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Listings are
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next is the support band(s),
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Friday September 7 2018 8:30PM doors -- music at 9:00PM ••• ALL AGES $13 in advance / $15 at the door RIVVRS Record release show www.rivvrs.com/ Indie Americana Paul McDonald www.thepaulmcdonald.com/ alt-rock soul Larissa Waters www.larissawatersmusic.com/ indie folk rock RIVVRS Brandon Zahursky -from Los Angeles, CA -Through compelling songs and charismatic performances, singer-songwriter RIVVRS radiates an endearing and optimistic vision. His music connects the authenticity of Americana with the accessibility of pop, framed by the artist’s empathic voice and eminently approachable songcraft. A Northern California native now residing in Los Angeles, RIVVRS — née Brandon Zahursky – has over 40 song placements across network television shows, and over 12 million Spotify streams. His latest full-length album Cosmic Dream is due for a Fall 2018 release, and the lead single Don’t Give Up On Me is now available on Spotify and other listening platforms. While maintaining an extensive touring calendar, RIVVRS previously tracked a full-length release Unfamiliar Skin, the EP Hold On, and a variety of singles to augment these projects. Now co-producing his next release in Utah with Joshua James, he says that collaborating with other songwriters is fulfilling. Buoyed by an animated onstage charm, he commands audiences with just his voice and an acoustic guitar, but he believes that his songs shine with a full band. “I love playing music with other people. To me, that’s where the connection and chemistry come in, and where the songs open up.” Raised on classic rock courtesy of his father, his early years were spent moving with his blended family across California, Washington and Oregon, then back to the Bay. It was a nontraditional upbringing. He remembers at one point staying in a halfway house with his parents, a shelter where addicts could get clean. As he now expands his audience through successive national tours, RIVVRS moves into a new phase in his creative future. “I spent the accumulation of my young adult years catching up, and realizing that I could be the person I want to be,” he says. And he believes that interpretation is the power behind his music. “I hope people listen to the songs that I have, and can somehow hear what is happening in their own lives. Everyone wants to feel a connection.” Paul McDonald Paul McDonald -from East Nashville, TN -“I’M TURNING ALL THESE LOWS INTO GLITTER, SILVER, AND GOLD/AND IT’S SO MUCH BETTER…” Paul McDonald sings those words with soaring emotionality on “So Much Better,” a track from his upcoming debut, Modern Hearts. And those are the words of a man who has truly lived his lyrics. Three years ago, after the break-up of his former band, Paul left his life in LA in search of familiarity and solace. The Alabama-born artist found himself in East Nashville, feeling like a stranger in a region he once called home. That all changed when he picked up his guitar and began the process of what would become Modern Hearts. “I had to take my life back and figure out who I was again,” he shares. “It took me a few years and a few hundred songs to get to that point.” Paul story’s is the triumphant Modern Hearts, an album bursting with anthemic hooks, majestically textured alt-rock, tinges of Southern soul, literate introspection, and profound redemption. Previously, Paul’s broadly resonant musicality garnered him international acclaim and coverage from the likes of Rolling Stone, Billboard, MTV, etc., and enabled him to share the stage with a diverse array of classic and current icons. Select performance highlights include sharing the stage with artists such as Stevie Wonder, Zac Brown, Father John Misty, Emmylou Harris, and appearing at festivals such as Bonnaroo, SXSW, and Hangout Festival and performing on nationally televised shows like “Good Morning America” and “The Tonight Show.” It could be said that Modern Hearts is a breakup record documenting spiritual and artistic uplift. The 14-track body of work represents a full-spectrum of emotions, from soulful and sorrowful tracks, to invigorating new-life anthems, to meditative mid-tempo numbers. “Writing helped me a lot during that time. I would wake up every morning in a dark headspace, but once I picked up the guitar and started writing, I'd tell myself, ‘It's all going to be ok.’” Paul says with a good-natured laugh. He continues: “And as I gained my confidence back as a human being and as an artist, I started writing more upbeat and hopeful songs.” “Once You Were Mine” oozes Memphis soul. Replete with stately horns, silken vocals, confessional lyrics, and a simmering groove, it recalls prime Al Green. The boldly vulnerable title track unpacks the painful complexity of breakups in the digital age. The invigorating “Hold On” hits that post-breakup sweet spot where anger overtakes heartache. Modern Hearts also boasts a cadre of got-my-mojo-back tracks, one standout is the ambient and slow burner “Call On Me” which lunges forth with an ominous, dub-funk groove, and a vocal delivery that oozes virility. The track’s chorus kicks off with a time-standing-still moment before it rockets skyward with an irresistible soul pop hook. Modern Hearts was produced by Jordan Lehning (Caitlin Rose, Rodney Crowell, Andrew Combs), and features an all star cast of studio musicians whose resumes include Cage The Elephant, James Bay, Shawn Mendes, Maren Morris, Nikki Lane, Kacey Musgraves, and Buddy Miller, among others. The album was tracked with ace musicians playing in real time with sympathetic band interplay at the vibey Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, NC (Band Of Horses, Avett Brothers). Additional recording took place at Sound Emporium Studios (Jason Isbell, Alabama Shakes) in Nashville, TN. Larissa Waters Larissa Waters -from San Francisco, CA -Bay Area born and raised, Larissa Waters has made her way from the back row of the choir to the backing vocal mic to the forefront of her first solo effort. "Ready to Run" finds its way through love and loss, dreams and reality; at times chilling, other times sweet. Some might hear the influence of being raised on healthy doses of Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and BB King or her later love of artists like PJ Harvey, Feist, Patty Griffin and Fink. A patchwork of musical tastes and a natural attraction to sounds that have a certain timelessness to them, shape the songwriting and performances Larissa brings to her debut. Bolstered by the talents of long-term collaborator, Jeff Campbell (Static & Surrender, Pine & Battery), and producer/multi-instrumentalist, Gawain Matthews, "Ready to Run" is sure to sink its hooks in you. |
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