Good ol’ Jake Owen. Shortly before his appearance at the BMI Summer Block Party to celebrate his hit, Beachin’, Jake landed an interview at the Greek Theatre with none other with Larry King, the man who invented interviews, way back in 1437. Check out the video below to get a bit of backstory on Jake’s formative years and get some of his stories from the road.   While it’s hard to look past Jake’s perfect teeth and rugged heartthrobby-ness, try. Racked in the back you’ll find a bevy of familiar, handsome PreSonus gear.

Anything back there you recognize? If so, what? VIDEO SCAVENGER HUNT! (Fun fact: you can also conduct analog scavenger hunts while beachin‘.) All that gear is currently on the road with Jake, allowing him to record while on the road, mobile-studio style. steadyb and Rachel have been on working with the Jake Owen team at the above-mentioned BMI show, along with the Morris Sound and Light crew. All of them are great people to both work and be stuck in a bus with. 

Larry King isn’t the only one who’s taken notice of Jake. Here’s a writeup of the concert from a little magazine called “Rolling Stone.”

Well, this is a refreshing a change of pace from the typical Artist-of-the-Week. Up this time around is Drum Corp International, AKA DCI to those in-the-know, which now includes you.

Were this the usual singer/songwriter or rock band, this is the part where I would talk about where they are from, or their musical influences, or key band members. But how do I write about an organization made up of multiple bands, comprised of talented folks from all over the world?

I can’t, except to say that contemporary drum corp is the torchbearer for a richly storied tradition with origins in American and Canadian military history that goes back to the first world war, with competitive circuits really coming into their own by the 1960s.

Drum Corps International formed in 1972, and is the non-profit governing body for junior (under-21) drum and bugle corps in the US and Canada.

Over at the DCI Nimbit store, once can download a metric tonne of live competition performances from prestigious venues like the Alamodome and University of Akron’s InfoCision Stadium. Recordings contain championship performances from some of DCIs brightest and boldest. You can also grab a DCI hoodie or a DCI SNOWFLAKE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT, just in time for… September?

Last but not least, you can get DVD and Blu-ray recordings of the 2013 and 2012 world championships, as well as the cutting-edge DCI Essentials collection, which includes top performances from DCI performances of yesteryear; up-converted to HD with a 5.1 audio mix. DVD is a great way to go, as drum corp is a highly visual medium.

Incidentally, PreSonus is a proud sponsor of DCI wunderkind The Blue Devils, who recently took first place at the DCI annual championship. Not only did they win, but they got the highest score ever in the history of DCI competition—a 99.65. They’ve been using PreSonus StudioLive AI Mixers and Loudspeakers in their performances for a little under a year, now, and we’re proud to have been a part of their prestigious victory. Check out a detailed overview of their set up at: musiced.presonus.com/fieldaudio

Click here to visit DCI’s Nimbit profile and get some epic recordings!

In the film “Lemmy,” a wonderful biopic of Motörhead’s iconic frontman, Slash (of Guns’n’Roses fame) paints an abrupt picture of reverence when describing the film’s namesake. It goes something like this:

“I’ve known a lot of ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ personalities, and the ones that I admire, and the ones that I’m drawn towards, are the guys that are… f***in’… the real deal. People who live, sleep, and breathe rock ‘n’ roll.”

Compare that to this quote from a guy who’s not in Motörhead or Guns’n’Roses, and doesn’t play rock ‘n’ roll so much as folk: Ellis Paul.

“I’ve got a car with over 4​75​,000 miles on it, and it’s my third road vehicle,​” Paul declares. “I’ve been doing 200 shows a year for over twenty years. There isn’t a town in the country where I won’t find a friend. I’m a nomad. And I’m gonna write and play until I’m gone.”

Real-deal? Well, if that doesn’t sound like the real-deal lifestyle of someone who puts the “true” in “troubadour,” than I don’t know what to tell you. While Ellis claims to live in Charlottesville, VA., it seems pretty clear to me that he lives on the road.

Ellis was rather inadvertently introduced to the guitar when a sports injury knocked him out of commission and he needed something else to do. He took to songwriting almost immediately, and was soon playing Boston-area gigs, and turning Boston-area heads. Over time his songwriting matured through a healthy twin-obsession with both Woody Guthrie and musical narrative, garnering a couple of local songwriting contest wins, releasing his first record, Say Something, in 1993. And somehow, when not on the road (and when is that again?) Paul finds the time to record, and at the time of this writing has released EIGHTEEN more albums—including two volumes of his childrens’ album series, The Hero in You—and culminating in his latest, Chasing Beauty. He’s also landed placements in some A-list Hollywood films, including some Farrelly brothers hits.

If you appreciate the earnestness of Cash and like your guitar served up with a side order of great story, you owe it to yourself to listen to Ellis Paul.

Closely.

Click here to visit Ellis Paul’s Nimbit profile and get his latest, NINETEENTH album, Chasing Beauty.

Jen Foster:

To call Jen Foster a singer/songwriter and leave it at that would be doing one of Houston’s finest a gross disservice. A complete solo artist in the truest sense of the term, Jen writes and performs her own award-winning music, runs her own record label, provides music for film and TV, and somehow manages to tour to packed houses and festivals all over the country. So far, she’s shared the stage with Melissa Etheridge, Brandi Carlisle, Edwin McCain, and many more. Oh, and she’s also on the Board of Directors for the Nashville Songwriter’s Association International.

Jen’s also a proud believer in music as a force for change, and is the architect behind songwriter series The Writer’s Share, which brought together Richard Marx, Keb’ Mo, Mike Reid, and Chuck Cannon to benefit the TJ Martell Foundation for Cancer, Leukemia, and AIDS. She followed up with the Christmas Time is Here video collaboration project and She4Marriage Equality.

A model Nimbit user as well, Jen’s slinging no fewer than four full-length albums, 11 singles, and a veritable summer collection of fashionable Foster-branded wearables, including beanies, rings, tank tops, t-shirts, bracelets, and—in perhaps a Nimbit merch first—CUSTOM DOG TAGS!

Click here to visit Jen Foster’s Nimbit profile and get her latest EP, You Stayed. Or dog tags.

Jazz vocalist/songwriter Thisbe Vos landed in Los Angeles in 2008, following a whirlwind musical career in her native Netherlands that began when she was a mere 17 years of age. L.A. brought Thisbe access to a broader array of jazz musicians suitable to her creative vision, and by 2011 she had assembled a solid band and released Sophistication, a wonderfully restrained slab of old-school cool that adroitly draws from the past without spiraling headlong into nostalgia. “Vintage” audio “quality” of yesteryear is notably, wisely absent, and in its place we find a contemporary sheen that does Thisbe’s voice justice.

A true believer in fan engagement, her 2013 full-length Under Your Spell is a fan-funded endeavor that sees a more broadly diversified array of instrumentation backing her velvet voice. Worth noting is that said instrumentation is both performed and mixed with great discipline, and never distracts from the real star of the show here—voice. While a bigger band is a welcome and natural progression for a sophomore effort, fact is Thisbe’s voice could confidently carry a record a cappella, if asked.

While her namesake dot com name-drops Fitzgerald more than once, one would be remiss to single out Ella as Thisbe’s sole influence—this writer hears a healthy dose of Julie London in there somewhere—an observation I trust Thisbe would be comfortable with.

“Nimbit is the best integrated services platform for musicians that I have found. Having your emails, webstore, promo widgets and fulfillment all working together is invaluable. It is also very reasonably priced,”Thisbe says.

Thisbe’s Nimbit profile keeps things classy and to the point. You can get her recordings as digital downloads or on CD—autographed or vanilla. Wisely, there is no branded apparel to be found, as folks who are into Thisbe Vos are generally too cool to advertise.

Get Under Your Spell and Sophistication on Thisbe Vos’ Nimbit profile by clicking here.

Johnny A. is the torchbearer instrumental guitar rock needs in 2014. One doesn’t have to listen too far into his discography to hear echoes of Duane Eddy and Link Wray alongside his intimidating blues chops—some admittedly big shoes to fill. But with a Blues Artist of the Year Award (2010) and a namesake signature guitar available from some company called “Gibson,” it’s safe to say that Johnny A. is the right guy for the job.

His latest record, the appropriately-titled Driven, might just be the perfect soundtrack for a road trip through the American desert southwest. A solo album in the truest sense, Johnny played all the instruments himself, produced, and mixed! His gritty tones are suitably mixed front-and-center, of course, dialed in with just the right amount of gut and reverb to evoke both danger and beauty in equal measure. Throughout the record, his guitars are balanced with a tastefully diverse array of percussion and horns. And hell, a little pedal steel never hurt anybody.

Johnny’s got one of the slicker Nimbit store designs we’ve featured of late, opting for a more jukeboxy vertical layout instead of the more typical horizontal scroll, wrapped in a palette evocative of Driven‘s cover art. In it, you’ll find no less than five full-length recordings, a handful of singles (including some yuletide classics) T-shirts, autographed posters, and more.

Click here to visit Johnny A’s Nimbit profile and get his latest record, Driven.

Interested in Nimbit? Sign up for free here.

We acknowledge that Nimbit wouldn’t be the hot stuff that it is today if there weren’t any artists around looking to sell music and merchandise—without them we are absolutely nothing. So, we decided to kick off an “Artist of the Week” series here on the blog to not only say thanks, but also to showcase the users who are making the most of the platform. I’ve cobbled together about a month’s worth of “weekly” artists into this li’l wrap-up, and among tem are a Grammy nominee, a 3-million-plus selling band, and an ARIA winner—but who is which?

Read on…

Alpha Rev:

Much has been written about what it takes to be a musical success. Tour hard. The real money’s in the merch. Engage your fans. You’ve heard all that a million times. Austin’s Alpha Rev is 13 years and four albums into their career with no sign of slowing down, and have proven what many music bloggers seem to have overlooked; despite myriad flavor-of-the-week “best practices” for being a sonic success, ultimately the song is the thing.

And upon listening to Alpha Rev, the elephant in the room becomes so very obvious. Alpha Rev’s foundation lay in a folky/rootsy acoustic aesthetic; familiar territory for seasoned songsmiths. Bolster said traditional Americana instrumentation with a killer rhythm section and a bevy of pedal steel and mandolin, and you’re a step closer to arriving at the Alpha Rev gestalt. Add lofty, layered vocal melodies, elegant application of dynamics, and patiently-building crescendos that border on cinematic, and one could begin to imagine their sound.

Or, heck, one could just bloody well listen to it, because a ton of their stuff is available on the Alpha Rev Nimbit Store, including their three full-length albums and a B-side compilation. Strongly recommended. Good stuff. Check out New Morning. 

Rusted Root:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s Rusted Root are all about the sonic melting pot, and their status as mainstays of the sweaty outdoor music festival scene probably helps with the “melting” part. Start with a hearty spoonful of jam band folk and fold in a 1/2 cup of vocal harmony. Season liberally with Latin American and African percussion spices. Add genius and let simmer for 45 minutes. Serves 3 Million.

Check out their music by getting a free track here. and when you’re done with that, check out their Nimbit store, which is absolutely stocked. There’s a diverse array of tees (long-sleeve, short-sleeve, no-sleeve) and other apparel, as well as cool merch, including Rusted Root-branded earplugs. In true jam band tradition, there is also a bevy of live tracks to be found. Many—if not all—of their studio albums are available as well, dating all the way back to 1992, so you can root through Root’s roots.

Interested in Nimbit? Sign up for free here. Rusted Root has sold 3 Million records. And if Nimbit’s good enough for them… just sayin’.

Get a free track from Rusted Root below. Note that if and when you sign up for Nimbit, you’ll be able to create your own promo widgets just like this one. Although, it would probably be best for them to give away your music, and not Rusted Roots’.

Mia Dyson:

Melbourne, Australia’s Mia Dyson is five records and countless shows into an undeniable winning streak.  So far, she’s been found touring with Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Joe Cocker, and Stevie Nicks, leaving a trail of won-over fans and ARIA nominations in her wake. Oh, and one win, for Best Blues and Roots Album. Her songs are clearly those of an artist who prioritizes balance—we hear fresh sounds juxtaposed with the traditional, all wrapped up in toasty blanket of heart and earnest. The result is a experience that is simultaneously warm, familiar, and refreshing, and highly deserving of repeat listenings.

“Idyllwild” is Mia’s new full-length, and it just came out on June 3.  Click here to learn more about Mia and hear/buy “Idyllwild” on Nimbit! And heck, grab a shirt while you’re there, or maybe a copy of one of her earlier works. The Moment, in particular, has piqued some ears and fostered critical praise:

“The Moment puts Dyson in the same league as the great Melissa Etheridge and Bonnie Raitt. It goes down smooth, and pleasantly lingers in hearts and minds long after the record’s over. ” 

-Performer Magazine

John Fullbright:

Oklahoma’s John Fullbright is a songwriter’s songwriter, the kind of guy that writes lyrics that make other songwriters cry “Why didn’t I think of that?” John delivers his road-weathered ballads from a strong heart—one that’s got a more than a few miles on it, and more than a few left. The man’s a straight shooter; case-in-point, the new record, available now on Nimbit, is appropriately titled Songs.

Despite being a Grammy-nominated songwriter,  killer vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and harmonica player, he is only kind of good at dominoes.

‘Songs’ is a warm, winning and plainspoken Americana album that builds on the authority and charm of ‘From the Ground Up’ not by musical-muscle flexing, but by its clarity and simmering intensity.”
— Jim Fusilli, The Wall Street Journal

Click here to learn more about John, hear/buy his new album, Songs, and become a fan.

Interested in Nimbit? Sign up for free here.

Much has been written about what it takes to be a musical success. Tour hard. The real money’s in the merch. Engage your fans. You’ve heard all that a million times. Austin’s Alpha Rev is 13 years and four albums into their career with no sign of slowing down, and have proven what many music bloggers seem to have overlooked; despite myriad flavor-of-the-week “best practices” for being a sonic success, ultimately the song is the thing.

And upon listening to Alpha Rev, the elephant in the room becomes so very obvious. Alpha Rev’s foundation lay in a folky/rootsy acoustic aesthetic; familiar territory for seasoned songsmiths. Bolster said traditional Americana instrumentation with a killer rhythm section and a bevy of pedal steel and mandolin, and you’re a step closer to arriving at the Alpha Rev gestalt. Add lofty, layered vocal melodies, elegant application of dynamics, and patiently-building crescendos that border on cinematic, and one could begin to imagine their sound.

Or, hell, one could just bloody well listen to it, because a ton of their stuff is available on the Alpha Rev Nimbit Store, including their three full-length albums and a B-side compilation.

Strongly recommended. Good stuff. Check out New Morning.

Interested in Nimbit? Sign up for free here.