10 Epic Collaborations Between Bands and Orchestras
We’re going through an orchestral-indie golden age right now. Here are 10 bands blurring the lines between classical, indie, hip-hop and pop to epic effect.
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The COMPASS: Athens, GA
By Coley Dennis of Maserati Athens is a microcosm unlike any other city I’ve ever seen — equal parts indie rock mecca, college party animal house, and football-obsessed mental ward. Yup, I’ve called this place home for 15 years. It’s a strange environment that only attracts the true slackers and let’s them thrive. If playing in…
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The Highest Grossing Tours of 2015 Announced
It’s January again, and just like every January, Pollstar has released their 2015 year-end touring data. Pollstar only publishes the top 100-200 artists in every category so don’t expect your forever-touring hobo-sludge band to be on here. In fact, don’t expect anything you wouldn’t already expect to see here; you’ve got your Taylor Swifts, your…
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Rock Legend June Millington: Study the Blues, Be Empathetic, and Run Your Own PA
It’s 8pm on a Wednesday evening, and a pixelated June Millington waits patiently on Skype as I pull up a write-up of her massive autobiography, Land of a Thousand Bridges (published by No Depression). As I scroll through the summary of the 500+ page book, I realize with some trepidation I’m about to interview a…
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5 Video Music Blogs I Use to Find My Next Favorite Band
From the hyper-local coffeeshop bard to international stars on intimate stages, it’s always a pleasure for me to waste a handful of lunchtime minutes watching today’s most compelling musicians and songwriters performing in alternative spaces. This is made possible by so many truly passionate music blogs on the web right now, reimagining the live concert as…
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Top 5 Plugins to Get Amazingly Realistic Digital Piano Sounds
+ Bridge the worlds of theory, improvisation, and jazzy hip-hop, and improve your piano chops with Grammy-winner Kiefer in his course, Kiefer: Keys, Chords, & Beats. As a piano player, I used to detest the idea of digital pianos replacing the need for acoustic craftsmanship. While I still think that there will never be an equal…
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The COMPASS: Seattle, WA
By Briana Marela In many big cities, it can be hard to find someone who actually grew up there. As someone born and raised in Seattle I have seen it change quite a lot over the years, growing and morphing into the tech metropolis it is today. Though I will get nostalgic from time to time, and…
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Songwriting Advice and Inspiration in Our Rooftop Sessions with Joe Marson
When we first started talking to Joe Marson about offering songwriting advice, he was very wary. Joe rose to prominence last year as one of the finalists of the Guitar Center Singer-Songwriter Competition, where his bluesy, soul-infused performance caught people’s attention in a serious way. Since then, he’s toured constantly and released an acclaimed EP…
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Entrepreneurship in Music: Gramovox
Entrepreneurship in Music Series: 008 GRAMOVOX Co-Founder and CEO, Pavan Bapu Gramovox is an American nostalgia lifestyle brand born, based, and built in Chicago, Illinois, that reimagines vintage design with modern technology. Their debut product is the wireless Bluetooth Gramophone. Its bold design and vintage sound are inspired by the 1920s Magnavox…
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The Ultimate Music Lover’s Holiday Gift Guide
This holiday season, there’s probably a handful of Golden Ticket gift items on our wish lists, like the incredible Nord Electro 5 Keyboard, or Native Instruments’ new Komplete 10 pack, or Artiphon’s recently introduced Instrument 1, which unless we’ve been very, very good boys and girls, we might not get. So here are a few more great…
