Jonny started playing guitar at the ripe old age of 12, played sax in junior high, and recorded his first album Smokin’ at age 14. Talk about putting in the proverbial 110% into his work! His 2006 release Turn Around enabled him to earn his first Grammy for Best Gospel Album.
Category: #SKOPELIFE
SKOPE TV PHONER FEAT DAVID ROUSSEAU
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When artists like Lil Wayne, Enrique Iglesias, and Pitbull just to name a few need a music video done they call on David Rousseau. Skope TV got on the phone with David live from Miami, FL this weekend to talk about this. Join us as David talks about getting his start, what equipment he prefers,…
SKOPE TV PHONER FEATURE A THOUSAND HORSES
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Last Friday night Skope TV got a call from Michael Hobby who is the lead singer of A Thousand Horses. This five piece are a bunch of friends that are coming out of Nashville, TN with an exciting rock sound that is keeping fans loyal and attracting new ones with every show they play. Last…
Wild wayback Friday night machine
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Friday’s night show at The Earl was a trip — think “Fear and Loathing”. As we were transported back in time to 1973 with the reverb soaked psychedelic rock of The Black Angels and Black Mountain we were witness to the some of the strangest cast of characters and outrageous antics that good East Atlanta…
SKOPE TV PHONER FEAT RON JOSEPH
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The Skope audience is in for a treat as we got a legend to come on Skope TV last Friday, October 8. We are talking about the legendary Ron Joseph. Ron Joseph is creating major buzz with his new single, “3 O’Clock In The Mornin” and performances all over the west coast. Ron is…
MUSIC UP CLOSE, OCTOBER 2010
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Hey all you Music Lovers! We’re back at the club with a very special group of folks here tonight. We’re all putting on our highbrow suits, our slinky little black dresses, and our stilettos because we have jazz artists in the house. I’ll take you to meet them in a bit but before that I…
Showtime: Yeasayer play Masquerade
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Yeasayer performed to a packed crowd at Masquerade in Atlanta last Saturday. They delivered their unique mash up of psychedelic rock and Middle Eastern sounds.
Preview: Menomena coming to Atlanta
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Indie rockers Menomena are playing the Variety Playhouse this Friday. The Portland, Oregon trio comprised of Brent Knopf, Justin Harris and Danny Seim released their first EP called Rose back in 2001. Since then they’ve released four full length albums and a couple EPs.
The Heroines of Folk
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Last Sunday was folk night at The Earl where the feminine charm of Laura Veirs, The Watson Twins and L. Alex Guy of Led by Sea came together to lend the night a particular girl power character. These women of indie folk rock offered up the specific beauty of their craft — fragile vocals, heartfelt…
SKOPE TV PHONER FEAT KAFANI
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There was an east coast / west coast connection last week when Skope TV got on the line with Kafani. Kafani aka “Da Ice King” made a grip when he put out the hit “Fast” in 2007. After a few years of touring & guest appearances Kafani is back with new music & videos that…
SKOPE TV PHONER FEAT RYAN OF TRENCHTROWN
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On Friday August 20th Skope TV got on the phone with an exciting band that started in Detrout while in high school but now resides in Hermosa Beach, CA. The band we are talking about is Trenchtown and they mix punk, rock, reggae, and dub in a way that is addictive. If you have any…
CARNIVAL OF MADNESS TOUR – TOWER CITY, CLEVELAND ON 8-9-2010
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This tour features Shinedown, Sevendust, Puddle of Mudd, Chevelle, and 10 Years. The groups are of the heavier variety that can also at times expose their softer sides. The temperature was a Carnival of Madness, a sweltering 89 degrees at show time, with humidity to match for the six-hour marathon. Remember those…
MUSIC UP CLOSE, AUGUST 2010
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Hello, Music Up Close Readers! It’s been a busy summer, and we’ve had all sorts of things happening here at the club. I’ve been in the midst of a virtual book tour for the second book in The Bowdancer Saga called The Wayfarer’s Road. You can grab a copy at www.breathlesspress.com or a kindle version…
SKOPE TV PHONER FEAT XYMPHONI
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Last Friday night Skope TV got a call from a fresh & exciting voice to hit the R&B/Pop scene. Coming out of the Bay area is Xymphoni. Xymphoni has been singing since a young girl but she is taking her career to a whole new level with the release of her album, ‘Driven.’ Join us…
MUSIC UP CLOSE, JUNE 2010
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Well, howdy, folks. I’m back from a much needed break while renovations continue here at the clue. I did a little traveling, ate some good food, saw some folks I hadn’t seen in years, and took some great nature photos for my new book trailers coming out this month and next. While I was exploring…
BIZ TALK: MAYBE IT’S TIME YOU HIRE A SOUND GUY
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A lot of bands debate on whether or not to hire their own sound guy or just do the sound setup themselves. If were talking quality venues – most professionals will in fact bring their own sound guy on tour with them. This keeps thing consistent show to show.
MUSIC UP CLOSE, APRIL 2010
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Hello, Music Up Close readers, we are finally back up and operating once more. The construction to our virtual club is finally finished, and I’m ready to get this place hopping again. And what a way to reopen our doors and show our wider focus than with a full slate of world music artists!
BIZ TALK: ASSEMBLING AN EFFECTIVE STREET TEAM
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Many bands have learned the power of “word of Mouth” via an effective Street Tea. Street Teams’ are a powerful promotional tool that has been adopted industry wide as a standard line item in marketing budgets by entertainment companies, record labels, the tech industry, corporate brand marketers, new media companies and direct marketers worldwide.
BIZ TALK: INTRODUCING “POSER ROCK”
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What is a rock star? — A stereotypical rock star is someone who by nature is somewhat dangerous, not very politically correct, and relatively out of control. A Rock Start is not afraid of controversy. in fact they feel empowered when they push the envelope as far as they possibly can, regardless of consequence, and…
YSP!WSD! Swagger and shimmer in Atlanta
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You Say Party! We Say Die!(YSP!WSD!) played the tiny East Atlanta club, The Earl, on Monday. They brought a mishmash of new wave dance shimmer and punk swagger to the small stage. Becky Ninkovic danced on her toes – the pint-sized singer was energetic and pranced around the stage in a gold shiny top and…
BIZ TALK: SOMETHING EVERY ROADIE SHOULD READ
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Sure being a roadie is the toughest job in the Music Business, but keep you head up, you might be a Rock Star one day.
BIZ TALK: BE A RESPONSIBLE PERFORMER
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Many newcomers are unaware of their responsibilities towards the venue, people in the crowd, and even opening acts. Having an incident occur during the show could have disastrous consequences as you are trying to build a reputation regionally as a professional.
BIZ TALK: A&R REPRESENTATIVE PT III
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A&R reps also look for artists who are proactive and possess a strong work ethic. In other words Motivation. Will the members of the band continue to work hard at creating own opportunities once they get signed or will they rely entirely on their label to do everything for them?
BIZ TALK: A&R REPRESENTATIVE PT II
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It’s important to note that A&R’s also rely heavily on referrals from established bands, record label scouts, friends and relatives of industry executives, reputable producers, managers, attorneys, and publishing companies as well. In other words their friends and networking.
MUSIC UP CLOSE WITH JANIE – FEBRUARY 2010
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Happy February, my dear readers. In honor of the month of love, I am showcasing women at the virtual club here at Music Up Close with Janie. Though there are so many artists we could bring to you, I wanted to offer you some new emerging talents and a very classy lady that you may…
BIZ TALK: A&R REPRESENTATIVE PT I
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A&R Representatives is an acronym for (Artists and Repertoire) are record company personnel whose job it is to discover new talent and help develop careers. This is the gatekeeper to your deal. Chances are if your music is good, there is a A&R looking for it right now.
BIZ TALK: THE MUSIC BUSINESS IS A GAMBLE
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Once again the bottom line is money. Business ventures are designed to make money plain and simple. I’m not trying to make you a businessman, I’m trying to show you how this Industry operates. An A&R Representative must look for new ways to make money all the time to keep their careers alive.
BIZ TALK: THE BASICS OF LEGAL CONTRACTS
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In the Music Business a “handshake” or verbal agreement is quite acceptable, not to mention it can even be used in the court of law. However when things don’t go according to plan, I’ve seen the golden handshake turn into bad situations in a hurry, especially when the things that don’t go as planned involve…
BIZ TALK: SETTING REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS
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O.K. how about for now we put aside the Limousine, the Hot tub parties & Playboy Mansion Invitations, and set a much more realistic goal for yourself. Let’s start by making a career for yourself an Independent Artists first and foremost. If your band does not gross a million dollars on the local live circuit…
MUSIC UP CLOSE WITH JANIE – JANUARY 2010
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Welcome to a new decade, music lovers! We are starting off the year a little late due to some major internet and computer problems and some remodeling here at the Music Up Close Club. That’s why you hear all of that hammering and the buzz drone of drills. We’re changing up things here so that…
BIZ TALK: HOW MUCH THE PRO’S DIDN’T MAKE LAST YEAR ON TOUR
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If you expect to make a lot of money off your own concert tour, you’re likely to be extremely disappointed. By the time the venue’s concert promoters, ticket vendors, road crew, support staff, various equipment rentals take their cuts, coupled with transportation costs living expenses, food are covered, there may not be as much…
BIZ TALK: THE IMPORTANCE OF LIVE EXPOSURE
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How important is touring and gigging to getting your band noticed? Apart from Professional Radio airplay it’s probably the most effective thing you can do to get your band recognized by a mass group of people. Mass groups of people means mass amounts of money.
MUSIC UP CLOSE WITH JANIE – DEC/JAN 2009
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Happy Holiday All You Music Lovers! We have really spruced up the club this month and are showing off some really great Christmas albums to make your holidays merrier. Plus we have a great feature on the repatriation of Haitian music–a sort of regifting back to the people of that country, based on the…
BIZ TALK: TREAT EVERY SHOW LIKE IT’S YOUR LAST
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The following is a true story about how a hot Seattle band blew one of the biggest opportunities they had in under 15 minutes, and didn’t even know it.
BIZ TALK: BE A CONTENDER, NOT A PRETENDER
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I was having with a local metal band concerning the importance of My Space hit numbers. I told them usually a download number over 100,000 will typically get an A&R’s attention pretty quickly. In fact the bigger the number the bigger the red flag. I told them – Usually a hit number over 1 million…
THE MESMERIZING SOUNDS OF BHADRA COLLECTIVE
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Bhadra Collective consists of seasoned musicians who found each other because of a mutual interest in chant music. It is a collective of Toronto musicians representing a variety of cultures. We have members from African, First Nations Canadian, Palestinian, East Indian, Australian, and Eurpoean traditions.
STOLI & AFI ARE GIVING AWAY A GUITAR
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To celebrate the release of Crash Love, AFI and Skope Magazine are giving one lucky winner the chance to win a special Crash Love branded guitar.
SAOSIN & SKOPE OFFER THE “CHANGING” GIVEAWAY
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In celebration of Saosin’s recent release, In Search of Solid Ground, the band and Skope Magazine want to hook up one lucky winner with a major prize pack.
PLANETARY NIGHTS BLAST OFF WITH ‘ELLIPTICAL MOTION’
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Planetary Nights’ debut album “Elliptical Motion” is as singer-songwriter RJ McSweeney describes it “original Americana rock n roll”. It was produced by Mark Hermann and includes Rob Clores (Black Crowes) on keyboards and percussionist Graham Hawthorne (David Byrne).
BIZ TALK: A FEW FACTS ABOUT BARCODES
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I recently attended a SWSW Music and Media Conference in Austin Texas. The first day I was there I witnessed a punk band walk over to give a Top Music Executive one of their CD’s following a hot live performance. Everything was going fine until she turned the CD over and noticed there was no…