Stratocaster-fueled, fierce slash-and-burn guitar work
dramatic, smoldering Southern soul-rooted intensity. Montoyas voice is as expressive as his guitar. Washington Post
Montoya is a show-stopper
Heartfelt singing and merciless guitar with a wicked icy burn
he swings like a jazz man and stings like the Iceman, Albert Collins. He is one of the truly gifted blues artists of his generation. Living Blues
The old Willie Dixon adage, blues is truth, perfectly describes the searing, contemporary blues-rock of
world-renowned guitarist and vocalist COCO MONTOYA. Taught by the Master of the Telecaster, Albert Collins, but with a hard-edged sound and style all his own, Montoya mixes his forceful, melodic guitar playing and passionate vocals with memorable songs, delivering the blues hardest truths. He earned his status as a master guitarist and soul-powered vocalist through years of paying his dues as a sideman with Collins (first as a drummer) and then with John Mayalls Bluesbreakers, before launching his solo career in 1993. Five years of constant touring with Collins and ten years with Mayall turned him into a monster player and dynamic performer. Montoya has released eight solo albumsincluding three for Alligator between 2000 and 2007and has played at clubs, concert halls and major festivals all over the world. Guitar Player says Montoya plays stunning, powerhouse blues with a searing tone, emotional soloing, and energetic, unforced vocals.
It is a true, and nowadays rare, musician who writes lyrics so vulnerable and authentic that an audience is irrevocably captured by the powerful experience of sharing the journey. An album that is essentially an autobiographical account of personal mistakes, change, and growth, offers listeners a chance to reflect on their own experiences and connect with anothers story.
With Griffin Houses upcoming album, So On and So Forth, it is clear the artist digs deep and offers up his narrative after much reflection. House is now a young family man and artist who is choosing sobriety and celebrating the path to his success, through songs which share his perspective on how people remember the past with rose-colored glasses, how we grow up and realize what we deeply need, and how we must find happiness in ourselves in the present.
The record has a lot to do with recognizing the ego in ones self and letting it die. It can feel like your whole identity is being wiped away, and you dont even know who you are anymore. For the person singing these songs, holding on to ones own individuality in order to remain special or important in the world has started to became far less important than being content with being a good, decent, and loving person. But old habits die hard, adds House.
The project was tracked last summer at Lakehouse Recording Studios, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Houses ties to Asbury Park go all the back to 2004, when he was invited to tour with Patti Scialfa. His first show in the boardwalk town was opening a show for Scialfa at the Paramount Theatre. It was there that Griffin met her husband, Bruce Springsteen, and all the wonderful characters in their crew and band. Those memories and experiences made returning to Asbury Park over a decade later to record So On and So Forth feel like a full circle moment in his career.
House recorded the essentially live project with no click track and very little overdubbing. Lakehouse owner, Jon Leidersdorff, helped assemble the band. Prior to walking into the studio, House had never met the musicians and had no idea how the songs would turn out. He adds, The experience ended up being one of the most fun and positive of my career. The process was stress-free and freeing. The resulting album reflects this journey a leap of faith with triumphant results.
Recording and performing for over a decade, House has toured with Ron Sexsmith, Patti Scialfa, Josh Ritter, John Mellencamp, Mat Kearney, and The Cranberries. He received early critical acclaim on the CBS Sunday Morning, and his songs have since been featured in countless films and television shows such as One Tree Hill, Army Wives, and Brothers and Sisters. He has also appeared on Late Night with Craig Ferguson. Most recently, CNN Newsroom invited House to perform Paris Calling, from So On and So Forth, live on the air, and the song has been picked up by radio prior to being serviced. House has released ten albums and continues to headline his own national tours. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife Jane and their two daughters.
When two of hip-hops most accomplished composers get together to make an album you know the results are going to be special. Ali Shaheed Muhammed (of A Tribe Called Quest) & Adrian Younge began their work together in 2013 on the critically acclaimed Souls of Mischief album There Is Only Now and their partnership cemented on their score work for Marvels Luke Cage. Today, they are proud to announce the forthcoming release of their carefully constructed and masterful The Midnight Hour. It is the duos long awaited debut album and it showcases their songwriting ability like never before.
Lead track and first single Questions featuring CeeLo Green is out today and has an unlikely origin story that CeeLo, Adrian and Ali originally explained to Pitchfork back in 2016, when a demo version of the song appeared as a sample on "untitled 06 | 06.30.2014." off of Kendrick Lamars untitled unmastered. project. The completed track perfectly captures the albums underlying roots in hip-hops origins and can heard HERE.
Stream The Midnight Hour ft. CeeLo Questions now:
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2LaJYA0
Apple Music: https://apple.co/2Ivj4Br
Spotify Embed Code:
The Midnight Hour is black excellence: an ode to the cultural sophistication that the Harlem Renaissance established for its people. The Midnight Hour is comprised of Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge, alongside a tight rhythm section and a full orchestra. The album has features from some of the most celebrated names in contemporary hip-hop and R&B including CeeLo Green, Raphael Saadiq, Marsha Ambrosius, Bilal, Eryn Allen Kane, Karolina, Questlove and more.
Adrian and Ali began working on this album back in 2013, but put the project aside as they would score the hit Netflix series Marvels Luke Cage. The Midnight Hour is a soul/jazz/hip-hop album which continues the conversations started by yesterdays jazz and funk pioneers; those that created the bedrock of samples for hip-hop producers in the 80s/90s. The Midnight Hour is sophisticated hip-hop that fans will enjoy, capturing their jazz rhythm section, and a full orchestra, to analog tape.
One of the seminal compositions, Questions, originally began as an unfinished Midnight Hour demo with CeeLo Green. However, Kendrick Lamar heard the track and wanted to sample portions of it for his GRAMMY-winning album To Pimp a Butterfly (the song ultimately made it to Kendricks 2016 compilation untitled unmastered. as "untitled 06 | 06.30.2014."). The full, completed version of Questions is now the lead single on The Midnight Hour.
So Amazing is a reimagining of Luther Vandross 1986 single. Ali and Adrian took Luther's original vocal stems and composed new music, as if Luther was in the room with them. This transcendental recording is something that really makes The Midnight Hour special.
The June 8 drop for the album couldnt come at a better time. Luke Cages Season 2 comes out on June 22 on Netflix and The Midnight Hour have a lot of special surprises in store for both the original score and the original music that they have created for the show.
The 20 track, full length double album, will be released on Linear Labs and distributed digitally by INgrooves and vinyl will be distributed by Traffic Entertainment, world wide on June 8, 2018. For more information, please visit www.linearlabsmusic.com.
Give a songwriter a guitar for one week and see what happens. That's the premise of The Acoustic Guitar Project, an international series of performances by songwriters in some 50 cities. Sponsored in Pittsburgh by Pittsburgh Songwriters Circle and Calliope: The Pittsburgh Folk Music Society. Details at theacousticguitarproject.com.
Shane Torres is a stand up comedian, writer, actor, and podcaster. Originally from Fort Worth, Texas, Shane landed in Portland, Oregon and began his comedy career. Shane has perfomed on festivals all over the globe including Montreals Just For Laughs, Comedy Centrals Clusterfest, San Francisco Sketchfest, Bonnaroo, Outsidelands, Bumbershoot, Moontower Comedy Festival in Austin, Red Clay Comedy Festival, High Plains in Denver, Laughingskull, New York Comedy Festival, Laughfest, and many more.
His television appearances to date have included Conan twice, Comedy Central Half Hour Special, IFCS Comedy Bang Bang, NBCS Last Comic Standing (barely), Tru Tvs Comedy Knockout, and Ron Whites Comedy Salute To The Troops on CMT. He has been heard on such popular podcasts such as Savage Love, All Fantasy Everything, Comedy Bang Bang, and Bertcast. He tours frequently across the states and can often be found performing in a comedy club, theaters, and music venues near you.
He has been reviewed by numerous media outlets including The New York Times, Onion AV Club, GQ UK, and more. His album Established 1981 came out in September of 2017 on Comedy Central records Mr. Torres has a laconic drawling delivery with deliberate pacing, placing him firmly in the tradition of dry deadpan specialist like Tig Notaro and Todd Barry. But his style is warmer, relying on punchlines with corkscrew turns that have moments of vulnerability and even melancholy. - The New York Times. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Youve heard him on the WDVE and The X and his podcast Puck Off.
Youve see him on perform on Gotham Live and onstage at The Benedum, The Bynum, The Rex and The Improv.
Now go see him at the Club Café.
One Night Only December 1st
Pittsburghs Own Joe Bartnick.
Joe Bartnick was born and raised in Pittsburgh PA where he learned to eat, drink and be funny. He moved to San Francisco and began his career as a standup comic working his way up from performing in coffee shops and laundry mats to play prestigious venues around the world such as The Chicago Theater and The Ryman Auditorium. In Pittsburgh he has played The Benedum, Heinz Hall and The Rex.
Joe moved to Los Angeles and jumped into writing and acting. Joe has written on many television projects including the ESPYS, The NFL on FOX, Snoop After Dark and Eddie Griffins Going for Broke. As an actor Joe starred in Dirty Jokes the Movie. Joe created and starred (fully clothed) in the Playboy TV series King of Clubs.
Joe performed a closing set on AXS-TVs Live at Gotham. Over the years Joe has performed on theater tours Bill Burr, Lisa Lampanelli, Dave Attell, Mitch Hedberg and Lewis Black.
One of Joes biggest thrills was roasting Motley Crues Tommy Lee on Battleground Earth. Joe wrote the best- selling book You Might Be a Douchebag and collaborated with Don Jamieson on You Might Be A Metal Head.
Joe has parlayed his love of hockey into the highly successful podcast Puck Off and writes a column for Pro Hockey News.
Joe is a regular guest on the WDVE Morning Show. He can also be heard on The Mark Madden Show and Trib Live Radio.
Youve heard him on the WDVE and The X and his podcast Puck Off.
Youve see him on perform on Gotham Live and onstage at The Benedum, The Bynum, The Rex and The Improv.
Now go see him at the Club Café.
One Night Only December 1st
Pittsburghs Own Joe Bartnick.
Joe Bartnick was born and raised in Pittsburgh PA where he learned to eat, drink and be funny. He moved to San Francisco and began his career as a standup comic working his way up from performing in coffee shops and laundry mats to play prestigious venues around the world such as The Chicago Theater and The Ryman Auditorium. In Pittsburgh he has played The Benedum, Heinz Hall and The Rex.
Joe moved to Los Angeles and jumped into writing and acting. Joe has written on many television projects including the ESPYS, The NFL on FOX, Snoop After Dark and Eddie Griffins Going for Broke. As an actor Joe starred in Dirty Jokes the Movie. Joe created and starred (fully clothed) in the Playboy TV series King of Clubs.
Joe performed a closing set on AXS-TVs Live at Gotham. Over the years Joe has performed on theater tours Bill Burr, Lisa Lampanelli, Dave Attell, Mitch Hedberg and Lewis Black.
One of Joes biggest thrills was roasting Motley Crues Tommy Lee on Battleground Earth. Joe wrote the best- selling book You Might Be a Douchebag and collaborated with Don Jamieson on You Might Be A Metal Head.
Joe has parlayed his love of hockey into the highly successful podcast Puck Off and writes a column for Pro Hockey News.
Joe is a regular guest on the WDVE Morning Show. He can also be heard on The Mark Madden Show and Trib Live Radio.