Peter Calandra Releases Album ‘Spirit’

"Peter Calandra Releases Album ‘Spirit’"

Spirit, the 2024 release by Peter Calandra, is an album of beautiful piano based compositions. The 13 tracks on the album contain 10 original pieces composed by Peter along with 3 arrangements of early 1970’s songs Calandra played as a teen in bands. The music ranges from sweet folk-like solo piano melodies to spacious, soulful piano accompanied by deeply ambient synthesizer washes and lyrical ballads. Quiet music for a loud world.

Kathy Parsons (mainlypiano.com 12/13/2023): “Peter is an artist who is very comfortable in a wide range of music genres, and if I had to put this piece into a category, it would likely be ambient, but like so much of Peter’s music, it really defies classification and is simply a beautiful piano solo by Peter Calandra and one of my favorites for the year. Very highly recommended!”

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Peter Calandra is an award winning, prolific composer and keyboard player whose solo albums are wonderfully diverse, spanning world music, jazz, contemporary jazz, new age, pop, and neo-classical. Three of his recent albums of original music — First Light (2015), The Road Home (2017) and Carpe Noctem (2018) were nominated for ZMR Awards.

As a Film & TV composer, Calandra scored over 100 films and wrote over 2000 compositions for television. He has composed music for every major television network including the FIFA World Cup Theme for FOX Sports, the Special Olympics World Games and Invictus Games Theme for ESPN, as well as writing music for the Kennedy Center Honors on CBS from 2015 thru 2020.

Calandra has been immersed in the New York City music scene for most of his life. As a keyboard player he performed in the Broadway productions of Miss Saigon, The Lion King, Les Miserables, The Phantom Of The Opera, and Little Shop Of Horrors. He has also performed with the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra, NY Pops Orchestra, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Don Cherry, Aretha Franklin, Allen Ginsberg, Annie Golden, Donna McKechnie, Lillianne Montevecchi, and he spent 16 years as the keyboard player in the NYC-based Climax Band, the creative vehicle for artist and musician Larry Rivers.

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Bob Yonker Releases Album ‘The Seeker’

"Bob Yonker Releases Album ‘The Seeker’"

The songs on this album were almost entirely composed in the moment during the recording session. It was my intent to just allow the musical tones and energy of the Universe to flow through to create an album that will “speak” to the listeners in whatever way is needed.

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Bob Yonker creates solo piano music with the intent of calming the mind, soothing the soul, and healing the planet one note at a time.

Growing up in the northeast, Yonker’s earliest musical memory is of his mother singing and playing the piano in his childhood home. He can remember his curiosity while watching her play and was always fascinated by the sounds created by the piano and how it worked.

At the age of 4, he started playing simple songs all by himself. At 6 he started lessons, but after a year, his teacher realized that Bob was playing by ear and not reading the notes. Bob had had his sister play the song for him and he would then learn it by listening, and was “found out” after playing his piece for a recital in the wrong key. He later did learn how to read, but has always been more comfortable playing his own style and his own compositions best.

Being told by colleges that his style of music was not what they were looking for without classical training, Bob decided to change career paths and received a degree in agricultural science from Penn state, and worked many years helping the environment, while working second jobs in group homes for the mentally challenged, which he enjoyed immensely, as well as being the organist for his hometown church.

In the 90’s, while still working full-time, Bob went back to school and received a triple degree in Special Education, Elementary Education, and Early Childhood Education, which allowed him to switch career paths once again to become a special needs teacher.

Now “re-passioned” from his teaching career, Bob has returned to his first love – music – and has composed 7 albums of contemplative, contemporary, and meditative solo piano music as well as one Christmas album. His 8th, and latest, album, The Seeker, is comprised of songs improvised on the spot at the recording studio with the intent to bring calm and joy and maybe even emotional healing to the listener. Many pieces were inspired by Bob’s new life in Europe with his wife Karen. Bob has performed for local fans in the town where he lives and has begun working cooperatively with a local therapist in sound healing and breath sessions playing intuitively for those participating.

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Victor Towle Releases 2 Singles ‘A Tear And A Smile’ & ‘As It Is’

"Victor Towle Releases 2 Singles ‘A Tear And A Smile’ & ‘As It Is’"

The new singles “A Tear And A Smile” & “As It Is” appear on the upcoming album “Sleight of Hand” from guitarist and composer Victor Towle. The album “Sleight Of Hand” is an amalgam of guitar music, specifically, Victor’s musical journey, stretching to incorporate mindfulness and meditation practices as they come to life. Thus, merging other featured artists contributions into a magical mixture of musings that discreetly lead the listener down a path of mindful exploration and relaxation. Each song has it’s place along the path to being present to the here and now with acceptance!

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As a guitarist and soloist, Victor has grown his instrumental repertoire, owing to his extensive experience as a leader and collaborator. He attributes his musical development to his professional career, which includes working as a Clinical Care Manager for rehabilitation, as well as his involvement with yoga and meditation. Victor’s passion for using his guitar music as an aide in meditative and rehabilitative practices inspired his latest albums, “Acoustic Reflections”, “Colorado Zen,” “The Space In Between”, and Still Young For Another Day”, which showcases his eclectic musical background and the immersive soundscapes of New Age music.

 The song “A Tear And A Smile” features the fabulous theremin player Carolina Eyck, known as one of the best theremin soloists worldwide. Adding a flowing variation of melody, tittering and finding balance with the division of emotions, it creates a space to hold both “A Tear And A Smile”!

Victor’s dedication to his craft has earned him recognition in the New Age music scene. His album “Colorado Zen” was nominated for New Age Music Acoustic Instrumental Album of the Year and reached #8 on the New Age Music charts (Zone Music Reporter). The song “Spring Crocus” was also featured on Sirius XM Spa channel.  His album “The Space In Between” reached #11 and the song “Storm On The Horizon was also added to Sirius XM Spa channel.

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Big Merino Release Single ‘Second Hand Smoke’

"Big Merino Release Single ‘Second Hand Smoke’"

The first 2024 release for Sydney’s Big Merino

The song ‘Second Hand Smoke’ came about after the 2019 bushfires in NSW and Covid. It’s a bit of a lateral take on a story that a lot of people can relate to and it suggests why, in spite of everything, we get up the next day and give things another crack.

Recorded and mixed by Studio Legend Phil Punch, this is a great beginning for a range of singles the guys will be following with this year.

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Formed in 2017, Big Merino play original music that blurs the lines between country, blues, roots, rock and pop. Despite an obvious passion for what’s often called ‘Americana’, their songs somehow manage to be very personal and quintessentially Australian – the words and sound shaped by the landscape and their own stories.

Song Description

Acoustic southern vibes abound in this new single from Big Merino. Bass, drums, guitars and a driving snare beat keeps this bluesy track afloat with plenty of sing-a-long moments, even handclaps. Up-tempo, happy and feel good, a great first of the year for these Sydney locals.

The band will  be performing it and a whole bunch of new songs on

Sat April 13 @ The Gasoline Pony

It’s Big Merino‘s first gig for quite some time … come and join us to celebrate the release!

@ The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville
Saturday 13th April, from 7pm.

Book : trybooking.com/CQCRM

Out March 22 Foghorn/MGM

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Daxton Releases New Album ‘Fahrenheit’

"Daxton Releases New Album ‘Fahrenheit’"

The new album from NSW Central Coast troubadour already garnering airplay and reviews around the world following from the Single ‘Kiss The Girls’ earlier this year.

Daxton’s new album ‘Fahrenheit’ features tracks inspired by personal experiences, relationships, and journeys, encapsulating a wide range of emotions from love and heartbreak to resilience and empowerment. The title track was inspired by a studio groove that embodied the intense emotional heat and passion that defined the production and recording of the songs. The album brings a fresh twist to the classic blues genre, infusing it with psychedelic elements and experimental sounds, creating a sonic landscape that is Daxton’s Psychedelic Blues Sound.

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Song Descriptions for 2 Key Tracks

Fahrenheit

The title track to Daxton’s new album features bass, drums, dobro, slide guitar, Hammond organ and his signature vocals. A chilled out blues rock with a mid-tempo feel, this would be a great song to sit back on the porch with a beer and admire the grass.

 Ocean Size

Great surf blues ‘a la’ Jack Johnson here. Slides and dobros, acoustics and electrics, sweet guitar and vocal tones throughout underpinned by drums and bass.

Out March 22 on Foghorn/MGM

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Kilbey Kennedy Release New Single ‘That’s Gotta Hurt’

"Kilbey Kennedy Release New Single ‘That’s Gotta Hurt’"

Our latest feature single from the Prolific Church Frontman and Man of many textures and talents from All India Radio

Building on the success of Jupiter 13 (2021) and The Strange Life of Persephone Nimbus (2022), Steve Kilbey and Martin Kennedy are about to releases their latest epic, ‘Premonition K’. The album unveils sumptuous sonic soundscapes courtesy of Kennedy paired with Kilbey’s lyrics that delve into the dark and enigmatic realms that exist between the boundaries of life and death.

Steve Kilbey, best known as frontman of legendary Aussie post-prog rockers The Church, infuses each track with an emotional resonance and sense of mystery. Martin Kennedy co-pilots this sonic odyssey with Steve Kilbey, weaving an intricate musical bed for Kilbey’s lyrical dreamings. Drawing from his twenty years of soundscaping with All India Radio, Kennedy adds layers of sonic complexity, at once warmly familiar and mysteriously strange, creating an immersive experience for the listener.

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The first single from the new album ‘That’s Gotta Hurt’ – upbeat jangle-guitars and Kennedy’s familiar electronic swirls provide the stage for Kilbey’s trademark lyrical magic.

Steve Kilbey says, “That’s Gotta Hurt is about the existential pain of loving and losing and of attachment to the roles we play in this theatre of the absurd.”

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Bec Taylor and The Lyrebirds Release New Single ‘Photograph’

"Bec Taylor and The Lyrebirds Release New Single ‘Photograph’"

Just added as the first track on our national cafe music playlist(soundslikecafe digital expresso), ‘Photograph’ is a delicate and broody alt-folk song full of melodic hooks and echo harmonies, featuring introspective verses, and soaring choruses. The Lyrebirds’ ethereal harmonies combine with Bec’s lead vocal to create a haunting effect, meditating on how hard it can be to forgive and forget in a relationship.

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Bec Taylor and the Lyrebirds are a five-piece alt-country pop band from Canberra. Described as Seeker-Lover-Keeper-meets-Nashville-the-TV-show, their “twangy, Australiana” sound combines with “charming melodies and lyrics brimming with heart” (Scenstr). They are a band with incredible musical chemistry, with soaring harmonies and a rich instrumentation of guitars, piano, drums, bass, banjo, mandolin, and occasional cello parts, which complement Bec’s heartfelt songwriting.

Consisting of versatile musicians with rich experience in different genres, the Lyrebirds are Hannah Beasley (PaintonPaint), Sam McNair (JD McNair, The Burley Griffin), Sophie Chapman (Brass Knuckle Brass Band, Andy and George Band) and Grahame Thompson (Cracked Actor, BabyFreeze, Mr Fibby).

There’s two shows in March to launch the single and plenty more coming later in the year

Saturday 9th March 7pm – Cancophany at UC Refectory hosted by Enlighten Canberra – Tickets https://enlightencanberra.com/program/cancophony/?

– Thursday 14th March – Photograph Launch House Gig at Hannah’s in Canberra (tickets below)

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Evening Ocean Releases New Album ‘The Great Love’

"Evening Ocean Releases New Album ‘The Great Love’"

Starting 17 years ago with Evening Ocean’s first album The Attraction, then again in 2011 with The Kiss, Evening Ocean returns 12 years later on fire with a stunning album of wordless beauty and hushed intimacy: The Great Love.

The album opens with the upbeat synths of “Believe In Good Things”, showing Evening Ocean at a creative peak and doesn’t let go until the very last note. It mesmerizes the listener with what could be called passionate ambient. The album floats over a Bermuda’s Triangle of hopeful melodies nested inside haunting strings; while fractured ambient pianos are hand painted with lush synth textures and otherworldly effects.

The Great Love has the feel of a heartbreakingly beautiful movie, with raindrop notes now a fevered séance – painting the ether with a love felt too deeply for words. Evening Ocean performs an act of sonic cinematography that lingers in a way that only a favorite album can.

Track Listing

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“The Great Love” is the third album from Evening Ocean, the band name of 17 years for Robert Shahidi who wrote, performed, mixed and produced as the two albums prior. An album 12 years in the making, Evening Ocean’s prior 2 albums “The Attraction” & “The Kiss” reached 14 million streams on Pandora and reached the top 25 on Echoes, the syndicated nationwide radio show for electronic music played on over 80 radio stations nationwide.

At 31 songs, the new album pushes the limits of a single CD. The elusive sound is captured as an unapologetic love letter to electronica. Seeking visuals that matched the album’s range of instruments and emotions: synths/strings, pianos, upbeat, melancholy and haunting, Robert studied AI mediums that were just being made available when the album was being finished. Robert’s videos for Believe In Good Things, What We Hear, The Outside World and Keepsake made their debuts on VEVO and helped Evening Ocean become a Featured Artist on the new music video platform GOGOPIX.TV

“The Great Love” is a magical, electronic instrumental album and visual journey showing Evening Ocean at their creative peak. Fans of electronica music will quickly list it among their favorite albums of 2024.

“The Great Love” was mastered by Zino Mikorey in Berlin. He also mastered for Ludovico Einaudi, Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds and Rival Consoles.

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Gareth Koch Releases Single ‘Rumba Flamenca Arabe’

"Gareth Koch Releases Single ‘Rumba Flamenca Arabe’"

The rumba is an upbeat & rhythmically syncopated flamenco style, ideal for dancing & festivities. It is an incredibly flexible genre, able to assimilate a multitude of influences such as Latin, Arabic or pop-contemporary. The rumba is arguably the most recognisable & widely listened to of all flamenco music. It’s lively tempo & irresistible groove, make it hugely popular around the world.

Gareth Koch is an ARIA Award winning multi-instrumentalist, recording artist, guitar soloist, composer & songwriter. He has recorded a sizeable repertory across multiple genres spanning works for classical guitar, flamenco, original compositions, arrangements, medieval projects, rock & songwriting. He has appeared at major festivals within Australia, Europe, Asia and North America.

Born in Milan, Gareth began his musical studies on piano and clarinet, and at age 12 was accepted into the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He received his Bachelor of Music degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music before winning scholarships for advanced guitar study at The Royal Madrid Conservatorium & the Vienna Academy of Music. He holds a PhD in Music & has lectured in music across Australian & European universities.

In 2002 Gareth formed the first guitar supergroup with Karin Schaupp & The Grigoryan Brothers, Slava & Leonard. Saffire – The Australian Guitar Quartet soared to #1 on the Classical Music Charts and even featured on ARIA pop charts. The quartet released a total of 3 best-selling albums & was Australia’s biggest selling classical act for several years.

Gareth is involved with many cross genre projects & has released a succession of collaborative albums with Martin Kennedy & with ARIA Hall of Fame inductee Steve Kilbey (The Church). His recent release ‘The Guitar Player’ received a coveted 5 star review from The Sydney Morning Herald. Gareth’s current output has a strong rock bias with classical overtones & his writing is increasingly focussed on the ethereal nature of music.

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Shoshana Michel Releases Solo Piano Album ‘Storyteller’

"Shoshana Michel Releases Solo Piano Album ‘Storyteller’"

Soundslikecafe is proud to present this wonderful solo pianist from the USA.

The music from Storyteller was inspired by and reflects different facets of Shoshana’s life, emotions, people and memories. It is a blend of compositions written not so long ago and those that were, but for one reason or another were not recorded, until now.

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About

Shoshana Michel is a classically trained contemporary solo pianist. She has performed different genres of music at different venues from ragtime at Knott’s Berry Farm to contemporary solo piano at The Galleria at South Bay in Redondo Beach, California.

Storyteller is Shoshana’s seventh solo piano album. Her music has been used in documentaries, a promo film, has received accolades, nominations and awards and is featured on Sirius XM Radio – The Spa, Calm Radio, Whisperings Solo Piano Radio and many other stations worldwide.

Shoshana’s playing has been described as “graceful and flowing” and “refined and elegant”. Her music will inspire, stir the heart and touch the soul. The music she writes is inspired by life experiences, people and emotions. Shoshana feels that music is healing and is passionate about sharing her music with others. She currently resides with her avian family in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Album Credits

All pieces composed and performed by Shoshana Michel

Produced by Shoshana Michel

Recorded on a Shigeru Kawai SK7L

Engineered and mastered by Joe Bongiorno at Piano Haven Studio, Sedona, AZ

Graphic art and design by Matt Strieby

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