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youbloom artist spotlight: Jamey Geston

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Jamey Geston is another successful artist who was chosen to play at youbloomLA last year. Based in Santa Barbara, this teenage singer/songwriter was no amateur to performing at festivals prior to coming to ours. Just last year, in addition to youbloomLA, she has played at BandFest (Carpinteria, CA), Fusion Music Festival (Paramount Ranch, CA), Los Olivos Arts Festival (Los Olivos, CA), Meiner Oaks Summer Solstice (Ojai, CA), and the Santa Barbara Int’l Women’s Festival (Santa Barbara, CA)… just to name a handful.

Jamey began playing guitar at ten years old and then self-taught herself the piano, ukulele, and bass. She began songwriting at eleven, inspired by artists such as Elliott Smith, King Krule, The Mamas and the Papas, Joni Mitchell, and Mac Demarco.

For having such a short career, she has been incredibly successful and noticed by industry professionals like Bob Leggett of the LA Examiner who calls Jamey “a dynamic performer and a prolific songwriter” or Judy Collins who says “Jamey is a darling and so talented, a beautiful young artist and singer.”

Jamey has shared the stage with talented artists including Jeff Bridges, Kenny Loggins, and Will Champlin as well as opened for award-winning folksinger, Judy Collins, legendary musician, Peter Frampton, and Grammy-winning guitarist, Albert Lee. She has played in venues across California and Arizona, some notable venues include the world-famous Roxy and Whisky A Go Go.

Already by 2013 she was a featured artist in Santa Barbara Band Guide as one of “The 805’s Next Great Music Makers.” Two of her songs have been chosen to appear in films, earning her two IMDb composer and music credits and she is currently endorsed by Daisy Rock Girl Guitars, Steve Clayton Guitars Picks, Shubb Capos and Capturing Couture Guitar Straps.

This year has been no less eventful for this young musician. She was invited back for the third consecutive year to play at the Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA. She was also selected to work with Mary Amato, an award-winning children’s book author, poet, playwright, and songwriter, on an audio/video rendition of her book, Get Happy. Jamey will be the voice of the main character as well as a contributor on the six ukulele songs included.

She also worked this year on creating a teen band for a ‘Notes for Notes’ fundraiser sponsored by Seymour Duncan. At the show this past June, the band opened for Peter Frampton and featured her original song, Malibu. Within the same month, a Bob Dylan compilation cd (Dylan, By A New Generation) Jamey contributed on was released.

Now that school is out for the summer, Jamey is able to focus more on her music and on the EP she hopes to complete within the next year. When she isn’t recording, she will be playing various different shows and festivals. Take a look at what she has scheduled so far:

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More details and music over here.

youbloom artist spotlight: Little Faith

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Last year at youbloomLA, we had the pleasure of hosting Little Faith who introduced us to their jazz-, blues-, and country-flavored gospel. Recently, we spoke with Jack Maeby, organ and piano player for Little Faith, to talk about the band’s experience at the festival and to see what they’ve been up to since.

“I think that you could consider Little Faith one of youbloom’s success stories,” Jack Maeby said. “[youbloom LA] was a great experience! Not only was there a lot of good music, the conferences were filled with very useful knowledge from successful industry people. It’s been an upward trajectory for Little Faith ever since. Thanks to our appearance at youbloomLA, a really strong article was written about us in the Pasadena Weekly.”

After the festival, Little Faith began work on their new album, “Eternity.” One night when they were performing, producer and musician Michael Baker was in the crowd and afterwards, said that he would like to produce their next effort. Though Ray and Jack are both experienced producers, Michael has worked with some of the greatest singers of all time including Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin. “He had a lot of ideas that we never would have come up with and the new record, ‘Eternity’ is a big step forward for Little Faith,” explained Jack.

Once the album was completed, Little Faith planned to shop it around to different labels and do some industry showcases to promote it. About this time, Little Faith performed a 3-song set at a memorial concert for a friend. Unbeknownst to them, Tony Valenziano of Skyrocket/Swingtone Records was also at the concert producing a video of the event. About a month after the show, he called and asked if they were planning to record anything in the near future. They told him about “Eternity” and were shortly thereafter signed by Skyrocket to a worldwide distribution and marketing deal.

After such a momentous year, and a lot of prior experience, Little Faith wanted to share some things they have learned along the way:

“Play as much as possible. Stage time is what makes you a better performing artist, so you have to look hard to find venues and audiences to play for.” Jack explains how you never know when the right agent or producer is going to hear you perform. “You should play every performance as if the head of a great label is sitting in the front row. Show respect for your audience and venue by giving your best, showing up on time and by looking like a performer.” Also, he explained it is really important that bands have a clear understanding of everyone’s role in the group with regard to songwriting and concept. That way, if you are approached, you can be ready and appear as professional as possible.”

Little Faith will be at Joe’s Great American on August 23 and at the Ascencia Urban Blues Festival on August 29th. Their album, “Eternity” will be released in late August on the Sky Rocket/Swingtone label. There will be a pre-release campaign on the Pledge Music site where you can purchase the CD as a pre-sale starting August 1st.

youbloom HEADROOM #7: Featured Artists from the Dublin 2015 Music Festival

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One more sleep ’til youbloom!

That’s right, music freaks! Tomorrow is the June 12th, official starting date of the youbloom Dublin 2015 Music Festival & Conference, set to turn your average weekend into a bona fide rockfest you’ll be talking about for months. It’s been a wild year so far for us at youbloom HQ as we’ve geared up to bring you the best in independent music, here in Ireland as well as from across the seas. And we’ve certainly played while we worked – surrounded by all these bands and artists, you’d be crazy not to!

youbloom: HEADROOM was born of the importance of play. It’s based on the desire to get to the silly nitty-gritty; to find out more about all of the strange and interesting people who’ll be taking to the five stages this coming weekend. To put names with faces, and stories with songs, and find out how similar we all really are. youbloom is the global music village, and we’re all – artists, fans, or simply curious – part of it.

The eve of the festival marks HEADROOM’s seventh post, so we added a couple more artists’ stories to this one to give that “lucky number seven” thing a fair – fine, cheesy – shake. (No regrets!!)

We’ve had such a fun time getting to know all of the artists, and thank them heartily for calling forth their weirdest formative horrors (some maybe not so much) with us. Onward! To the Dame district! I’ll see you all there to hear how far these folks have come.

Meanwhile, for the final time, guys: Tell us about the first band you were ever in. We want the good, the bad, and the snuggly (?!?).

 

“My first band was an imaginary one! There were three of us, two who shall remain unnamed. It was New Year’s Eve, and we were all alone. We had a mic stand, so we were pretty well set. For the night we became Stiff Little Fingers, Talking Heads, and all the rest of our favourite bands. We spent the night miming, pretending we had an audience, at the age of 35. I knew then this was for me.”

– Clodagh Rooney, Reverend JM’s Panic Worship

One of the best things about music in Dublin is that since the city is so small, bands from wildly differing genres often find themselves drawing influence from all the other unexpected sounds around them. Reverend JM’s Panic Worship is one of the best examples of this uniquely Irish “genre-less” sound. Dark, playful melodies wind out of an assembly of unexpected instruments, played with intimate know-how. A second-to-none act, they play the Mercantile Stage on Friday, 12/6, at 9.30pm.

 

“The first proper band that practiced more than a couple of times was really exciting for me. It was my first time being in a band as a bassist and the first time that I felt truly comfortable in a band. We played countless gigs over a few years and recorded a couple of EPs and singles. We were fairly good and people seemed to like us.”

– Brian, bass, Beware Of You

 

“Beware Of You isn’t my first band experience, actually. My first was a young band called Insomniac, which (formed) when I was 16, I think. Yeah, we were all pumping full of ego – me, mainly – because as we all know, drums are the loudest instrument (and the best). For about two years we rehearsed every week, which is some dedication, but in that whole time we only ever played, like, two gigs. So that band was doomed to fall (apart) from the start, I guess.”

– Anthony, drummer, Beware of You

Gutsy, ambitious new act Beware of You have been busy this year drawing blood from the stone of pop punk and creating something earnestly elemental with their loot. Showing their colours, with influences the likes of All Time Low and Paramore, they’re ones to watch. See them on Sweeney’s downstairs stage on Sunday night, 14/6, at 10.30pm.

 

“I (was) in a rock band called Rampant, playing shameful versions of Iron Maiden and Blink 182. I used to wear a sailor hat at all of our gigs. Cringe.”

– Fergal, violin & mandolin, The Quakers

Yes. Just yes. If you’re not hooked from the count-in; blasted into the Quakers universe like a pistol shot in a gunfight over an insult to your Pa, and buoyed along by the gospel-meets-football-hooligan dynamism, then you, my friend have no ears. Possibly also no soul. Seriously good music. These boys are riled up and fit for fightin’, and they’re not leaving without making you dance like your boots are on fire. Get shanghaied at Sweeney’s Upstairs stage on Saturday, 13/6, at 10pm.

 

“The first band I was in was called Java Dawn. I played bass and sang, and we sounded like a fifteen-year-old version of Bloc Party. There was something amazing about being so young, thinking after every band practice (that) you were destined (to play) Wembley Stadium within a few months.”

– Edwin Pope, Mutant Vinyl

Mesmerizing, kinetic one-man electronic act Mutant Vinyl will be playing Sweeney’s Basement stage on Friday 12/6, at 1.30am. Hotly-tipped and irresistible, the live shows have attracted tons of praise – even from Sir Paul McCartney himself! Don’t miss this one.

 

 

“My first band was called Volume 2, a covers support band or as it was known then,  a “relief” band who played support to any show bands that played in our area. The fact that we did pretty appalling versions of Zeppelin and Black Sabbath among others – at what was mainly a country and western gig – probably explains why we lasted about six weeks, our short but turbulent careers ending in ignominy when our drummer put his foot through Larry Cunningham’s (well-known Irish country music singer from the 60’s-70’s) drum kit whilst trying to save himself from falling off stage! It took me forty-five years to form my second band; the one I’m in now having been formed just over a year ago. So far all drum skins are still intact and we don’t do covers!”

– Ronan Gallagher, singer/songwriter/guitar magician, The Ronan Gallagher Band

“Siderodromophilia – an obsession with or fixation on railroads, trains or train travel.” The music of the Ronan Gallagher Band seems to summon the wanderlust in us all, with wailing strings, blues cat vocals, chugging tempos, and a whole lot of things to reminisce about as the track goes by. As though the songs are merely turns of the radio dial, picking up on a permanent station; what they capture is raw and beautiful in its simplicity. They top off the night at Sweeney’s Upstairs stage on Sat, 13/6, at 1.30 am.

 

 

 “Although I play jazz and folk music now, it maybe a little surprising (to know that) the first band I was in was a metal band I started in Seattle called Aperatus. I was 16.  At first I was only singing in the band. Later, after a ferry ride from Seattle to Bainbridge Island, I heard someone playing beautiful melodic music with a guitar, so I sat down next to him and asked him if I could join and he said yes. The next day I bought a guitar and have been playing ever since.”

– Shelita Burke, singer/songwriter

Seattle native Shelita Burke is something of a perplexity, raw of voice and precocious, charmingly facebook-shy; a warrior of the ideas kind. We can’t wait to welcome her to Ireland and be transfixed. She’ll take to Sweeney’s Upstairs stage on Sunday, 14/6, at 8.40pm.

 

CHECK OUT THE FULL LINEUP HERE: http://www.youbloom.com/dublin-2015/. We’ll see you there!

 

 

 

youbloom HEADROOM #6: Featured Artists from the Dublin 2015 Music Festival

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Hi, it’s youbloom from the future (one week into the future, to be precise)! On our mission of music-loving mischief, we managed to get our paws on an old Eircom phonebox, and with a little help from some bleach, and a wise-cracking, inter-dimensional chaperone, we’ve been downright zipping around through time, jamming to tunes and having the major lols.

That story may or may not be a total lie. It may or may not have also been 100% ripped off of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. But this I can tell you, dear readers: we really do love jamming to tunes; we really, really do wish we had a phonebox time machine; and on this day in one week’s time, you really are going to be feasting your eyes and ears on an absolute torrent of new, exciting, crazy talented bands and performers.

The youbloom Dublin 2015 Music Festival & Conference is a mere week away, coming to Dublin’s Dame district next Friday – Sunday, Jun 12/13/14, hosting over 60 mint condition acts – for free – over five stages. So with that in mind, it’s time to take that time-travel-inspired trip back to the roots of music for a fresh muckraking session with our latest crew. (Quadruple air guitar solos)

 

So, guys, tell us the story of the first experience you can remember having with music. Feel free to spill all the beans.

 

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“I like to think that my first ever experience with music was in my mother’s belly a couple weeks before she was due to have me. She was at a Peter Gabriel concert. I was kicking and dancing like mad, and she almost fainted during it. I still love listening to Peter Gabriel.”    

– Christian Collins, singer/songwriter

With a voice that betrays a rich humility and fervent depth; reminiscent of Jeff Buckley’s greatest years, Christian Collins is not to be missed. This is triumphant poetry at its touchable best. He plays Sweeney’s Upstairs stage on Sunday, 14/6, at 10.05pm.

 

“It was summertime and me, my brother, and my cooler older cousin were staying at my aunt’s house in the country. There was an old caravan out the back so we snuck out there late one night with an old cassette player. (My cousin) put on The Doors and Led Zeppelin. I’d never heard music like that before! I was completely awestruck by Jim Morrison’s deep, wise voice, and found it so hard to comprehend (that) he had died really young. It was a magical music night!”    

– Miriam Donohue, singer/songwriter

Like something unearthed from a time capsule buried in the early 60’s by a still-green Bob Dylan, Miriam Donohue’s music feels like a gift from a time when pop music was still silly enough to be bypassed by those with more on their minds than twisting and shouting. A capable writer, with a sublime delivery that will leave you speechless. She’s on the Mercantile Gallery stage on Saturday, 13/6, at 8.30pm.

 

 

“Music was always part of my life. I don’t remember how it all started, but I do remember following my mum around the house and harmonizing with a vacuum cleaner, driving kids in school insane by tapping on every possible surface, and walking in beat with (every) song.”        

– Djollie, drums, WOB!

The latest in an esteemed line of technical wizards and engrossing Irish instrumental bands, WOB!’s spin on the genre is lighter, more ebullient; all the while respecting and commanding its complex formula and precision whomp. WOB! deliver a lively set from the Mercantile stage on Saturday, 13/6, at 8pm.

 

“When I was 3 years old, I was given a little violin. Apparently, I played with it by pretending it was a rocket ship and throwing it into the sky. Perhaps this was an early indicator that no, I would not enjoy attending classical lessons.”

– Amano Miura, singer/songwriter

Amano is such an enchanting musician, with a voice like an elegant ninja, and lyrics draped in a sweet, alarming know-how; fascination barely concealed. Great videos, too. She performs a beguiling set on Friday, 12/6 at the Mercantile Gallery stage, at 8pm.

 

 

 

youbloom artist spotlight: The National Parks

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It has already been six months since youbloom rocked Los Angeles, and we were wondering what our artists have been up to. So we hooked up with The National Parks this week to see what they have been doing since youboom@LA. In doing this, we really got to know more about them and the history of The National Parks…

The National Parks is a band that originated in Utah in 2013 where Brady Parks and Sydney Macfarlane first met and began making music. Over the next couple years, they recruited additional members: Megan Taylor, Doug Patterson, Anna Meacham, Garrick Meacham, and John Hancock.

Their first album, Young, released September 3, 2013 and climbed to #13 on the iTunes singer/songwriter chart. Due to their success and the dedication of their fans, they were taken on the road with artists such as Andy Grammer, LeAnn Rimes and many others. They have played in major cities across the country including Seattle, Chicago, New York and, of course, Los Angeles.

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So, what are they doing now?

The National Parks have been busy since we saw them last November in Los Angeles. Their new album, Until I Live, is set to release on August 4th and we are told to expect the same fundamental elements from their previous album, but with a bigger and slightly “poppier” twist. We find this to be true when listening to the first single from the album entitled Ba Ra Ra, which was released through Baebel Music and can be heard here. We can expect to see the second single from the album released on June 2nd.

Also, we are excited to hear that to promote the new album, The National Parks will be touring the east coast in August and the west coast in September. Please check their website for dates posted already, and continue to check back as additional dates will be added.

We want to thank The National Parks for taking the time to update us on all of their excitement and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for them and the new album!

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