One Note Ahead Update #2

The world reels from (and mires itself in controversy over) the sudden death of Michael Jackson while '60s rock fans mourn the loss of The Seeds' Sky Saxon. The Grim Reaper's been on a mass media spree this past week, claiming the lives of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Billy Mays as well. But the Grim Reaper hasn't gotten all of us yet, and so life goes on. Life in this case is bringing much news to the realm of One Note Ahead and, in an eerie parallel to last June, I feel compelled to provide an update.

=> The fast-approaching start date of the XPoNential Music Festival provoked me to re-read my blog about last summer's event, and did I ever notice how much has changed since then! The Redwalls are down to Logan and Justin Baren but are still working on new songs and recordings. Nicole Atkins, formerly backed by a band called The Sea, now has a new backing band called The Black Sea (making a mere historical artifact out of that dirty-cool "Nicole Atkins & The Sea" button Nicole gave me). The Back Door Slam I saw and wrote about last summer are history, and frontman Davy is continuing with supporting musicians as "Davy Knowles & Back Door Slam." To prove that some things remain constant, Ingrid Michaelson has a new album and tour coming up. These are but a few examples of what's up with last year's XPoNential Fest performers!

=> Matt Duke has a forthcoming release called Kingdom Underground. I know I said that last June and that I reviewed a Matt Duke album by that title last September, but let me explain: the full title of this new release is actually Acoustic Kingdom Underground EP. Its title really says it all: an acoustic EP meant to complement the Kingdom Underground album. Whether I'll review it depends on whether I can score a promo copy; either way, the EP comes out this Tuesday, June 30th. Three of its tracks are on Matt's MySpace now.

=> Jake Snider will be releasing a new record next month called The Seven, whose contents are inspired by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I doubt that I'll be reviewing this collection because I am only vaguely familiar with Harry Potter and I've never felt like those books and movies were up my alley. But it's a Jake Snider record, so I might just like it anyway. He's having a couple of CD release shows in the Philly area; check online for details.

=> Further down the road, Downtown Harvest plan to drop their long-anticipated third album this fall. And since I haven't been their publicist since last May, who knows? I might just feature them on ONA again. Speaking of ONA favorites turned PR clients turned former PR clients, I'm afraid Laura Cheadle joined that group in February. Don't worry, we're still friends. Her new album Live On, which I mentioned in last year's update, came out in February -- yes, around the same time that I stopped being her publicist. You can check out some of the tracks on MySpace if you're curious.

That's quite enough for now! Stay tuned, for you never know what One Note Ahead will bring you next.

Copyright © 2009 S.J. Dibai. All rights reserved.