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independentartistbuzz · 4 years ago

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Good News, Good Music 1.0

Here we are at the end of 2020. We don’t need to tell you that this has been a very hard year. We are feeling beaten down by the bad news and music is the one thing that lifted our spirits again and again and saw us through. We have partnered with our friends at Cyber PR Music to bring you a series of GOOD News from artists who carried on making music in spite of all of the insanity that was happening and continues to grip us. We have cried listening to some of the tracks, felt deeply inspired and yes we laughed as well. What we have seen is the Cyber PR artist community is rich and varied - there are artists from all across the USA included as well as Jamaica, Australia, South Africa, France, Sweden, The UK, Germany and Scotland.

So - we bring you part 1 of our 4 part series GOOD NEWS, GOOD MUSIC.

Please Follow the Spotify Playlist below to hear all of these amazing tracks.

Thanks to all of the artists who shared their music AND their good news.

JVMIE & Lionel Cohen | “We Will Rise Again”

Started A Collaboration From A Quarantine Hotel Room and Got Nominated For A Major Award

We had a crazy year but some great things came out of it! I was forced to leave LA and head back to Australia until things ‘calmed down’ but started a remote collaboration with LA based film composer Lionel Cohen - we received a grant from HOTA (Home Of The Arts Gold Coast) to create an album and we were just nominated for a HMMA Hollywood Music In Media Award :) The whole process of collaborating and talking every day was what helped me keep my sanity throughout this crazy year!

Perle Vybz | “Electric Dancefloor”

Almost Lost Her Partner To COVID And Took The Leap Of Faith To Release Music

My debut single 'Electric Dancefloor' was released on Dec 8th, against the odds. A few months ago , my partner almost lost his life (to COVID). He was hooked up on a ventilator and had a really rough time. At the same time, I lost my main source of income and so, during the pandemic lockdown I had more time on my hands to focus on my music. So I'm glad that in spite of what was happening around me I was able to take that leap of faith and get my music out there.

Arielle Silver | “What Really Matters”

Became Music Connection's Hot 100 Live Unsigned Artists and Bands and Top Prospects 2020 lists in their year-end issue

As COVID shut everything down in April, I leaned into my commitment to authentic connection and inspiring creative expression with the creation of two weekly livestreams: Tomes & Tunes, a weekly show where I interview songwriters about books, and Arielle's Acoustic Happy Hour, both of which are going strong. In June, I released a new album, A THOUSAND TINY TORCHES, along with two official music videos (one shot entirely during quarantine), which have been featured in American Songwriter, Music Connection, and more.And in September, in the wake of closing studios, my sweetheart and I launched a new online yoga studio, Bhavana Flow Yoga, with online classes, workshops, and retail.

Alongside my own sorrow at the pandemic, I have been living a year of creative expansion, and was recently featured in Music Connection's year-end issue on both their Hot 100 Live Unsigned Artists and Bands and Top Prospects 2020 lists.

Hannah Judson | “Deep Sea Diver”

Launched The Backwards Record Release Concept And It Worked!

The 2020 lockdown was an exploration of new ways of doing and connecting. Everything became an experiment as new processes were developed to replace the no longer actionable old ones. I launched the Backwards Record Release for "Stingray," a rock/folk collection of songs. The 8 week campaign started with a socially distanced concert in a chateau courtyard, was fueled by my new podcast the Hannah Judson Beat, conversations with women in music, and concluded with a capstone edition of MUSEfest Online, a music festival I normally produce in major cities that promotes women in music, film, art and culture. I stayed connected with colleagues and fans, envisioned future projects, and maintained momentum and enthusiasm for creative projects, present and future.

Evan Mazunik | “Comfort and Joy”

Funded, Recorded & Released A New Holiday Album

I’m grateful that I was able to successfully fund, record, release, and sell my new holiday album this year.

Eli Lev | “Anywhere We Can Go”

Released A Touching Global Fan Driven Music Video

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I had a powerful experience this year when my music community from all across the world helped me create the music video for 'Anywhere We Can Go.' I was in happy tears editing it and seeing all these wonderful faces come together and make something truly special. Here it is and I hope it brings some joy to folks.

Jeff Oster | “Five Great Mountains”

Found Solace (And Music) In Mother Nature

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I was lucky to spend three months in the fall of 2020 up in Vermont. In the midst of all of the turmoil, Mother Nature just kept on shining. I was able to create this video on my iPhone, in an attempt to capture her beauty.

Beca Dreams | “Calm Before the Storm”

Had A Creative Burst That Resulted In Ad Campaigns & New Singles

It’s been a very challenging year, and yet I’ve somehow managed to have some awesome wins I am super grateful for.

Partnered with Bounty to write/perform Quicker Picker Upper, currently streaming on all major platforms and has gotten over 7M views on Tik Tok and 150K streams on Spotify so far. Composed/performed song for an ad campaign for fashion designer Asher Levine on launching his new groundbreaking LED outerwear line (who’s recently worked with Doja Cat, Lil Nas, Lady Gaga). I also released 2 singles “Calm Before The Storm” and “Taking Time For Myself” and most recently was featured on “Dance Party In The Living Room” by UK producer Fritz von Runte, about making the most of the quarantine.

I feel so lucky to be making music and doing what I love, which has been a huge silver lining during these dark times.

AfriCali | “The Struggle”

Turned An Eviction Into A Special Retreat & Healing Place

Our landlord lost her pilates practice and couldn’t afford her Oakland home so

Our family of four with a baby due any month now had to figure it out and find the humanity in moving out before the lease was up. In the magic of mother earth and without knowing we were blessed with a beautiful place to be away and seven thousand feet above the mountains where we could have this beautiful bundle of joy. Which would turn into a special retreat healing place after our departure this past October.

Akira AK | “Pearl”

Completed His New Release Remotely Over Zoom

My "good news, good music" story is simply how I was able to release 2 major projects this year despite everything that is going on: putting out my second EP and my first music video. The EP in particular had been in the works for 3 years and was SO CLOSE to being done when everything started to shut down, so with the work of my engineer, we set up remote sessions via zoom that helped put the last song over the line and get the release out there! From there I was able to promote it with it's adjacent merch.

As far as my first music video is concerned; I was able to safely show up in person in NYC and film it with the help of a great videographer. The conceptualizing of the video is very special and I think speaks to the experiences some of us have had about going to that special place inside your head where you feel most powerful/comfortable/fierce to deal with whatever is going on externally. The promo for the video was also a success in terms of being able to schedule it on time and put it out there to hype the video itself. And once it was out it was really (unexpectedly) well received!

Those are just my personal success stories and I'm excited to see others' as well!

Monsterboy | “Ain’t Worth the Dime”

Played 60 Livestreams That Reached 7,000 Households

When my husband and I found ourselves without gigs and our small business closed, we decided to go live with our music and stay in touch with our fans. We cobbled together equipment from our home studio and gigging rig, going live in that first week. We really didn't know what to expect. The messages we got from people were so heartwarming, we built a little community for them night after night, reconnecting with existing fans and finding new. In total, we did over 60 live streams during the shutdown and reached over 7k households on some streams. Entertaining and interacting with people was our way to do our part for our community. A podcast found us via the streams and started hiring us to produce music for their shows from it.

Artist: Crotona P., Producer: Pablo Brownbeats | “Silk”

Forged An International Collaboration South Africa and the USA via A Chance Facebook Meeting

I'm Pablo Brownbeats, a producer who has been producing since my youth and creating music for the last 12 years. I just released my new Ep with Crotona P from Rochester New York featuring Street Da Villain, Dj Shawn Touch, KING Flamez all from Rochester New York and SOLO MAJITA from Free State South Africa. The African Ep is available on digital stores and Bandcamp. I enjoyed making this project and it will be an honor to share the leading single Titled Silk.

This project was recorded during the early days of Covid19. Me and Crotona met over Facebook and exchanged some few words and he agreed to do the single (silk) then African EP was born.

Scott Whitfield | “A Bi-Coastal Christmas, Vol. 1, by Scott Whitfield & Friends”

Released A Christmas Album That Features Artists Who Have Passed That Started Recording in 2004.

Despite the challenges, I was able to release a Christmas album on Bandcamp! It's available as a digital download OR a physical CD. This is the culmination of MANY years of work (some tracks date back to 2004, and, sadly, a few of the artists who played on them are no longer with us).

John Maksym | “Drinkin’ & Thinkin’”

Worked With 22 Collaborators Spanning 7 Countries and 16 Cities

I kicked off this year as a solo recording artist for the first time in my life and had an ambitious goal of releasing music every 5 weeks. When the pandemic struck, I had just started recording my 4th single in the studio and everything got shut down. Within a couple of weeks I was able to pivot and invest money into building my own little home studio, to continue to create. With every musician in the world stuck at home, I was able to connect with a dream team of collaborators who helped me finish the song that I had started and go on to record 8 more songs through remote session recording from their own home studios. All in all I worked with 22 collaborators, spanning 7 countries and 16 cities, which I would never have thought of doing had the world not been in lockdown. It also allowed me time to revise my original release plan and build a more robust plan to release a number of singles and eventually an album throughout 2021.

Stay tuned ...There’s more Good News Coming!

#2020 #2021 #independent artist buzz #indie music #music blog #spotify #spotify playlist #positive vibes #good vibes #cyberpr #cyberprmusic

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echelonfiction · 7 years ago

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Bright Lights: Chapter 55 - A Fiery Triumph

*grins*

Tagging: @fyeahproudglambert @msroxyblog @meghan12151977 who i think is @llfd1977 now @maulapaulawaula @teggles07 (if anyone else desires a tagging, lemme know)

The world went silent as he walked away. When I looked up I was in a pile of Leto’s hugging and congratulating the sound came back to earth as Jared said he was proud of me.

They pulled back and a thousand other people started congratulating me and hugging me, there was a wave of people. Eventually, the room started emptying out.

I noticed Shannon with our stuff over in the corner. Emotion ran through my body as I realized what just happened. He noticed me and smiled frowning when I didn’t smile back. I started walking to him he turned from the table to me wrapping his arms around me as I wrapped mine around his neck. I started crying my eyes out.

“You deserve it, baby,” he said softly kissing my ear letting me bury my head in his neck. “So many times over.” Everything ran through my head seemingly from my entire life until now, all coming out my eyes. Take Shannon, and everything else away, I finally had something that belonged to me, that I earned, that no one could take away. “I’m so proud of you, Phoebe Flamez,” he whispered so softly that it gave me chills. I pulled back and looked at him. “Babe,” he smiled soothing my shoulders.

“This is real?” I cried. He nodded his head, I nodded mine.

“It’s so real, baby,” he said hugging me again.

He held me again

Jared left in a Taxi to go be with Riley. I was glad he did, she needed someone and I just wanted to sit here and take note of had what had just happened. Everything was strange. I was happy but I wanted to cry. I had just so many emotions going through my body.

“What do you want to do?” Shannon asked. I looked up at him. “Coffee?”

“Yeah,” I smiled.

Twenty minutes later I pulled into the driveway of Coffee co and went in. I kept Clinging to Shannon. I was so tired so many things had happened. I just wanted to sleep even just for a few hours.

“What do you want?”

“Iced coffee,” I smiled. He ordered the drink and a muffin. He sat on a stool while waiting walked over to him straddling his legs, letting him kiss me. When he pulled back I hugged him as tight as I could. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said soothing my back.

“I’m so tired.” I laughed.

“Should you be having coffee?” he questioned.

“Yeah, its only 130pm” I pointed out.

“but you can go to bed when we get home,”

“Hmm,” I said pressing my lips to his neck, “Maybe,”

“What’s in your head.”

“I’m just overwhelmed,” I admitted. “I feel like I just overcame my whole entire life,” I told.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” I admitted. “I know you said we were given a shit run from day one,”

“You were,” he agreed.

“Shannon,” the coffee lady called.

“and I feel like I just earned this,”

“So much babe.”

“For Dad and Ryan. . . my mom, r... i. .” I was having trouble saying the name. Shannon reached my coffee out to me. I grabbed for it but didn’t look. “Riley,” I looked up at him and turned away. “I have to go,” I said turning and walking out getting in my car. Shannon got in just in time for me to drive off.

“What the hell?” he snapped. I didn’t say a worked, I just drove, I think Shannon was shocked at how I was driving, it was completely different to what he was used too. Eventually, after 40 minutes of ignoring Shannon, I pulled up in front of the courthouse probably parking illegally.

“Phoebe, what are you doing?” Shannon asked grabbing my arm.

“Stop!!! . . Talking!!” I demanded snapping my arm back as I walked to reception. “Catalano, Frost?”

She told me the door and I burst in without permission. The first person I saw was my ex, then Nelly.

“Can I help you miss?” The judge asked looking over his glasses to me.

“Ahh, I know this is really inappropriate, your honor,” I said honestly. “But I have a proposition,”

“Phoebe, what the hell are you doing,” Jared scolded. I looked at him for a second before looking up to the judge.

“What’s your name?”

“My name is Phoebe Flamez, I was born Phoebe Catalano, Riley is my triplet,” I told. “I know this wrong but I had something of my own on that just ended.”

“What are you proposing.”

“Well, I am about to go on a world tour and I need a drummer, I know my sister is a drummer,” I told Riley’s head snapped toward me. “I think maybe I can employ her so she has a job, meanwhile Penelope stays with Mitchell with regular welfare checks on my niece, Then when Riley is back in town, she gets full custody for those times,” I told. “While Riley I away she gets daily face calls and things like that with Penelope and can also find a place to live,”

“That is an interesting plan, Miss Flamez.” The judge nodded. “Why would we need regular welfare checks.”

“Mitchell is my ex-fiancé, he like my sister have had interesting pasts.”

“Like you,” Mitchell snapped.

“I am not trying to get custody of a child” I scolded matching it with a glare. “Honestly, if I had it my way, Penelope would be on tour with us,” I told the judge, “we’d know she was safe and happy,”

“But I know that isn’t a healthy life for her, either is a life without either parent,” I said. “We all want what’s best for Penelope, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”

“I’ve been drug-free for a long time,” Riley told, “I’m happy to be drug tested.” She smirked at me, I smirked back.

“Okay, Ms. Flames please take a seat,” The judge said

I took a couple of steps backward and sat next to Shannon. The judge spoke for a few minutes. “Miss Catalano, how do you feel about your sister’s proposal,”

“I feel like it’s a better option then what I came here with,” she admitted.

“Ms. Flamez” The judge called. I looked up. “We will need to have a talk with you and discuss the ins and outs, do you have anything on this afternoon. I looked at Jared he shook his head.

“No,” I held on to Shannon’s hand.

“We’ll adjourn for an hour, I’ll talk to Phoebe about her plan with your lawyers, from there we reconvene at 330pm for my decision.” He slapped his hammer on the table. I turned to Jared.

“Will you come and help me with dates and stuff?” I asked

“Me?” Jared asked.

“Either of you, both of you?”

“Yeah, I’ll help,” Jared said

“Ms. Flamez?” the judge motioned for me to follow him. Jared joined Shannon went out with Riley.

Jared and I gave dates and opinions, the judge was extremely intrigued.

“So where will she stay?”

“Uhm,”

“Well Riley is going to need to rehearse with Phoebe and her band, so I feel it will be best for her to have my spare room. “While we’re away we can find her a home for her and the child,” Jared said. I hated the idea of living with Riley but I guess I had the guest house and Shannon to escape to/with. I really shouldn’t have suggested this if I had a problem with that small fact.

“So when do you finish?”

“We come back home on December 18th from Spain”

“Right” the judge nodded.

“Can we put up for consideration that we have her for our North American dates?” I put forward. “They’re in January,” I said quickly remembering the conversation Jared and I had a few days ago impressed I usually just went with the flow.

“I am going to have a chat with the lawyers, who will converse with the parents, then we will reconvene for my judgment,”

“Okay,” I nodded.

“You can wait with your family,”

I got up and walked out the way we came through the courtroom. Shannon was straight to his feet when he saw us hugging me tightly.

“What did he say?” Riley rushed.

“He took down details,” I told. “He said he’s talking it over with your lawyer, to talk over with you”

“Okay,” She nodded looking at her daughter on the ground.

“Phoebe asked for us to have her on our US tour dates,” Jared said. “Which was kind of genius.”

“This whole idea is genius,” Riley said. “I’m so thankful,” she said stepping toward me.

“Yeah,” I said stepping toward Shannon. “Let’s just make sure it works first,” I said her shoulders dropped a little. “I told you, Ri, he” I flicked my eyes towards Mitchell. “Won't beat us,” she smiled as Shannon pulled me in kissing my head.

I sat next to Riley watching Nelly play with Jared and Shannon on the ground. Her parents had not long come back from talking with their lawyers. Riley seemed hopeful. I sat there toying with my bracelets rolling them up my arm and back down switching wrists, jiggling my leg in place as I starred thoughtlessly to the corner of the room

“Phoebs,” Jared called I looked up. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” I nodded he looked between Riley and me, I noticed what I was doing and stopped it instantly. There were many ways to tell my sister and I were identical, one of those ways was our anxious twitches.

“Catalano Vs Frost” the court person called. I stood instantly and grabbed Riley’s arm hugging her tight before letting her walk in joining Jared and Shannon up the back.

“Ms. Flamez, the judge called I looked up squeezing Shannon’s hand. “Your sister is a shaking like a leaf, come be with her,” he demanded. I looked at Shannon he smiled and kissed my cheek as I nervously stood and walked down sharing the seat with Riley grabbing hole of her hand she gripped mine as tight as she could. “Why is it, Miss Flamez that it took you until today to come up with this plan?”

“Honestly?” I asked.

“Please.”

“I was preoccupied with an event in my own life that I was a little blinded from the moral my father brought us upon,” I said meeting Riley’s eyes before looking back to the judge. “My sister came to me a couple of weeks ago and asked for my help,” I told. “She had made a mistake probably larger than any other she had made in her life,” I told I felt Riley’s grip on my hand tighten. “We never grew up with a mother role model,”

“I was waiting for that,” Mitchell scoffed.

“in her shoes, I probably would have done the same thing” I admitted... “I saw it then and I see in now she was a scared mother who didn’t know the right way to ask anyone other than me for the help that she needed,” I told I was off track. “I learned pretty early on that this I don’t know the word, drama right now, it’s bigger then her and I, it’s bigger than how I feel toward Mitchell, it’s what’s best for Penelope,” I said. “And I know Jared and Shannon have been trying to suggest this to me for the last week, but I was just so caught up in my self I didn’t see it was right” I said. “basically, it’s bigger than us, its for Penelope and her life and I think this is a way that she could have a good one, with both her parents. Which is an opportunity we never had.” I said I was sure I was pandering, I’d gotten out of tones of trouble before through the right speech, was that need now? Was pandering illegal?”

“I am going to give you a trial,” The judge told. “you leave on the 19th?’

“We’ll leave here on the 17th to be in Johannesburg by the 19th”

“The girl will be returned to Mr Frost on the 17th but 12 pm at a to be arranged mutual meeting zone, Ms. Catalano will regain custody of the girl on December 20th through January third where we will reconvene for a review of the court case” he said. “Regular welfare checks will be made on both parties when the child is in their custody,” he said sternly. “any questions?” the room was silent. “I will see you all on January 3rd.”

“I hope your passport is up to date,” I said as Riley hugged me.

“Thank you so so much,” she cried

“Hey,” I said pulling her hair over her shoulder. Soothing her face. “You need to dry them eyes because, in about three seconds, I’m giving that asshole my trademark Phoebe Flamez bitch face Smirk,” I said. ‘you’re going to give your trademark Riley Catalano Bitch Face smirk,” she lifted her head and met my eyes. I looked over and My eyes met Mitchell’s for the first time since I saw him last, about five years ago. I smirked my biggest smirk he knew I just got one over him, he knew deep down in his soul that any wrong move me made now meant he lost to me. I let out the softest laugh as his look turned in to a glare before turning back to Riley and kissing her head.

“I told you he wouldn’t beat us”

#Phoebe Flamez #jared leto #shannon leto #shanimal #shanoebe #bright lights #music #Thirty Seconds to Mars #leto brothers #tstm #30stm #30secondstomars #30 Seconds To Mars #echelon fiction #echelon #fanfic #fan fic writing #fan fic #fan fiction

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