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If you ask Memphis musician, Tikyra Jackson, when she first became aware of music, when it initially entered her universe as a young person, she’ll say that she thinks she was simply born into it. Jackson, who comes from a musical family, was also raised in church. So, she’s been immersed in song, essentially, since the very beginning. But while Jackson isn’t the only person to have grown up singing in church, she did learn an important, singular lesson there. It’s an idea that applies to just about everything she does, including playing in her Grammy-nominated group, Southern Avenue, or recording her own compositions – like her pointed debut single, “No More Fear,” which we’re happy to premiere here today.

“I definitely feel that being exposed to music and church at such a young age,” Jackson says, “made me adjusted to becoming more vulnerable on stage. And when you’re vulnerable, you can allow the music or that energy to overtake you.”

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Throughout her career, Iowa-based songwriter, Lissie (born Elisabeth Corrin Maurus), has benefited from her ability to shape and reshape herself depending on the situation, depending on what’s necessary. If the goal of any soul walking the world is to resemble water (as martial arts master, Bruce Lee, noted), then Lissie has certainly approached that ideal. But water isn’t the only element Lissie harbors inside, there’s at least one more stoking her creative furnace. And thankfully for Lissie, the light has never gone out, it remains hot to this day, as the acclaimed singer continues to release both new and revisited older material in celebration of the 10-year anniversary of her praised debut LP, Catching a Tiger.

“In whatever context, in whatever group, song or space,” Lissie says, “once I can tap into my fire, that’s where it feels true and coming from my gut and my heart.”

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When Bay Area songwriter and performer, Fantastic Negrito (born Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz), writes new music, he thinks of his children. He thinks, “What would they think of me?” So, in his work, which has taken him around the world and earned millions of streams and as many moments of applause, Negrito aims to infuse knowledge. He wants his kids to hear his music at whatever age it finds them and think their father was fearless, that he said what needed to be said, popular or not. So far, however, Negrito is popular and that attention has come after some almost incompressible life experiences. Many of which he sings about on his forthcoming album, Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?, out August 14th.

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Ed Roland, front man and co-founder of the rock ‘n’ roll band, Collective Soul, simply loves writing songs. When his band’s first record, Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid, rocketed to No. 15 on the US Billboard 200 in 1993, the success didn’t mean Roland would soon be swimming in carnal pleasures. Rather, for the musician, it meant that he could afford to pay his rent and write more songs. Even today, amidst all that 2020 has thrown at the world – including the city of Atlanta, where Roland resides – the artist recently wrote and recorded a new record with his Collective Soul cohorts. He adores the process and that especially shows throughout the band’s first two records (Hints and its self-titled 1995 release), both of which will be reissued today on vinyl for the very first time.

“I grew up in a household of love, music, sports and discipline,” says Roland, with a charming southern accent. “And it was awesome!”

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Adam Thompson, front man for the Scottish rock band, We Were Promised Jetpacks, recently developed a new trick for dealing with the often-unsettling post-show doldrums. As a touring band, Thompson and crew traveled a lot pre pandemic, often for upwards of six-to-eight months at a time. And after each show, the front man would often stay in his head sweating the small details that might have gone wrong on stage. This, though, he found, only compounded any actual issue. So, Thompson decided to visit the merch stand after gigs and talk to the people that came to see the band. The result, he says, has been night and day for Thompson, whose group released their latest EP, Out Of Interest, in June.

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Musician Matthew Russell, member of the wildly popular electronic group, Cheat Codes, remembers being broke at 19-years-old. He’d recently moved to Los Angeles from St. Louis to pursue his dream of producing records. He’d also just dropped out of college. He’d enrolled to study music production but after learning it would be two years of general classes before he could touch Pro Tools, he quit. But walking the boulevards of L.A., he had an idea. He went into a bank, applied for a $10,000 loan, got it and bought his own equipment. He began learning from friends and YouTube tutorials. At the time, he was banking on hope. That bet would pay off as his soon-to-be trio would release songs that would earn millions of streams worldwide, including the band’s latest, “Heaven.”

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Nancy Wilson’s very first guitar was rented. The slashing six-string player, who rose to great fame along with her sister, Ann, in the rock ‘n’ roll band, Heart, had to struggle mightily with her first guitar. But it didn’t much matter. Nancy, who, upon laying eyes on The Beatles on television during their famed spot on the Ed Sullivan show, needed more than anything else to play a guitar. Whether it was old, beat up, out of shape, damn near impossible to play – that was ancillary. What mattered was the guitar. And today, in many ways, that’s still what matters for Nancy, who continues to write and record and, when not hampered by a pandemic, tour with her Hall of Fame band.

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Australian singer-songwriter, Angus Stone, remembers falling asleep under tables as a child at weddings. His father, a professional wedding singer, would bring Stone and his sister, Julia, to gigs. And as the nights drew on, the siblings would find a spot and curl up, hidden by the long draped tablecloth linens, and dream as the band played. Absorbing the celebratory sonic energy waves that way meant it was likely just a matter of time before Stone (and his sister) would go on to follow in father’s footsteps – not as a wedding singer, necessarily, but certainly as a performer and songwriter. Today, Stone has released his latest offering, the new single, “Every Day A Holiday,” under his most recent moniker, Dope Lemon.

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When Minneapolis-based masterful guitar player, Cory Wong, was a young person, he was already dedicated to music. So much so that on weekends, he would bring his guitar and amplifier to school and, after classes, he would take a different bus home with a friend where the two would rehearse and practice their instruments and watch MTV music videos all night. The next morning, the two would wake up and play music all day and on Sunday, Wong’s parents would pick him up to go back home. This is but one example of Wong’s lifelong devotion to music and one of many reasons why his songs are both deeply nuanced and joyous. As evidenced by his most recent release, Dusk, and also his forthcoming release, Dawn, on which appears the new single, “Bluebird,” which we’re happy to premiere here today.

“I don’t know how my parents or my friend’s parents let us do that,” Wong says, with a laugh. “They were just down with it!”

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If you can spare the four minutes, or so, that it takes to watch Future Islands perform on David Letterman from 2014, you’ll likely find it delightful, extraordinary. It also changed the lives of the Baltimore-based band’s members in ways the group could never have imagined. Ever since, Future Islands has gone on lengthy tours and amassed hundreds of thousands of fans. But the success has also allowed for the band’s members the freedom in their down time to explore other creative impulses and dig into new creative goals. The result for the group’s bassist, William Cashion, was the June release of his debut solo record, Postcard Music, a collection of ambient song. And American Songwriter is proud to premiere the video for the record’s single, “Vizcaya,” here today.

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London-based singer-songwriter and producer, Dave Bayley, front man for the electronic group, Glass Animals, remembers spending formative years in a small Texas town, huddled at night around a radio that offered just a few channels. Luckily, for Bayley, one of the stations played classic Hip-Hop songs from artists like Missy Elliot, Dr. Dre, Eminem and, perhaps most importantly, the producer, Timbaland. These songs opened Bayley’s mind to new musical sounds and possibilities. Raised on groups like Talking Heads, The Beatles, Nina Simone and Bob Marley from his parents, Bayley says he became consumed by all of it. And each of these influences appears on the forthcoming Glass Animals record, Dreamland, slated for release August 7th.

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Eric Rachmany, front man for the wildly popular reggae-rock group, Rebelution, remembers being in school as a young person and feeling terrified. The songwriter, who plays in front of multiple thousands of people at any given gig today, says he would get nervous when he had to speak in front of the class. So much so that he’d try and memorize his reports word-for-word. Now, years later, Rachmany is comfortable in front of a crowd. He’s embraced the space that’s his within any Rebelution show. As a result, his group has garnered hundreds of thousands of fans from all over the world. Rebelution will surely grow in followers given the release of its latest LP, Dub Collection, which hit stands and streams last Friday.

“I learned through performing to get into the art,” Rachmany says. “When you do that, you can really put on a show. People can tell when you’re into it and when you’re not. That’s the beauty of art and of expressing yourself. It’s such a great feeling to let go and give it your all.”

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We’ve all experienced it at least once. Looking at a vase or bouquet of old, dried flowers that were once lovely and knowing they must go. Often, it comes with a moment of sad reflection. The flowers were once – recently! – so tremendously beautiful. Their bloom, perfume. But now, without roots, they’ve gone brittle and died out. For Nashville-based singer-songwriter, Courtney Marie Andrews, this experience is also a metaphor for lost romantic love, which is why the musician titled her forthcoming album, Old Flowers (set for release July 24th, read our review), and why she sings of them forlornly on the album’s title track.

“Old Flowers is a relationship album,” Andrews says, “a breakup record. It’s telling the tale of a relationship and letting it go – or, trying to, at least. Old flowers signify love, for me. They were once in full bloom, beautiful at one time. Now they’ve wilted. But that doesn’t make the past any less magical. They can still be memories to keep between the pages of your favorite book.”

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