Rockwired Radio Profiles #647 - Another Lost Year

My how times have changed! Back when the AMERICAN IDOL juggernaut was piping hot there were concerns by some who felt that the massive spectacle was no way to discern true musical talent but time has proved that to be baseless and largely fueled by folks who haven't made much of a dent in the music world themselves.  The AMERICAN IDOL phenomenon had shined a light on a tremendous amount of talent and a lot of it came our way to the pages of ROCKWIRED. One of them was CLINTON CUNANAN and his band ANOTHER LOST YEAR. In 2012, they were one of the band's that gave ROCKWIRED MAGAZINE it's big push and all of that was on the strength of their album BETTER DAYS and it's lead single WAR ON THE INSIDE. CUNANAN's knack for commanding a stage as well as a studio have truly come in handy in leading ANOTHER LOST YEAR to being one of active rock's most highly regarded bands.  Two years later was the EP THE REVOLUTION PART ONE - THE OTHER SIDE and now ANOTHER LOST YEAR is back with the ultra-ambitious LP ALIEN ARCHITECT where CUNANAN's songwriting and vocal performance goes up a couple of notches and the extra kick is proudly displayed on the albums first single WE ALL DIE ALONE accompanied by a gritty music video.

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http://www.rockwired.com/temporarysite/rockwiredprofiles647.mp3

Rockwired Radio Profiles #646 - Cage9

Sure, a six-minute song titled EVERYTHING YOU LOVE WILL SOMEDAY DIE doesn't sound like anything that will conjure up images of sun and fun this sweltering Summer but it is the first single from CAGE 9's new CD ILLUMINATOR - the latest release from DAVE ELLEFSON's EMP label. Sure the track ain't about singing in the sunshine but what you hear is a band that is willing to take things a step further with their instrumentation and song craft. Everything that makes this song work can be heard and felt everywhere else on ILLUMINATOR with the band slamming the metal down like nobody's business and front man EVAN RODANICHE acting as the narrator through these tales of love and life gone wrong and then on an upturn once again. The albums message of hope in a world gone mad is a refreshing one given some recent tragedies of late and a contentious election year. When we spoke with RODANICHE the band was getting set to take the stage in Idaho with the likes of ASKING ALEXANDRIA and BOBAFLEX. Given the promise we hear in ILLUMINATOR, it's only a matter of seconds before people realize that CAGE 9 is something worth holding onto.

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http://www.rockwired.com/temporarysite/rockwiredprofiles646.mp3

Rockwired Radio Profiles #645 - Bucky Hayes and The Commonwealth

It's got to be the season for troubadours here at ROCKWIRED. First there was the plaintive folk leanings of MICHAEL TODD and the soul searching wanderings of singer songwriter JORDAN BENNETT and now you have the plucky mixture of soul, country and rock with BUCKY HAYES and his band of merry men aptly named THE COMMMONWEALTH ( two of the guys in the band are from the State of Virginia). While the southern born and reared HAYES is based in Brooklyn these days there is no denying the southern charm that rings through loud and clear on the songs that make up the bands forthcoming CD 100 MILES TO MACON. Even though he is actually a thousand miles from Macon these days there is not denying the honesty and earnestness of the music here. While the album isn't going to see an official release until September, BUCKY HAYES AND THE COMMONWEALTH have given us some easygoing summertime jams to kick out when we're on the porch with that cold can of FOSTERS. You thought we were going to PABST BLUE RIBBON, didn't you?

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http://www.rockwired.com/temporarysite/rockwiredprofiles645.mp3

Rockwired Radio Profiles #644 - Jordan Bennett

We've got to be honest. It wasn't likely that a Christian punk rock band with a name like ZANZHIMINT was going to have much of a shot in the same way that a band like BLINK-182 did. Singer songwriter JORDAN BENNETT - the former lead singer of said band - was kind enough tell us that ZANZHIMINT was a curiously flavored ice cream and at the time of us writing this piece, we can't for the life of us remember but ZANZHIMINT (the band anyway) is simply water under the bridge and BENNETT is embarking on a solo career marked by reflective, biographical lyrics and a stripped down acoustic sound that should have not trouble resonating with folks who don't go to church on Sunday. OUTCASTS AND UNTOUCHABLES is a bold artistic statement and a statement of life aims to be true and righteous despite hard times and some rather complicated relationships. BENNETT has mined some gold with these cathartic tunes and we can see form hear that a great musical talent has been born. 

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http://www.rockwired.com/temporarysite/rockwiredprofiles644.mp3

Rockwired Radio Profiles #643 - Michael Todd

You can't make up a story like MICHAEL TODDs' career in music. The guy has been a professional musician since the age of eight along wit his brother in a touring musical act called - quite expectedly - THE TODD BROTHERS. The two siblings traveled alongside a magician which only adds magic to this already magical and musical life . Music has taken this guy all over the world whether the gig was by a campfire or a subway platform in New York City or with his band THE WILD FRONTIER opening for such acts as STARSHIP, BJ THOMAS, PAM TILLIS and LORRIE MORGAN. All of the passion and romanticism that goes  with the territory of being a dyed in the wool troubadour finds it's way onto TODD's first ever solo album CRASHLAND. These songs of longing and and searching are given that little something extra  with TODD's soulful rasp and the albums sparse acoustic instrumentation. Intimacy and heart are in abundance on this album  and in a time where music is more about grand sonic splashes, MICHAEL TODD proves that less is indeed more. Hell, it's downright beautiful.

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http://www.rockwired.com/temporarysite/rockwiredprofiles643.mp3 

Rockwired Radio Profiles #642 - Candlebox

The polls have closed for ROCKWIRED.COM's recent ARTIST OF THE MONTH campaign. Voters from all over the U.S. and the world made their vote count and grunge rock legends CANDLEBOX   are ROCKWIRED.COM's newest ARTIST OF THE MONTH. When you're as old as I am 22 years feels like it goes in a flash and because of that the debut album from CANDLEBOX feels like it was a released just yesterday. Memories of it come back to me in the form of that album's singles CHANGE,  FAR BEHIND and YOU and for the fact that the band was signed to MADONNA's MAVERICK RECORDS - a proposition that probably helped the album attain multi-platinum status. I seem to remember a few grunge folks being puzzled by the signing and leery of the success. Ah fuck them and fuck the nineties. CANDLEBOX deserved every bit of their success.Two more albums would follow on the MAVERICK label (1995's LUCY and 1998's HAPPY PILLS). After a ten year hiatus CANDLEBOX reunited for the 2008 album INTO THE SUN (SILENT MAJORITY GROUP) and 2012's LOVE STORIES & OTHER MUSINGS (AUDIONEST). Now after four years CANDLEBOX has signed to PAVEMENT ENTERTAINMENT and has now released the curiously titled DISAPPEARING IN AIRPORTS. Having worked with producers CARSON SLOVAK and GRANT McFARLAND (AUGUST BURNS RED, EVERCLEAR) CANDLEBOX now embraces a modern sound that is more immediate and visceral than any they've issued in the past - a taste of which could be provided in the albums first single VEXATIOUS. 

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http://www.rockwired.com/temporarysite/rockwiredprofiles642.mp3

 

Rockwired Radio Profiles #641 - Bruce Mountain Band

It's hard to dismiss rock n roll has being dead when you've got a band based out of Inland Empire issuing the fattest, most unapologetic rock n roll sound that we've heard in a while. The band is BRUCE MOUNTAIN BAND and their debut album ANOTHER LOST DAY is a big album with some pretty big ambitions in a time when five-song EPs and digital singles are all the rage. Comprised of Southern California music scene veterans, the band is releasing this 16-song opus on 2-disc vinyl - the kind of release that their big rock n roll sound deserves. The album is catalog of love and life gone wrong and right without a riff or a lyric wasted. The moments to remember here are the  blistering rock anthem SHINE ON, the slow-burning WOMAN and the closing acoustic ballad (more of a gentle headbanger) LONG WAY HOME. 

CHECK OUT THE PODCAST AT:
http://www.rockwired.com/temporarysite/rockwiredprofiles641.mp3