Posts by Nick Gunther

Recently, BLK JKS guitarist-vocalist Mpumi Mcata spoke with Glide to discuss the band’s new album, its pursuits in festival organizing, and its role in South Africa’s musical community.

Nashville via Texas singer-songwriter Van Darien has the unmistakable gift of gracing listeners with a sense of place and song by her enrapturing voice alone. This enchanting talent came from in the blue-collar industrial backyard that Darien grew up surrounded by, and as a result, that aesthetic has remained engrained in her music since relocating […]

Paul Williams is an American songwriter.  It’s a badge of honor that he has identified with since starting his a career in songwriting in 1967 after being out of work as an actor; a career transition that he refers to as the gift of a lifetime.  That gift has continued to give and provide for […]

Simon Goffe wears many hats these days.  As the Owner/Partner of London-based Brownswood Recordings, the former deejay and club promoter has devoted his life’s work to music.  Early in his career, Goffe realized that he had more skill in the business side of the music industry, which led to an early pivot into label and […]

In support of its newest release and seventh studio album, Home, the John Butler Trio returned to Philadelphia for an energizing performance at the Fillmore on November 17th. It’s been four years since the band released its last record, Flesh & Blood, and in that time, the touring arrangement has grown to feature an expanded […]

U2 is a band intensely focused on reinvention through innovation. Just over a year ago, commemorating thirty years after the release of their acclaimed album, The Joshua Tree, the band played Lincoln Financial Field to the backdrop of the world’s largest and highest definition video screen ever used in a live concert; the show was […]

Randy Spendlove, the current President of Motion Picture Music for Paramount Pictures, has logged many miles as a touring musician but left the life on the road for one in the front office.  Starting as an executive in promotion for A&M Records, Spendlove went on to work on the film music side in roles for […]

[rating=6.00] In his first full length recording, Built on Glass, Australian artist Chet Faker (humanly named Nick Murphy), sets you down within an electronic haze of emotion. His fascination for jazz is well documented on the record with the looseness of sounds and open space outside of the verses, along with the use of a […]

[rating=8.00] On their latest record, Himalayan, the Band of Skulls, now with three albums on the shelf, continue sewing the thread of what has made both Baby Darling Doll Face Honey and Sweet Sour widely accepted records: dark tempered songwriting, the ability to quickly reveal an aggressive edge and the openness to unite vocal styles […]

[rating=7.00] The honesty in John Butler’s songwriting comes through in his storytelling, both lyrically and instrumentally; it’s a component of his music that is very experience based.  In live performance, a cornerstone experience like “Ocean” is something that is transmitted from Butler into anyone who is actively listening.  The newest release from the John Butler […]

[rating=8.00] After the Disco, the follow up recording to Broken Bells’ self-titled release in 2010, could be as much a reference to a state beyond happiness as one of a state beyond loneliness. Using that as a thematic base for songwriting has yielded, again, a great unison of brilliant melody and dark infused lyricism. One […]

[rating=7.00] There is distinct vulnerability in James Vincent McMorrow’s voice on his latest release Post Tropical.  It’s a tone that casts a vision of remembrance, strained relationships and patience, and while these are vivid elements that stand out in the music, they cause parts of the record to blend together the way they are arranged.  […]

Timelessness is often times an adjective, and state, that artists strive to achieve in music.  For Trixie Whitley, it’s about optimizing the creativity and emotion found within to work to someday reach that point.  With her debut record Fourth Corner set for release, Ms. Whitley fearlessly re-enters to present her full length debut body of work.

 The variable orchestration and detailed lyrics found on Fourth Corner show Trixie Whitley’s ability to structure ideas in separate environments, all while maintaining descriptive imagery for her voice to project upon.         

Here Come the Girls is more than a sonic continuation from where The London Souls left off in 2011 with the release of their self-titled debut, it’s a reaffirmation of the fact that the soul of the band is more deeper than just its sound.  This past year alone being the leading example that true miracles are capable of happening, and capable of healing. 

An immediate connection with Lauryn Hill’s MTV Unplugged record was what first cultivated Selah Sue’s passion for music.  At the time, thousands of miles away from the United States, ideas were beginning to grow inside Selah Sue’s mind within her home country of Belgium.  The singer-songwriter is coming off the debut of her self-titled album that released at the end of August. 

He’s not the next Hendrix.  Not the next Stevie Ray Vaughan, even though they both honed their craft in Austin, TX and have played in many a same club.  Nor is he the next anything.  He is Gary Clark Jr., a dominant blues guitarist cementing himself as a shareholder in the blues rock revival that is slowly retrofitting this age of music.

On his most recent album Grand Ukulele, Jake Shimabukuro showcases the lengthening of his ukulele and range of coverage the instrument provides.  In the opening trio of songs on the album, Shimabukuro identifies with several musical setups, including a tight-tempo jazz combo style on “Ukulele Five-O,” a more orchestrated foundation on “Gentlemandolin,” and his solo acoustic version of Adele’s “Rolling In the Deep.”

As much as an entertainer Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter is, it’s more so his skill as a businessman and entrepreneur that gave him the accessibility to curate the Budweiser Made In America celebration in Philadelphia this past Labor Day weekend.

Keep an eye on the horizon for this rising talent who is increasingly gaining momentum, she might just be “pretty much what you’re lookin’ for.”