When nightly news outpaces political satire, when death and despair are merely filler between ads for erection pills, the world is ready for Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits. The mutant offspring of poisonous pop culture, truth-to-power punk rock and button-pushing standup comedy, guitarist Dan Abbott and vocalist Corbett Redford watch from the deck of civilization’s sinking ship… and laugh.

The band began in 1995 as an acoustic duo, becoming unlikely antiheroes in the DIY underground with raw social satire, catchy-as-heck melodies and high-energy performances. After nearly a decade hiatus, the band reformed in 2009, joined by a rhythm section consisting of bassist Sean McTiernan and drummer Joshua Wharton (both of Mystic Knights of the Cobra), and second guitarist Craig Billmeier (guitarist for Love Songs, Conquest For Death, What Happens Next?, and also known as internationally renowned air guitarist "Hot Lixx Hulahan"). Since then, the band has toured and recorded relentlessly, with a catalogue of releases and music videos unheard of for an independent act.

Difficult to categorize, awkward on a flyer, and impossible to forget, the "pretty songs about terrible things" of Bobby Joe Ebola have become the soundtrack of the "Great Recession" & civilization’s "Slow Apocalypse." The band continues to make appearances both as the traditional acoustic duo and with with the full band lineup.

With the December 2012 release of its fourth full length album "Trainwreck To Narnia" (Rooftop Comedy/Dirt Cult Records) the band continues to delight and shock audiences wherever they go, from bars and comedy clubs to festivals and somewhat awkward sex parties.

Shout Out Louds return on February 26, 2013 with "Optica."

Following their 2010 album "Work," Adam, Bebban, Ted, Carl, and Eric headed out on their most successful tour ever and then returned home to their own pursuits. Families were expanded, side projects were launched, and homes outside of Stockholm were explored. When the time came to work on another Shout Out Louds record they wanted to return to the playful spirit that first brought them together ten years ago. Instead of "work," they wanted to dance!

Rather than rehearsing and then recording in the studio as they’d always done, everyone felt free to write and work on their own parts individually as "Optica" was taking shape. Also, the band worked with a string composer to achieve lush arrangements described by Carl as "Disney on drugs" and by Adam as "like warm mayonnaise."

On September 11 Sea Wolf released it’s third album, Old World Romance on Dangerbird Records. Old World Romance is the highly anticipated follow up to Sea Wolf’s successful sophomore LP, White Water, White Bloom.

Sea Wolf’s founder and leading man, Alex Brown Church (writer/guitar/vocals), shares "After the last record, which was written and recorded far from home and was more of a group experience, I really wanted to stay close to home, be in my own space and give myself room to explore and write and record on my own schedule," Church continues, "I just felt I needed to bring Sea Wolf back to me, to my world," Church produced and recorded Old World Romance in the comfort of his home studio, with mixing by Kennie Takahashi (Broken Bells, The Black Keys, Jessica Lea Mayfield).

While the gorgeous full-band arrangements coupled with often dark, yet buoyant lyrics are sometimes reminiscent of White Water, White Bloom, Church delves into new territory with Old World Romance. The songs are stripped back and lean, simply melodic and brightly propulsive, leaning away from White Water’s indie-folk epics. Left unchanged is Church’s propensity to draw inspiration from his personal situations. One particular theme that pervades throughout the collection of songs on Old World Romance is Church’s return to California. He explains, "This record is about a lot of things, but some of it is about coming home after being away and facing the realities of one’s life, and life in general. Things you may have run away from, and things you are ready to embrace. Reconnecting and growing up."

Leading single "Old Friend" is a bittersweet heart tugger centered around a minimalist drum beat and calculated acoustic plucking that highlights Church’s vocals, and perfectly pulls at the album’s theme of confronting reality as well as the past. More upbeat tunes such as "In Nothing" will make for the perfect soundtrack to your summer nights, with its meandering strings and bright snare beat. Slow burner "Blue Stockings" on the other hand, is a gentler, softer flashback to the days of Get to the River Before It Runs Too Low EP, Sea Wolf’s 2007 debut release on Dangerbird Records.

Joining Church on Old World Romance is Lisa Fendelander (keyboards), Joey Ficken (Drums), Ted Liscinski (Bass) and multi-instrumentalist Zac Rae.

Hollywood Records recording artists R5 have announced their North American Spring tour dates, kicking off March 15 in Santa Ana, California. The tour comes on the heels of their hotly anticipated debut EP, "Loud," set for release February 19.

R5 is comprised of siblings Riker, Ross, Rocky and Rydel Lynch; and their childhood best friend Ellington "Ratliff." For much of 2012, the band honed its performing chops, headlining sold-out club shows in Chicago, Phoenix, Toronto, New York and beyond. "There’s something cool that happens when we’re on stage together," Riker says. "There’s nothing more fun in the world. We meet the entire audience after the show, and we love our fans."

Los Angeles duo The Milk Carton Kids will release their anticipated Anti- debut album "The Ash & Clay" on March 26th. After forming in 2011, the duo of Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan quickly built a devoted following with the simple purity of their music, touring with a host of established acts (Old Crow Medicine Show, Punch Brothers, and more), appearing on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series and charming audiences with their deadpan on-stage humor. While their most obvious musical reference is the classic folk revival sound of twin acoustic guitars and matching harmonies, the band both expands and contradicts that rich legacy with highly inventive guitar lines and their intricately interwoven vocals.

Friendship is at the heart of one of the best albums of the year.

Brother-acts like the Louvins, the Everlys, the Delmores, and others have created some of our most memorable music, but every once in awhile that same kind of intuitive harmony exists between close friends like Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale.

Long embraced as two of Nashville’s most beloved singer-songwriters, the pair have been singing together more than thirty years and have now joined forces to create Buddy and Jim, a collection of perfectly produced gems that explores the highs and lows of love and continues the long tradition of male duet acts. Produced by Grammy winner Miller, the record contains a track list that juxtaposes playful songs of joy right against mournful tunes of longing.

Miller is a multi-instrumentalist, an acclaimed singer-songwriter, and has become one of the most sought-after producers in the business, producing widely praised albums by Solomon Burke, Patty Griffin, Carolina Chocolate Drops, and music from the hit television show "Nashville." Two-time Grammy winner Lauderdale is one of the top songwriters in the industry, with songs recorded by some of the most recognizable names in music, and has a rabid cult following of his own music. The two met on the New York City music scene in the 1980s and have collaborated ever since. These days they’re even co-hosting a popular radio show on Sirius XM Outlaw Radio. For the last couple decades they’ve flirted with the idea of doing a record together, and have finally made it happen.

If you sense a slight incongruity in the title of Blame Sally’s "Speeding Ticket and a Valentine," rest assured that it’s as purposeful as the life it describes is random. The album lifts its name from a line in the bridge of the hard-charging leadoff single, "Living Without You," which describes a day – or maybe entire existence – that’s "sweet and sour at the same time/mink and a porcupine/ speeding ticket and a valentine." Clearly, this is a band that knows its oxymorons.

The four women who make up the Bay Area-based group have some experience with improbable complexities and contradictions. Almost everything about their history is contrary to conventional wisdom. For one thing, they put their individual careers aside to start Blame Sally when they were in their late 30s and 40s – the age at which bands are traditionally supposed to break up and begin solo careers. For another, this is obviously an all-female band – "girl groups" usually being the novel province of youthful upstarts, not mature singer/songwriters. Splitting the frontperson status among three of four members goes against the agreed-upon maxim (agreed upon by everyone but the Beatles, anyway) that every group needs a single strong focal point. And didn’t they get the memo that women in particular in show biz are supposed to be packing it in at this point, not making fresh introductions?

Actually, they did get that memo, and put it in the proverbial circular file.

DEAD WINTER CARPENTERS:

Hailing from North Lake Tahoe, CA, Dead Winter Carpenters represents everything the American west stands for. The band seamlessly blends Americana with roots rock and a tinge of straightforward ‘tell-it-like-it-is’ alt. country for hard-hitting performances that are as edgy as they are whimsical. The project pushes and pulls at musical boundaries with top-notch, live performances while walking the line with unexpected world music flair. With an unbridled spirit, and an authentic approach to the art of songwriting, the five-piece captures the freedom of the road with the kind of energy that legends are made of.

CODY CANADA & THE DEPARTED:

Cody Canada was 16 years old when he arrived in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He found a creative nirvana of musicians who planted seeds that would stay with him for the rest of his life. Cody recalls, "I met Tom Skinner, Scott Evans, Bob Childers, Jimmy LaFave, Mike McClure, the Red Dirt Rangers and they were all playing this really, really good music. It was kind of in that same vibe as the Allman Brothers and The Band. But what came out of it was really diverse. There were more country acts like Jason Boland. The All American Rejects were the rock guys. Then you had the whole Red Dirt hippie thing… I didn’t even know what Red Dirt was until somebody told me. I got turned on to it all and it’s stayed with me ever since."

Canada was front man for Cross Canadian Ragweed for fifteen years, where he tapped into those influences for their nine albums, four of which charted on Billboard’s Top 10 Country Albums Chart. They sold over a million albums and played to sell-out crowds, bringing the term "Red Dirt" to the nation. When Cross Canadian Ragweed decided to part ways, Cody resurfaced with a mission in mind, to pay homage to the Red Dirt writers and music that were formative. The Departed’s first priority was getting into the studio and cutting the Oklahoma tribute album that Cody had wanted to do for years. This is Indian Land came out last year, a 15-track "buffet of really kick-ass Okie songs," Canada noted.

And so a seamless transition was made, Cody Canada and his long time Ragweed band mate, Jeremy Plato on bass and vocals; along with Seth James on guitar and vocals (Seth James Band, Ray Wylie Hubbard), Steve Littleton on B3 organ and keys (Live Oak Decline, Stoney LaRue & the Arsenals, Medicine Show) and Chris Doege on drums (Seth James Band, Nashville touring acts). The band members have known each other for years, and they know each other’s musicianship. They are excited to be playing together, stoked about the new beginning that their first studio album of original material ("Adventus") provides.

"Sleep with One Eye Open" is an impassioned collaboration/conversation between mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile and guitarist Michael Daves in which the subject is bluegrass, specifically how this upstart duo can acknowledge history and tradition while exuberantly defying convention. Though it was recorded in four feverish days of sessions at Jack White’s Third Man Studio in Nashville, the album has deep roots in a serendipitous side of New York City that reveals itself at certain times of the night, when strangers become kindred spirits as clubs empty out, and only the hardiest souls stick around to keep the music playing. It’s a story that begins, like so many, with a guy walking into a bar…

All ticket purchasers will receive a free digital download of "Wax Wings" to be delivered on 5/7/13.

Hey everyone, I am proud to announce the release of my upcoming new album "wax wings." I don’t know what to say about it. You just listen and tell me what you think. For the first time ever, I am self-releasing a record, so I could use all of your help with promoting it and sharing it. You’ve been so great about that in the past and I truly thank you. I hope you dig this new work. – Joshua Radin