Artists of the Month: Cavo

Cavo Photo credit: James Minchin (courtesy WBR)

Cavo will be opening in support of Daughtry April 28th at Jobing.com Arena.

Get your tickets here: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1E00442CD64A9CDB?brand=jobingarena

Cavo, after nearly nine years together, had a good shot of getting where they are today: releasing their major-label debut album, Bright Nights * Dark Days, last summer on Reprise Records. With songs like the propulsive first single “Champagne,” the uplifting power ballad “Let It Go,” the blistering “Cry Wolf,” and the strutting “Blame,” the album is a passionately played collection of hard-hitting rock and roll with keenly felt lyrics about life, love, and the acceptance that comes with realizing that all we can do is to try and be the best person we can for those we love. “I think it’s amazing when a songwriter can open up a piece of themselves and let the whole world see it,” says Walker, who writes Cavo’s lyrics. “It may not be beautiful, in fact it may be really ugly, but great art comes from an honest place. It has to. And that’s what we try to do with our songs.”
 
The current line-up of Cavo — which also features Chris Hobbs on guitar, Chad La Roy on drums, and Brian Smith on bass — solidified after Smith came on board in 2006, but the original nucleus formed when Walker hooked up with Hobbs and La Roy in March 2001. Walker had wanted to front a rock band ever since seeing Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder onstage for the first time. “I had sung since I was kid,” Walker says, “but seeing him made me realize that writing songs and singing with a rock band were what I had to do. And I knew immediately that Chris and Chad were doing something special. We all shared the same passion for it. Chris is someone I consider to be a musical soul-mate; he’s very artistic and has a great sense of how the end result should sound. Chad is just pure energy; his playing is like a shot of adrenaline. They’re the kind of guys who, even if they weren’t signed to a label, would still be playing music together, and that’s how I felt.”
 
That commitment to music got Walker, Hobbs, and La Roy through some rough times ahead — the group endured numerous production setbacks, a former member’s alcohol addiction, and the end of another member’s marriage, all of which is chronicled on Cavo’s aptly titled independent album, The Painful Art of Letting Go, which they self-released in 2006. “We’ve had some major losses and some major gains throughout this process, but it has only made us stronger as a band and as friends,” La Roy says. After Letting Go was released in September, Cavo were ready to hit the road. The only problem was they didn’t have a bass player. Walker knew Brian Smith from the St. Louis scene and asked him to join. “Brian coming onboard literally changed everything for Cavo,” Walker says. “When he started playing with us, everything was different. It was more intense. His technical ability gave Chris the opportunity to start indulging his creative side, which in turn shaped the sound on our new album.”
 
In January 2007, Cavo wrote their first song as a four-piece — the ringing, tribal-sounding “Useless,” which Walker feels encapsulates everything about their musical direction. “It was clearly different than anything on our previous album. It was more aggressive, probably because of Brian. He plays parts, not just notes, and that made the music more aggressive. So I had to step up my game and become a more aggressive singer to match where the music was headed.” Soon they had two more songs, “Champagne” and “Cry Wolf,” both of which made it onto an EP that got the attention of the program director at St. Louis radio station The Point, which put “Champagne” into rotation. A few live showcases in the summer of 2008 later and Cavo signed on the dotted line with Reprise Records last October. “Signing with Reprise meant everything to us,” La Roy says. “It’s a chance for the world to hear and feel our music, and an opportunity that many people can only dream about.”
 
Record producer David Bendeth, who has worked with Breaking Benjamin, Paramore, and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, among others, caught Cavo at their showcase in New York City and told the band he wanted to help them make a great album that could stand the test of time. “He basically said that he wanted to record with us whether we signed a deal or not, and his passion for our music was really inspiring,” Walker says. “In the studio, he spent the time to make the songs the best they could be. He cared about the final product and it shows.”  Adds La Roy: “I had a feeling this record was going to be something unbelievable and epic, but when I heard the final tracks, I was speechless.”
 
In addition to Cavo’s own songs, Bright Nights * Dark Days features an additional track, the powerfully emotional “Ghost,” co-written by Nixons singer/guitarist Zac Maloy, who has also worked with David Cook and Chris Daughtry, and the Norwegian songwriting team Espionage. “I was a Nixons fanatic,” Walker says, “so I had to get my geek moment out of the way when I first met Zac.”
 
“One of great things about being signed to a major label is that it allows our band so many amazing opportunities,” Walker continues. “It was also validation — like somebody telling you that what you’ve been focusing on your whole life wasn’t a waste of time. People would ask me, ‘How long are you going to keep playing in this band; when are you going to quit this hobby?’ Being in a band isn’t a hobby, it’s really hard work. But when it works, and you’re out there playing music with your best friends, it’s the best job ever.”

Learn more: http://www.cavomusic.com/

Artist of the Month: We the Kings

We the Kings American pop-punk band is making a big splash in the music scene! These Kings are the new teenage heartthrobs serenading us with lyrics like “Heaven can wait up high in the sky it’s you and I.” Talented and under 25 they have already released a self-titled album back in 2007. Their new single Heaven Can wait is now out with a new video premiering on MTV. Their second highly anticipated album Smile, Kid is to be released on December 8^th.  If you haven’t heard about them by now, you will soon!

We the Kings grew up in Bradenton, Florida and got there name from their middle school they attended King Middle school. We the Kings have four band members ranging in ages 19-22; Travis Clark standing out not only because of his red hair, but for his awesome vocals. Hunter Thomsen guitar and backing vocals and Drew Thomson bass player are brothers. While Danny Duncan bangs out the drums. The band attributes their musical performance blend to Jimmy Eat world and Third Eye Blind. Determined to make music that you will still sing, long from now, and I think that We the Kings is on the right track with the catchy melodies that are easy to sing along to.

Five Crown Points that make them the Kings of the Month

• They are young and upcoming Artist
• New single and video for heaven can wait is Awesome
• New album Smile, Kid comes out in December
• They are on tour Glamour Kills Tour with All time low, Hey Monday, and Friday Night boys.
• In Phoenix 11.05.09 at the Marquee theater
• You won’t be able to stop singing their songs!

Check We the Kings out for yourself at: http://www.myspace.com/wethekings

Jack’s Mannequin Artist of the Month

Originally a side project started in 2004, Jack’s Mannequin has taken on a life of its own.  Jack’s Mannequin, which Andrew McMahon formed in 2004 with guitarist Bobby Anderson, bassist Jonathan Sullivan, and drummer Jay McMillan in Orange County, CA.

Currently, you can find Jack’s Mannequin on tour with The Fray promoting their sophomore effort, “The Glass Passanger”. “Swim” the new single from the album is currently making quite an impact at Hot AC radio. A new video for the track was filmed last week and directed by Steven Murahsige and features a cast of JM fans and a performance filmed in Hollywood that underscores the song’s passionate and empowering lyrical perspective. The “Swim” video is expected to impact airwaves and various video outlets by mid-July.

Remaining Tour Dates with The Fray

Jul 14 Dodge Theatre Phoenix, AZ
Jul 16 Journal Pavilion Albuquerque, NM
Jul 17 The Pearl Las Vegas, NV
Jul 18 USANA Amphitheatre Salt Lake City, UT
Jul 21 Target Center Minneapolis, MN
Jul 22 Starlight Theatre Kansas City, MO
Jul 24 Superpages.com Center Dallas, TX
Jul 25 Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Houston, TX
Jul 28 Cricket Wireless Amphit San Diego, CA
Jul 29 Verizon Wireless Amphit Los Angeles, CA
Jul 31 Sleep Train Amphit Sacramento, CA
Aug 1 Shoreline Amphit/ Mountain View San Francisco, CA
Aug 4 Rose Garden Arena Portland, OR
Aug 5 U.B.C. Thunderbird Arena Vancouver, BC
Aug 6 White River Amphitheatre Seattle, WA
Aug 7 Spokane Arena Spokane, WA

If you’re unable to ge to a show, you can also check out Jack’s Mannequin on Jimmy Kimmel Live on July 30th.     

Street Sweeper Social Club May 09 AotM

Photo Credit: Romy Suskin

Taking the music scene by storm once again, Tom Morello and Boots Riley seem to have another iconic band on their hands. Street Sweeper Social Club, the new band unifying Tom Morello and Boots Riley, first album does not even debut until June 16th, but they’ve already packed houses in NYC and have had the groups first single “100 Little Curses” added to KROQ.

Their debut self-titled album is out June 16th through Warner Music Group’s Independent Label Group. The 11-song set was produced by Tom Morello and features Boots Riley on vocals, Morello on guitar and bass, and Stanton Moore (Galactic) on drums.

As if all of the buzz the band has been getting is not enough, Street Sweeper Social Club’s debut tour will be opening all dates in North America on the Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction May-June Tour (confirmed dates below).  The tour will find Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction sharing a stage for the first time since the debut of the Lollapalooza festival in 1991 (as well as the first tour by the original lineup of Jane’s Addiction in seventeen years).

Phoenix, why would you miss this? SSSC’s debut tour with Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction will be here on Friday May 15 at the Cricket Wireless Pavilion.

Tom Morello of SSSC performs at the Tempe Music Festival Photo Credit: Stephanie Baldwin

Tom Morello is a founding member and guitarist of the rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. The two bands are responsible for multiple Grammy Awards and a combined 30 million albums sold worldwide. Morello has also received critical acclaim as a solo artist known as The Nightwatchman. Widely celebrated for his unique voice as a master electric guitarist, he is recognized by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the “100 Greatest Guitar Players of All-Time (#26).” He is also one of only two guitarists featured as a playable animated character in the overwhelmingly popular Activision video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Tom Morello graduated from Harvard University with honors as a Political Science major and has been a widely recognized political activist throughout his career. With System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, Morello formed Axis of Justice, an organization whose purpose is to bring together musicians, music fans, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice.

Boots Riley is best known as the leader of The Coup, the seminal Hip-Hop group from Oakland, CA. As a producer and lyricist, Riley has crafted critically acclaimed albums for The Coup that have graced the year-end Top 10 lists of Rolling Stone, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and more. They have also received “Album of the Year” honors from The Washington Post, Time Out New York, while Billboard Magazine declared the group “the best hip-hop act of the past decade.” Born in Chicago and raised in East Oakland’s Funktown neighborhood, Boots became a teenage community organizer. From his history of student organizing in Oakland’s public schools, serving on the central committee for the Progressive Labor Party, being the President of Youth InCar (Youth International Committee Against Racism), organizing to build California’s Anti-Racist Farm Workers’ Union, to developing “guerrilla hip hop concerts” (mobile concerts on flatbed trucks), Boots Riley has been an integral part of the progressive struggle for radical change through culture.

Street Sweeper Social Club with Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction

May 14 – Albuquerque, NM Journal Pavilion
May 15 – Phoenix, AZ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
May 16 – Chula Vista, CA Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
May 20 – Irvine, CA Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
May 21 — Santa Barbara, CA Santa Barbara Bowl
May 22 -Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View
May 24 – The Gorge, WA Sasquatch Festival
May 26 – Englewood, CO Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
May 27 – Kansas City, MO Starlight Theatre
May 29 – Chicago, IL Charter One Pavilion at Northern Island (NIN/SSSC ONLY)
May 30 – Noblesville, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center Indianapolis
May 31 – Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
June 02 – Toronto, ON Molson Amphitheatre
June 03 – Mansfield, MA Comcast Center
June 05 – Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center
June 06 – Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
June 07 – Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
June 09 – Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 10 – Burgettstown, PA Post-Gazette Pavilion
June 12 – Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte

Myspace:
www.myspace.com/streetsweepersocialclub
The songs “Fight! Smash! Win!,” “Clap For The Killers,” and “The Oath” by Street Sweeper Social Club can be heard now at: www.myspace.com/streetsweepersocialclub and www.streetsweepermusic.com

Street Sweeper Social Club Track Listing: 

1. Fight! Smash! Win!
2. 100 Little Curses
3. The Oath
4. The Squeeze
5. Clap For The Killers
6. Somewhere In the World It’s Midnight
7. Shock You Again
8. Good Morning, Mrs. Smith
9. Megablast
10. Promenade
11. Nobody Moves (Til We Say Go)