Month: April 2020

Waiting For Smith – Long Life

     Lately, my inbox has been filling up with production companies making suggestions for coverage of certain artists. I welcome these, though only a small portion of them actually make it into the blog. Waiting For Smith’s new single, Long Life, is one of those that make the cut for me.  I want to be as honest as I possibly can about this track: Musically, it breaks no new ground, But Harry Lloyd (the man behind the moniker Waiting For Smith) sings this song in a playful, yet earnest fashion,…

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In Dreams – Peggy Sue

     Peggy Sue channel 60′s style pop-rock, blending it with enough elements of modern surf and alt-rock to form a unique style all their own. A case in point would be In Dreams (seen/heard here), from the band’s latest long-player, Vices (February 2020). There’s a bit of spaghetti western guitar styling, psychedelic rock, and more, blended with mildly echo-laden vocals. It’s a perfect blend! In Dreams is as close to an awake dream as you can get.  The band has been around in some form or other since 2008. Once a duo,…

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Devon Gilfillian – Unchained

     Over the next few months, interspersed between normal Vodka mined musical posts, will be Vodka’s favorites of the Austin 100 (in no particular order), NPR’s tracks of musicians that performed at SXSW. This year, of course, the event was canceled, so these artists need a bit more publicity to reach a broader audience. Watch for the tagline Vodka Austin Favorite or if you search for these tracks later, simply put “vodka austin” in the search. Let’s begin! Devon Gilifillian takes soul music to a new level, allowing himself to touch…

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Marissa Burwell – Scaredy Cat

     Canadian singer-songwriter, indie-pop-rocker, Marissa Burwell, released the delightfully infectious single Scaredy Cat, back in July 2019. The single was a follow-up to her debut self-titled EP released in February 2019 and showcases an artist with genuine pop chops, that should be on someone’s major label horizon. That said, the near-sighted nature of the music industry almost guarantees that unless she is widely heard somewhere else, she will never make their radar screen. Making the presence of Marissa’s music known is left up to Vodka readers and others. Tout this…

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Barbara Lica – You Should Write the Book

     You might recognize Barbra Lica from a previous Vodka post. Joining her is Danielle Knibbe, for a one-off (at least for now) beautiful little duet from the two, You Should Write the Book (seen/heard here). Once again, Barbra proves she has an effortlessly beautiful vocal ability, as does Danielle here as well, but it is the framing of this song in a shared lead with beautiful harmonies that make it so special! Stylistically, it is almost Americana, which is a bit different from Barbra’s normal…

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