The cocktail of talent, ingenuity, and hard work is what first draws listeners to an artist and their music. But it’s that indescribable and illusive quality that solidifies those fans. It’s something you can’t put your finger on. But who says you’ve got to understand every lick, lyric, and beat in the first place? If […]
Singer-songwriter
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Fatima Razic builds beauty out of an ugly world
Beautiful music is even more so when born of an ugly world. Singer-songwriter Fatima Razic has a gorgeous voice: It aches, it evokes, it emotes, and it delivers a truck load of goosebumps. It is the sound of the artist crying out from within. There is no casual way to dig this 34-year-old Rochester-based musician. […]
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Panic pop
To really test a song’s credibility and worth all you need to do is unplug it. Take away the electricity, the layering, the studio magic, just strip it down to its bones and see if it still breathes. See if it survives the evisceration; if it still sounds good. Then, chances are it’s a good […]
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“Labor” of love
Singer-songwriter Christopher Paul Stelling is on the road to the Newport Folk Festival in a recently purchased, unassuming white touring van he has affectionately named Walt Whitman. As he recounts the various jobs he held throughout his 20’s — grocery store worker, luthier’s assistant, bookstore employee, sushi chef, dishwasher — a male blowup sex doll […]
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2015: a pop odyssey
It’s quite simple, really. Rochester singer-songwriter Meg Gehman set out to record a new album. She adhered to the protocol. Raise the money, write the songs, secure the producer, rinse, repeat. Then things got peculiar; things got weird. The money was raised, no sweat, the songs were penned, and the producer — David Chance (of […]
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The better to hear you with
The music on singer-songwriter Kaylin Cervini’s new EP, “Breadcrumbs,” floats on the healing end of hurt. Hurt from a tragic loss (that served as the kick start to her career) and whatever hurt her audience learns to confront by this young lady’s fearless example. Cervini’s music also circumvents the everyday humdrum of songs steeped in […]
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Teressa Wilcox
All those self-appointed divas, overwrought soul sisters, affected caterwaulers, and auto-tuned tarts ain’t got nothin’ on Rochester’s Teressa Wilcox. It would seem everyone who parks themselves in front of a mic with a dream in their heart and a song on their lips tries for honesty, raw emotion, and energy. But it’s that effort — […]
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Greg Townson unmasked
The Rochester musician just played in front of 50,000 fans in Mexico City. Now, he’s hanging out for happy hour at Abilene.
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The Meg Williams Band
Meg Williams is soft-spoken and sweet, perhaps even a bit shy. The Rochester-based singer/songwriter/guitarist laughs nervously when discussing her music — a bluesy jam with a casual twist of funk and soul — and her group, The Meg Williams Band. It’s all captured on the band’s excellent debut, “Troubles To The Wind.” But the bashfulness […]
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Jazz Fest 2014, Day 2: Nicole reviews Ryan Dilmore
Singer-songwriter Ryan Dilmore’s stripped-down performance at the Little Theatre was simple and lyrical. While Jazz Fest typically calls to mind images of funky bands playing on big outdoor stages, Dilmore’s music was a welcome reprieve from the fray. A Victor native, Dilmore said that the opportunity to perform at the festival was “honestly a dream […]
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Johnny Bauer and Great Escape
Johnny Bauer has performed music for 39 of his 42 years on earth. It started in the crib — if not the womb — and quickly moved to the stage with his family’s band, Bauer Power. “It consisted of my mom, my dad playing guitar,” Bauer says. “My oldest brother playing keyboards and bass, my […]
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MUSIC: Twelve for ’12
When autumn leaves begin to fall, it’s not just back to school — it’s back to the clubs, where all kinds of music will be reverberating off the walls, and in your skull. There’s almost too much talent calling Rochester home lately. (That’s a good problem to have, to be sure.) And to compound this […]
