Palm Springs Wedding - Kade & James Teaser Pic

photo by Cortney Wilson

In Cold Blood - Be My Friend, Morgan Kibby

Morgan Kibby makes me want to dye my hair dark and stop wearing a bra. Let my curves out or down, whichever way they want to go. Be freckled. Be soft. Be diaphanous. Keep my sailor's tongue. Live Morgan Kibby (or White Sea, as the show is actually billed) was one of the most genuinely surprising, thrilling evenings of music a jaded artist (or anyone else for that matter) could have. 

She was the anchor in an evening I call the best accidental free concert ever.  

You see, the lovely Miss Vinessa Shaw and I are big fans of Moses Sumney (more on that later). He was having a month-long residency of free concerts and Vinny and I had been trying to organize a time to go. Then, after 24 hours of driving down the coast of California with the mega-duo of Brian Kearney and Gretchen Schrafft (more on Big Sur and an Irishman's first dip in the Pacific soon) I felt like 1. I need to MOVE-- sway in a room with strangers and have nothing to do with my clutch or my car-- even with wide open spaces, with the idea of the Ocean. (Whoops! White Sea!) and 2. I'd love something free to do with my fellow poor-artist friends.

Thus, we all ended up at the "Moses Sumney Concert," where White Sea was his guest. And it was the best concert I've ever been to. 

I'm not really sure I've ever seen a more exhilarating live performer than Morgan Kibby. It has all the drama and height of a Florence + The Machine Show, but with way more prowess, vocal precision and scale emanating from a much smaller operation. 

But then, this isn't Morgan Kibby's first rodeo. She formerly front LA Band, The Romanovs (good name, ya'll!) IMO is the element that makes M83 the shit. She fucking wrote Midnight City. If I wrote that song, I'd retire. 

But nope! That's not really an option for Morgan because of that set of pipes. You guys, in the room, that night, we all just looked at each other in awe. I am open to the awe of amazing singers. I am so often so humbled by the voices I get to hear and write for in my line of work. But I am spoiled by those voices and thus rarely floored by someone's ability. 

I've been waiting for White Sea's first full album, In Cold Blood since that night. I wish I could tell you it lives up to the live concert, but it doesn't and in fact, it can't. That's not even the point. But it is wonderful, it is lyrically bold, it is my jam, and you should get it.

In closing, Morgan Kibby, be my friend. If you get a call from Kade's cell phone, it's just me and I've stolen his phone so I can talk to you. Don't freak out. 

White Sea
In Cold Blood
New album out now via Crush Music/SONGS on iTunes for $7.99 or 
listen to it on Spotify

Not my favorite song on the album, but the video is gorge.

Fire & the Romance on Alt 98.7

This Sunday will be the mash up of two of my favorite things... and none of them will be the Oscars, so sorry about that. Nope, I'm talking about two of my oldest friends from opposite coasts and sides of my life gettin together to broadcast some new music. 

Dion Roy, one of my oldest friends in NYC (you might remember when I spoke at his and Aly's wedding in Aug 2012) has a new music project, Fire and the Romance. It's a pretty huge and ambitious departure from his previous (and super successful, I might add) efforts in the singer/songwriter genre. And I gotta say, I am loving the results!

He and Pete (of subway friend fame and awesome photog skillz) made this baller video for the first single, "Way Down Below." 

And NOW, THIS SUNDAY, Dion will pair up with one of my oldest friends from the Vegas days and my current LA partner in mischief and mayhem, Kade, to premiere "Way Down Below" on Kade's New Music Discovery Show on ALT 98.7, LA's Alternative (aka the only radio station I listen to.) 

It's at 7PM Pacific time. So make sure you tune in during the boring speeches and endless awards. 

Tune in on Sunday, support Kade and Dion and check out all the offerings from the King Of Tacos, Dion Roy aka Fire and the Romance. Tweet the guys (@fireandthemusic @alt987fm @kadeshow) when you hear “Way Down Below” for a chance to win a ONE of a kind hand-pressed Vinyl of the song!

Music Monday - 1975

Last week, during my flurry of activity with Dena, we went to see these guys at the 987 Hollywood Tower Penthouse. It was pretty awesome and Kade and I have been rocking out to their EP in anticipation of their fall album all summer long. (Sorry/Not Sorry for those multiple screamy videos as we cruised down PCH on Fourth of July.)

When I first started listening to them, me and fave Brit, David, had to take a minute to assess A.) which vaguely Northern accent the guys had. (Google helped us out. Manchester by way of Cheshire) and B.) If lead singer, Matthew Healy-- who reminds me a bit of a young Dave Gahan-- was kind of putting it on with his accent. Like, ya know, milking it a bit. Turns out he's not and they were smart, witty and lovely to chat with last week. 

"The City" is my favorite song of theirs. Get into it. 

Full length album out September 2, UK, September 3, US.

If you wanna find love, then you know where the city is...