A night with Kingfish Ingram in St. Louis

On March 25th, it was one of those famous, midwestern, super windy evenings out in the suburbs of St. Louis, when a night of delta blues and topnotch guitar playing was enjoyed by a wonderfully diverse packed house of fans at The Factory. This group of music lovers had gathered together to see the one […]

Brooke Fair dives deep into “First Love” feels in new single

Hitting streaming platforms on April 1st, award-winning artist Brooke Fair has released her latest single “First Love” off of her upcoming full-length studio album The Things We Were — distributed globally by Zojak World Wide on May 20th. A very talented young artist, this 17-year-old Memphis native was named ‘Songwriter of The Year’ by the […]

A serendipitous night with Tedeschi Trucks in Syracuse

“This is just like Jacksonville,” Derek Trucks says. We’re looking out the window of a bar in downtown Syracuse, NY, admiring the architectural columns of the building across the street. “Jacksonville is the Syracuse of Florida. I love this city.” The guitar phenom from the GRAMMY Award-winning Tedeschi Trucks Band is holding a glass of $30/oz whiskey.  He […]

My Forte Artist Spotlight: Dozzi

Famous for high-energy performances, incredible stage presence and goosebumps-inducing harmonies, Nashville’s independent country pop trio Dozzi is in the fast lane to the biggest stages. Hailing from Brisbane, Australia, the three sisters moved to Nashville in 2016 after seeing exponential success in their home country. Andrea plays mandolin and vocals, while Jesse holds down acoustic […]

My Forte Artist Spotlight: Boomtown Saints

With signature high-energy performances and flawless harmonies, Boomtown Saints are Nashville’s newest and arguably biggest up-and-coming rock-forward country band. And, they’re on a mission. “We have established a reputation for allowing people to forget about their ‘real life’ for however long we are onstage,” says Chris Ramos of Boomtown Saints. Having evolved from their freshman […]

Introducing ‘My Forte’: a full music documentary series

After a slate of film festival successes following the November 4th premiere of Love: Music, filmmaker Kaili Rose has announced the continuation of the project: a series of 12 short documentary films, addressing pivotal topics in the music industry, is slated to begin production this month in Toronto. Working with a diverse roster of artists […]

Chris Lane brings the country to Los Angeles

Chris Lane launched his Fill Them Boots tour in January 2022, and, oh boy, can he fill them boots — and then some! Chris brings the crowd alive with his Platinum #1s “Big, Big Plans” and “Fix” and, his 2X Platinum #1s “I Don’t Know About You” and “Take Back Home Girl”. On February 2nd, […]

WORLD TRACK PREMIERE: Marc Borde “It’s Starting To Snow”

Country folk artist Marc Borde surfaces with an icy tale in “It’s Starting To Snow”, the first single off his forthcoming It Always Rains On My Goodbyes debut LP to be expected later this year. Premiering exclusively today on Top Shelf Music before it hits all digital outlets January 28th, “It’s Starting To Snow” illuminates […]

The Buckleys reveal rockin’ “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus” video

It wouldn’t be Christmas without a cool Santa Claus! This year, Australian country rock siblings The Buckleys have created their own rockin’ twist to the holiday classic, “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus”, originally released by Mabel Scott in 1948 before ramping up in fame with Patti Page’s 1950 radio version. Sarah Buckley comments, “We are so […]

How The Dead South conquered Lake Tahoe

On December 18th, in snow-capped Lake Tahoe, The Dead South packed the auditorium at Bally’s Lake Tahoe Casino Resort. The opening act for the night was artist Willy Tea Taylor. His deep voice and intricate picking on his 1920s Martin 4-string guitar was reminiscent of the old cowboy songwriting days. His mix of folk music […]

Eclectic Soundtrax Podcast, Ep. 61: James Desautels

Air date: November 24, 2021 On this episode of Eclectic Soundtrax, hosts Victor Ramos and Skunk Manhattan chat with virtuoso violinist, composer, producer, songwriter, arranger and conductor, James Desautels. From concert halls and music festivals to small clubs and intimate recording studios, “Jamie” has performed in 37 countries across five continents over a career spanning […]