Pop/Rock/Blues - Brit singer and songwriter possesses a set of powerful, preternaturally soulful pipes - effortlessly lovely and equally haunting. Tirelessly hitting the U.K. jazz and blues club circuit for the past few years, Rowley has built up an avid following as well as a commanding live presence on stage. New U.K.-only EP "Violets" previews her eleven-track album due in March on Verve. "My main objective," she declares, "was to capture an old sound in a new, exciting way - and I think we"ve achieved that." For proof, check out her astounding vocals on the slow-burning blues standard "Nobody's Fault But Mine." (09/16 - Verve)

Listen to Beth Rowley tracks here. >>
Watch her perform 'Nobody's Fault' live here. >>

R+B - At a time when the vintage retro-soul sound of the 60's and 70's is again in vogue, it's easy to emulate that particular style and apply it to a particular song. But if you start with a particular music vision and move forward rather than simply applying a "sound" to existing tracks, the process becomes trickier. For noted producer, writer and multi-instrumentalist Raphael Saadiq this challenge has produced one of the most strikingly original R+B albums of recent years. "Every record I've ever made has had those influences...The Temptations, Al Green, The Four Tops and so on," Saadiq explains. "This album is the culmination of a life time of experiences informed by the music I grew up on." For his latest project, Saadiq submerged himself totally in the sound - and musical vision - of that classic period, writing songs that could have been recorded 40 years ago. Tracks such as "100 Yard Dash", with what he calls his "juke joint Booker T-type groove" and the Four Tops/Temptations vocal harmonies of "Love That Girl" revel in the feel-good soul style without a trace of pretense. There's an undeniable naturalness to the flow of the album that can only come from an artist comfortable in his own musical skin.
Listen here. >>

Pop/Rock - When 24-year-old singer/songwriter Jason Reeves moved to L.A. from the rural confines of Iowa City, the second person he met was Colbie Caillat, herself a budding folk/pop performer. The duo wrote ten songs together, including the hits "Bubbly" and "Realize", and then toured together as Caillat's debut "Coco" exploded. Following in the myspace footsteps of his co-writing cohort, Reeves has also built an enviable presence on the site with over 6 million plays and heavy iTunes action.

From the lovely piano-based ballad "Entwined" to the breezy, guitar-strummed "You In A Song", Reeves, like Caillat, manages to find the warm heart of melody without fuss or fanfare. While other songwriters may find refuge in lyrical obfuscation and emotional detachment, Reeves is the heart-on-sleeve romantic and idealist who simply and subtly sings his songs without a hint of pretense. As he puts it himself, "I'm just a simple boy that believes in love and dreams." (09/09 - Warner Brothers)
Listen to 'You In A Song' here. >>

Pop/Rock - Canadian singer may be only 24, but her commanding voice and charismatic live performance is summed up succinctly by one critic as "Pipes. Presence. Potential." Armed usually with just an acoustic guitar, Ryder live is simply a force of nature, her tough/tender, quivering, bluesy/jazzy vocals often not needing amplification and her rhythmic hip-shaking playing seeming to lay claim to the stage forcefully and without doubt. After an indie release and an acclaimed album of covers released in Canada and Australia, Ryder is in the midst of recording her U.S. debut with a full band but, she promises, a "pretty stripped down" affair. "I'm really into doing a very direct, really organic sound." (TBD - Atlantic)

Listen to 'Hiding Place' here. >>

Rock/Pop - Signed by Clive Davis after an intense label bidding war, Welsh singer/songwriter Paul Freeman (or simply Freeman, as he is now known) has created enormous buzz with a charismatic live performance and some classic pop/rock songwriting chops. One melodic gem after another tumbles out during the course of a Freeman show - emotional balladry, sweat soaked rockers, hook-laden sing-a-long anthems - to the point that he's gotten the obligatory comparisons to (hold it now) Springsteen and McCartney. Finishing up his debut full length "That How It Is" with producers such as Howard Benson (Daughtry) for release either later this year or early 2009, Freeman is testing the commercial waters soon as first single "You and I" gets a shot at radio. Brimming with massive hooks and a chorus that's best heard blasting out of a rolled down car window, Freeman manages to find the right balance of blustery rock and bright, shimmering pop.
Get an advance listen to Freeman's music here. >>

Pop/Rock - Making the leap from precocious 16-year-old singer/songwriter prodigy to a sophisticated jazz vocalist touring with Grammy winning jazzman Herbie Hancock, Sonya Kitchell meteoric rise proves just how much is possible in a matter of just three years. Now at the ripe age of 19, she returns with an accomplished second full-length produced by studio vet Malcolm Burn (Emmylou Harris, Peter Gabriel). Kitchell's major 2006 major label debut firmly established the young performer not only as a exceptionally prodigious songwriter but also as a distinctive singer, turning her knowing lyrical imagery into memorable and highly personal musical statements. Burn as producer has helped shape Kitchell's growth further, pushing her as he did label-mate Kaki King to experiment with new sounds, rhythms and textures. The result is an album that has an enormous diversity of styles, from the selected guitar-plucked folk ballads that dominated her debut to tracks that have a grittier rock and blues edge. Key track "Here To There" bristles with sleek, winking energy while "Let Me Go" swings with a jaunty, late-night swagger. (09/02 - Decca)
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Pop/Rock - New Denver based band formed by transplanted Cleveland siblings Patrick and Nathan Meese has become something of a regional phenomenon playing what Performing Songwriter calls "their distinctive, catchy brand of melodic rock." Recently signed to Atlantic and wrapping up their debut album, Meese has found a growing fan base eager for big, bright hooks that, like their fellow mountain mates The Fray, have both a glossy pop sheen AND the instrumental and songwriting chops to back them up. "There"s a dynamic power to Meese and (their) earnest pop songs," writes The Denver Post, "alternating between synth and guitar sounds, obviously come from a place of deep conviction in themselves, in their potential and in things beyond this world." Smart, sharply etched pop vignettes that have equal amounts of soaring choruses, lush orchestrated backing and enough rhythmic drive to make for a dynamic live show, Meese's best songs such as "Count Me Out" and owe as much to pop/rock U.K. bands like Keane and Travis and 80's "powerpop" as they do to anything else currently getting U.S. traction. Look for a fall release. (TBD - Atlantic)

Pop - Long awaited follow up to the 2004 international hit "Finally Woken", the sophomore release from Welsh singer-songwriter Jem is a musical patchwork of influences, beats and simply whatever seems to catch her fancy at the time. Mixing Latin beats, some Japanese lyrics, a hip-hop sample or two along with her own lighter-than-air vocals, the aptly titled "Down to Earth" may take a kitchen sink approach to production and attitude, but there's no doubt that Jem knows what she wants and isn't afraid to mix things up, literally and figuratively, to get it. "Part of what I love about music is, because I'm not trained in a certain way, I don't have worries about can you do this or that," she says. "I just go for sounds." Refreshingly upfront and comfortable with contemporary pop styles, "Earth" expands on her earlier forays into loping, reggae rhtyhms with a broader, adventurous sonic palette. (09/16/ATO)

New Zealand based singer and songwriter Hollie Smith is blessed with one of "those" voices, one that simply has a naturally distinctive and earthy soulfulness, one that once you hear it you know you're hearing something special. Raised in a musical family, the 24-year-old has been singing as long as she can remember but it wasn't until last year when she began to turn heads. A song she sang called "Bathe In the Water" taken from a film soundtrack was one of the biggest hits down under where remained in the Top 10 for nearly 20 weeks.

Debut album "Long Player" debuted at #1 in New Zealand and quickly earned platinum status. For her U.S. debut set for early 2008, Smith recently traveled to Philadelphia and record two new songs with acclaimed producer James Poyser (The Roots, Common) to add to the song selection. A U.S. tour is planned around the release of the album. (2008 TBD - Blue Note)

Watch the video for 'I Will Do' >>

Pop - Alaskan singer/songwriter received acclaim for her 2005 debut album "Fate Is the Hunter" with an affinity for personal, sharply observant and finely crafted songs. Drawing comparisons to Fiona Apple and Rickie Lee Jones, Earl's dark and deeply dreamy songs display an innate soulfulness that should be on display for her slightly more R+B-influenced sophomore effort, due later this year on Universal.

"The sound I have dreamed of for years and years is finally coming to life," Earl observes. "The first time around I came to my producer with the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill record. But it wasn't the time. So for the past two years I have gone back to the sound in my mind, coaxing it out... Learning how to write it and communicate to everyone around me what I hear. I have chased so many different producers, song writers, beatmakers, players to help me fulfill this vision. I have taken meetings, crashed parties, myspaced and even quit music for a minute to end up finding friends and family to pull me back in the game."

"Now I am letting my guard down and being myself," she says. "All of myself. The folk, jazz, blues, gospel, soul, rock & roll AND hip hop... and the rest." As she sums it up: "It's a new day." (TBD - Universal Republic)

Listen to track from her new album here. >>