SHARK-FIN AWARDS

It seems like a lifetime ago when I first heard Project Grand Slam. It was the band’s single “Fire”, a stunning revamp of the iconic Hendrix track, and it immediately convinced me that bandleader, bassist, and composer Robert Miller inhabits the same landscape as those he covers. Project Grand Slam’s …

As an art form, jazz is best described as brilliantly organized chaos, dependent on the more calculated players in music to really do its core aesthetics justice. In this regard, the new album Folds of Time from Mumex Trio is certainly one of the more complete jazz listens I’ve had the opportunity …

Kimberly Morgan York and The Everlovin’ Band lasso a world of emotions in her traditional country album Found Yourself A Lady. The impressive 10-track debut is laced with love, sorrow, sing along melodies and the vocals of a singer that finds that sweet spot between elegance and confidence. Maybe those two …

There aren’t many string instruments that can contribute the sweet tone a mandolin does no matter what the backdrop happens to be, and while it serves a rather indulgent purpose in the new single “Buzzin’ Fly” from Yardan, Andrew Hendryx’s play is by far one of the most compelling elements …

Elizabeth Sombart enrolled at the Strasbourg Conservatory and first began studying piano at seven years old; her first public performance followed at twelve years old. She parlayed winning first prize at the National Piano and Chamber Music Awards into studies with renowned music teachers Bruno Leonardo Gelber, Hilde Langer-Ruhl, and …

This winter has been one of the more memorable in recent years for pop fans, with a virtual watershed of content pouring through the underground and the mainstream the same. Saying competition is hot just wouldn’t be doing this generation of talent justice; to break into the modern pop spotlight, …

Honestly, Kari Holmes doesn’t need much to sound like a truly divine force in a performance, but beside the delicate piano keys of “Making Heaven a Home,” she sounds even more provocative than she already would have. In her first full-length album When I See You Smile, this dedicated country singer …

Hitting us with everything he has in the chamber right off the top, President Hill is clearly not messing around when he kicks out the opening bars in “You Feelin It Shawty,” his all-new single currently out and available everywhere quality hip-hop is sold and streamed. Although he’s got a …

Self-aware but prepared to acknowledge his faults through the beauty of his lyricism, Eric Colville brings us into the opening track and title cut of his new album Philadelphia with arms wide open, seemingly ready to greet anyone at the door with a melodic magic that comes in second to none this …

Ezra Vancil knows about turning lemons into lemonade. The Texan singer/songwriter persevered against the odds and earned his living as a working musician and songwriter before the ongoing pandemic shattered live music and creative opportunities. Vancil absorbed this devastating blow as well as possible given that The Family Songbook, his then …