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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The Sheepdogs
The Sheepdogs are a Juno Award-winning Canadian rock band known for their 1970s-inspired southern rock and blues rock style, dual-guitar wizardry, and strong vocal harmonies. They rose to prominence in 2011 as the first unsigned band to be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
Formed in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in 2004, the band initially went by the name “The Breaks”. They built their sound around classic rock influences like the Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Their hit singles “I Don’t Know” and “Feeling Good,” as well as the albums Learn & Burn and The Sheepdogs, have achieved platinum status in Canada.
The band continues to record and tour. In 2024, they celebrated their 20th anniversary and launched their own imprint, Right On Records. The band announced a new single “Nobody But You” and a major “Out All Night” Canadian and European tour for 2026.The current members are Ewan Currie (lead vocals, guitars), Ryan Gullen (bass), Shamus Currie (keys, trombone), and Ricky Paquette (guitars). Founding drummer Sam Corbett retired in September 2025 to focus on his family. -
Jackie Greene
also see Trigger Hippy
Jackie Greene is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He has a solo career and was a member of the final lineup of the Black Crowes, who disbanded in January 2015. Wikipedia
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Band of Heathens
Band of Heathens
Performance Video — Heaven Help Us All
When The Band of Heathens decided to dub their sixth studio album of original material Stranger (its first since 2017’s Duende), the veteran band, formed in Austin, TX nearly 15 years ago, had no idea how prophetic that title would turn out to be. Although the name references the famed existential Albert Camus novel and Robert Heinlein’s sci-fi classic Stranger in a Strange Land, it also touches on the “strangers” who make up the band’s loyal fan base, who supported the band during this period with all touring canceled.
As co-founder Ed Jurdi acknowledges, it is certainly an unusual time to release a new album. “The strangest,” he says. “Maybe no time stranger. Since we started, there have been sweeping, revolutionary changes in the music business, but, in this global pandemic, we’re just a microcosm.”
“We’re really fortunate that we have been able to turn directly to our fan base during the pandemic,” adds fellow co-founder Gordy Quist. “The last few months we’ve spent four nights a week live-streaming personal private concerts to fans, and one night a week publicly live-streaming with the whole band Zooming in from their respective homes in California, Texas, North Carolina and Tennessee. At first it seemed very strange until
these walls started coming down and we realized how connected we are by the fabric of music.”Extending the metaphor of Stranger even further. The Band of Heathens traveled to another city, Portland, OR, with a brand-new producer, Tucker Martine [The Decemberists, My Morning Jacket, Modest Mouse, Camera Obscura], and the result is something different – a more airy, intimate atmosphere, with added emphasis on songcraft and intricate arrangements set in a spacious sonic landscape that reinvents the band’s sound. These are songs stripped of pretense, but teeming with the emotion borne of personal experience, as has been The Band of Heathens’ method from the very start. Stranger moves off into a new place, but still echoes the group’s artful songwriting and multi-layered narrative observations.
The Stranger was released in 2020 and is a top ten roots rock album riding high in the charts.
