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November -
December 2002
NEW MEMBERS
SHARISSA
Photo by Jonathan Manion |
With her smash debut single
"Any Other Night," Sharissa burst unto the music
scene full force with her no-nonsense attitude towards
relationships. The Bronx-reared R&B/ hip hop/soul
writer and performer is sure to leave a lasting
impression with her debut album No Half Steppin',
a feisty tale of romance and heartbreak. Don't be
mistaken, Sharissa isn't crying victim on her latest
Motown release, but letting brothers know what she
expects in her relationships: honesty, trust and
sincerity. Sharissa co-writes on the album, which
features tracks by ex-Groove Theory's Bryce Wilson,
Trackmasters and Blackground recording artist Tank.
As no stranger to the industry, having collaborated
in the past with Carl Thomas, Beanie Siegel, Henchmen
and Memphis Bleek, Sharissa is paving her own way
to stardom. With her edgy, in-your-face lyrics,
laced with powerhouse vocals, Sharissa is following
in the footsteps of her idols Gladys Knight and
Stephanie Mills and simply has no limits.
–Damien M. West |
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FLYNN
| After winning the Debut Album
of the Year Award at the Boston Music Awards in
2001 for his debut CD, On Your Way, singer/songwriter/guitarist
and former Cliffs of Dooneen founder Flynn was,
well, on his way. And without having to actually
step onto a tour bus, some of his music is already
on a world tour. This year he landed three of his
songs in the touring production of Spider-Man
Live, a Broadway-style live action theater
show, which is currently visiting 40 venues in American
cities (including New York's Radio City Music Hall)
before going overseas next year. Not a small accomplishment
for someone who was almost paralyzed in a fall from
a ladder in 1999 and who had to spend months rehabilitating
his body. But Flynn, born Martin Crotty just south
of Dublin, Ireland, had come too far already to
give up his musical dreams. In the late '80s,
he emigrated to the United States and entered the
Boston music scene to pursue his musical ambitions.
In a few short years, his band the Cliffs of Dooneen
hit the MTV airwaves and Billboard's Modern
Rock Top Ten with their first single "Through an
Open Window." |
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CHALEE
TENNISON
|
Texan Chalee Tennison's voice
is as big as her home state. It's also as pure country
and as tough too. And if her new single, "Lonesome
Road" (DreamWorks) is any indication, her career
will be as hot too. With influences ranging from
Tammy Wynette to Elvis, Ronnie Milsap to ZZ Top,
Tennison's tastes make for some interesting flavors
in her own music. After a decade of fronting her
own band and creating her own dramatic and distinctive
sound, she was signed to Asylum Records and released
two acclaimed albums that put her on the map. Chalee
shows a commanding vocal presence and emotional
depth that puts her in the league of some country's
greatest singers singing some of country's greatest
songs. As a mother of three children and a woman
who has been through three marriages, Chalee has
been through many trials and triumphs in her more
than 30 years of life. And it all comes out in her
music. "I have to really believe a song personally
before I can sing it," she says. "If it touches
me, I know I can touch other people with it as well."
Watch for her DreamWorks Records debut in 2003.
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MercyMe
| Dallas-based Christian rock
band MercyMe had been building a sizable grassroots
following for years, releasing six independent projects
and amassing total sales of 100,000 units. They
had everything it took to make it in the music business
‚ faith in their music and a higher power,
not to mention plenty of talent. Then, after being
signed to INO/Word, they recorded and released,
Almost There, in 2001. Ironically, career-wise,
that album's title could no longer apply to the
band. Their single, "I Could Only Imagine," written
by lead singer/ songwriter Bart Millard after losing
his father to cancer, shot to Number One on the
Christian charts. Their album also became the best-selling
Christian album of 2001. Suddently, they were there.
This year brought the group even greater acclaim.
At Christian music's prestigious Dove Music Awards,
first-year nominees, MercyMe took home Song of the
Year, Songwriter of the Year and Contemporary/Pop
song of the Year. |
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THE
JOHN BUTLER TRIO
|
John Butler started out busking
in the streets of Fremantle, Australia in 1999.
A free-spirited, strong-willed environmental idealist,
Butler had recently loosed the chains of academia,
preferring to wage his war against old growth logging
and nuclear waste dumps in his native Australia
through his music. As a songwriter, Butler gravitates
toward a contemporary style of hard-edged jam band
rock with extended drum, bass and guitar solos (the
shortest cut on his 2001 independent release, Three,
is 4:00 minutes; the longest clocks in at an epic
'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida'ish 14:47). As a vocalist,
Butler is more akin to the Seattle grunge sound
than most typical jammy pop-rockers, evoking the
singing styles of Eddie Vedder, Anthony Keidis,
and Chris Cornell. His popularity has been growing
steadily in Australia where he has been touring
with the likes of Killing Heidi, Silverchair and
Green Day. In 2001, the JBT took their act international
with appearances at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland
and the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. |
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TWEET
| Tweet's debut album, Southern
Hummingbird, announces an exciting R&B
newcomer with a refreshing sound. The first single,
"Oops (Oh My)," became a huge success on urban radio
and set the tempo for the songstress' career. Tweet's
success comes after years of hardship, frustration
and disappointment. After being involved in a production
deal that kept her somewhat stagnant for several
years, Tweet sank into a deep depression. It wasn't
until she was given the opportunity to sing background
vocals on Missy's Miss E...So Addictive
album that Tweet started to see a light at the end
of the tunnel. On Southern Hummingbird,
under the guidance of the Virginia Beach duo Missy
Elliott, whom Tweet considers her "guardian angel,"
and Timbaland, the acoustic-guitar-playing soul
singer was allowed to flourish as a natural talent,
writing or co-writing every song on the album. As
a result, Tweet's lyrics explore in the most intimate
way some of life's most troubled moments. "I think
all experiences, even the unpleasant ones, have
made me stronger," says Tweet. "I know there's a
time and place for everything in this life." Judging
from the success of the album, Tweet's time and
place is right now.
- Damien M. West |
Photo by Ruven Alandor |
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NICKEL
CREEK
| 
Photo by John Chasson |
Even before the Grammy Award-winning
soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou
caught the world's attention, the young San Diego
trio known as Nickel Creek was already making bluegrass
cool for a new generation of music fans. Guitarist
Sean Watkins with his sister and fiddler Sara Watkins
and mandolinist Chris Thile are currently one of
the hottest bluegrass groups around. Their debut
self-titled Sugar Hill album produced by Alison
Krauss has gone gold (for sales in excess of 500,000)
and was nominated for two Grammy Awards; their music
has been played on such hipster-approved shows as
Buffy the Vampire Slayer; and their music
videos have received heavy rotation on Country Music
Television. But, perhaps their biggest achievement
might be turning pop, punk and even metal fans on
to bluegrass music. They do have a few tricks up
their sleeve, such as throwing in a hip hop version
of Dylan's “"Subterranean Homesick Blues"
or a Bach musical piece into the middle of a traditional
tune. Hey, whatever works. They recently released
their follow-up album, This Side, with
Krauss producing again. |
Playback
: November - December 2002
ASCAP
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