SXSW 2022: Best Bands

SXSW made its cautious, yet triumphant return earlier in March after its abrupt cancellation in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. The city of Austin took a safe approach to this year’s festival by opening many onsite testing facilities, as well as administering a digital pass for all vaccinated festival-goers. Even with safeguards in place, the […]

Napa ready to uncork the next BottleRock for 2022

Wine meets music at the 8th Annual BottleRock Fest in Napa, California this May 27th through 29th! The three-day fest will include headliners Metallica, P!nk and Twenty One Pilots, with support from Luke Combs, The Black Crowes, Kygo, Pitbull, Greta Van Fleet, Mount Westmore, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, CHVRCHES, Banks, Bleachers, Alessia Cara, Vance Joy, Silversun […]

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 […]

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 […]

An enthralling night with Andy Grammer in Napa, CA

It was a beautiful Thursday night in Napa, California. The historic Uptown Theatre from 1937 has hosted some of the biggest artists in entertainment, including Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg and BB King. Now, it was time to add Andy Grammer to the list. Over the past few years, Grammer has put out great music, including […]

WORLD VIDEO PREMIERE: Dust City Opera “Angie”

Emerging grunge-meets-indie folk band Dust City Opera debut another song off their forthcoming sophomore album Alien Summer with the video for “Angie”! Due out March 4th, the album follows the band’s first full-length Heaven in 2019 and will feature previously released tracks like “The Unkind”, “An Okay Way To Go”, “It”, “Tile or Linoleum” and “Stars”. “Angie” […]

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 […]