Leon Bridges
Leon Bridges (born Todd Michael Bridges on July 13, 1989) is an American gospel and soul singer, songwriter and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas.
Bridges began performing in and around Fort Worth, Texas and stirred up music industry interest with analog recordings, produced by Justin Block and Austin Jenkins, which were uploaded to his SoundCloud page. Signed to major-label Columbia, his first singles – including a rich ballad written about his mother – appeared in February 2015 with a sound that evoked mid-to-late ’60s soul. The following month, Bridges caught more attention with performances at SXSW, roughly 200 miles south of his home base. His debut album, Coming Home, was released in June 2015.
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Steinar Ytrehus
Steinar Ytrehus
This is what is online:
Steinar Ytrehus is a guitarist and recordingartist from Norway. He started out playing the guitar when he was 15 years old, and soon after he started recording music on his Tascam 4track Taperecorder. Since then he has always been making and recording music . Some of his songs were even used on several Norwegian TV shows. The music is a mix of blues, rock, country, jazz and Americana.
For some years he was an active remixer on Indaba music, and he won several contests. When Indaba Music was discontinued he decided to just write and record his own music. Until the end of his remixing career he only made instrumentals, but from now on he started writing lyrics and doing the vocals too.
The result was the release of his debut album Dark Songs in early 2020. The following year he also released 4 singles and he did some collaborations with other artists.
After building up a brand new studio in 2021, he has now finished a new album called “Black Coffee and Sweet Lovesongs” which was released on the 17th of June 2022.
What makes this musician interesting to Roaming the Arts:
Given, he is channeling the sound of other artists, especially Mark Knopfler, but he is writing very good original music, recording and marketing it himself on platforms such as Spotify, and creating a brooding, melancholy sound that is hard to stop listening to. His recent single “Call me King,” is another good example why Steinar Ytrehus deserves, and will be getting more attention well beyond the borders of Norway.
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Marti Jones & Don Dixon
Marti Jones Art
Don Dixon
Marti Jones & Don Dixon have been performing together, off and on, for over twenty years. This longtime partnership has resulted in an intimate stage rapport as well as the seamless blending of two of the most distinct voices around today. With over two hundred songs in their collective recorded catalogue, you never know quite what to expect when they hit the stage, but rest assured their performance will feature thoughtful lyrics and heart-felt singing.
Don Dixon has devoted his entire life to the popular song. Whether working as a singer, songwriter, musician or producer, he has always tried to capture the essence of his life in the moment.
He began playing and recording in his mid-teens, co-founding ARROGANCE, a band that helped forge the North Carolina scene which brought the world Let’s Active and The dBs, along with dozens of other bands that followed in their wake. Dixon went solo in 1983 and has released nine cds. He is currently at work on a new recording with his long-time touring band, Jamie Hoover and Jim Brock. After twenty years, Jamie has named the group “Don Dixon & the Jump Rabbits”. The new platter is called “The Nu-Look” and is due in May 2008.
Dixon’s writing, production and session credits include astroPuppees, Baby Shaker, Richard Barone, Jim Brock, Mark Bryan, Kim Carnes, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Caitlin Cary, Joe Cocker, The Connells, Counting Crows, Marshall Crenshaw, Pat DiNizio, The Edison Project, Fetchin Bones, GB Leighton, The Golden Palominos, Guadalcanal Diary, Hootie and the Blowfish, In Tua Nua, Marti Jones, Tommy Keene, Let’s Active, James McMurtry, Moxy Fruvous, REM, The Red Clay Ramblers, The Smithereens, Snagglepuss, Ronnie Spector, The Spongetones, Chris Stamey, Matthew Sweet, The X-Teens and dozens more.
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Etienne Charles
Etienne Charles
Hailed by The New York Times as “an auteur” (Ben Ratliff), by Jazz Times as “A daring improviser who delivers with heart-wrenching lyricism” (Bill Milkowski). According to Downbeat Magazine “Charles delivers his ebullient improvisations with the elegance of a world-class ballet dancer.” (John Murph). He has received critical acclaim for his exciting performances, thrilling compositions and knack for connecting with audiences worldwide. In June 2012, Etienne was written into the US Congressional Record for his musical contributions to Trinidad & Tobago and the World. Perhaps more than any other musician of his generation or Eastern Caribbean origin, Etienne brings a careful study of myriad rhythms from the French, Spanish, English, and Dutch speaking Caribbean to the table. Crucially, as a soloist, he fully understands the New Orleans trumpet tradition; which is readily discernible in his trademark instrumental swagger, and what famed Crescent City Pianist, Jelly Roll Morton so succinctly captured in the now immortal phrase, ‘The Spanish Tinge’. He has performed and or recorded with Monty Alexander, Roberta Flack, Frank Foster, Ralph MacDonald, Johnny Mandel, Wynton Marsalis, Marcus Roberts, Maria Schneider, Count Basie Orchestra, Eric Reed, Lord Blakie, David Rudder, and many others. He holds a Master’s degree from the Juilliard School and a Bachelor’s degree from Florida State University. Etienne Charles has taught as an Assistant Professor of Jazz Trumpet at Michigan State University and the University of Miami.
