end. ‘Okay I have to swim? Oh well.’ I’ve taken that attitude and it’s carried me forward.”

“Understanding the order of time is important to anyone hoping to manifest a dream,” says Valerie June. “There is a time to push, and a time to gently tend the garden.”

Since the release of her 2013 breakout Pushin’ Against A Stone, June has been patiently at work in the garden of song, nurturing seedlings with love and care into the lush bloom that is her stunning new album, The Order Of Time. Some songs grew from seeds planted more than a decade ago, others blossomed overnight when she least expected them to, but every track bears the influence of time. See, time has been on June’s mind a lot lately. It’s the only constant in life, even though it’s constantly changing. It’s the healer of all wounds, the killer of all men. It’s at once infinite and finite, ever flowing with twists and turns and brutal, churning rapids that give way to serene stretches of placid tranquility. Fight against the current and it will knock you flat on your ass. Learn to read it, to speak its language, and it will carry you exactly where you’re meant to be.

Official SoundCloud account for Blue Note Records
www.bluenote.com

OKeh short history: 

OKeh was founded by Otto K. E. Heinemann when he set up his own recording studio and gramophone record pressing plant in New York City in September 1918. Heinemann formed the name of the record label "OKeh", from his initials.  OKeh began by issuing popular songs, dance numbers, and vaudeville skits similar to the fare of other labels, but Heineman also wished to experiment with music for audiences neglected by the larger record companies. OKeh produced lines of recordings in German, Czech, Polish, Swedish, and Yiddish for the USA's immigrant communities. In 1920, Ralph Peer's recordings by African-American blues singer Mamie Smith were a surprise smash hit for Okeh. The company perceived the significant, little-tapped market for blues and jazz by African American artists. Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Bix Beiderbecke are only a few names of jazz greats that have recorded for the label. By 1926 Columbia Records bought the label and kept it running into the 60's with jazz and R&B recordings. 

In 1994, Sony Music reactivated the OKeh label as a new-age Blues label. Okeh's first new signings included Keb' Mo, Popa Chubby, and Little Axe. By 2000, the Okeh label was again retired, but in 2013 it will see its re-launch as a jazz label once again.

Management:
American International Artists, Inc.
Cynthia B. Herbst, President
+1 (518) 686-0972
Cynthia@aiArtists.com

Much like songbird Edith Piaf, Madeleine Peyroux spent her teenage years busking the busy streets of Paris. Just like the ‘little sparrow’, Madeleine befriended the city’s street musicians and made its Latin quarter her first performing stage. Years later, Peyroux would cite iconic Piaf as an influence on her music and record a rendition of the classic La Vie En Rose, soulfully capturing the tune’s romanticism and melancholy.
 
Born in Athens, Georgia in 1974, Madeleine “grew up in a house filled with music” and from an early age “instinctively realised music’s soothing power” but it was her teenage years in the French capital that turned the childhood notion into an all-consuming vocation for life.

Young Madeleine moved to Paris with her mother in 1987 following her parents divorce. “To soothe me during the upheaval”, she recalls, “I was given a guitar and took to playing in the streets almost immediately.”

Thirty years after her formative busking days Peyroux is the proud curator of nine beguiling albums and an accomplished performer with sell out worldwide tours under her belt. Her atmospheric version of Serge Gainsborough’s La Javanaise was used in the soundtrack of Oscar Winner The Shape of Water and her countless accolades
include the coveted BBC International Artist Of The Year honour.
 
Madeleine’s thirst for creative exploration is unfading and her willingness to face creative challenges remains as solid now as it was three decades ago.

With endearing passion and great curiosity the unstoppable genre-defying virtuoso continues her search for the good and examines life with the treasured William Congreve belief that Music has charms to soothe the savage beast.
 
Madeleine might attribute her success to “mostly luck” but to the industry and loyal fans alike, it is the immense talent and utter dedication to her craft that shines through.
“Peyroux is a tremendous talent and almost a total intuitive” reflects Larry Klein, “she has the capacity to get the magic. When she sings and plays her guitar, great things happen.”

The multiple Grammy-winning catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment.

The Strypes are 4-piece rhythm and blues band hailing from Cavan, Ireland, formed in 2011 by Ross Farrelly (lead vocals/harmonica), Josh McClorey (lead guitar/vocals), Pete O'Hanlon (bass guitar/harmonica) and Evan Walsh (drums).

The group has spent the past 18 months launching their explosive R&B assault on the clubs and festivals of Ireland, the UK and Europe, viciously hammering out a no-nonsense blues repertoire drawing from the songbooks of Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Slim Harpo and more with the passion and venom of British blues groups such as Dr. Feelgood, The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones and The Animals. 

Having already been met with critical acclaim from greats such as Jeff Beck and Paul Weller and been tipped by NME as the No. 1 new band to watch, it seems things can only get better for The Strypes.

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