Blue collar honky tonk heroes from Austin Texas. The working man's working band.
"Steak Night at the Prairie Rose" was recently listed at #17 on Rolling Stone’s Best Country/Americana Albums of 2018

Nils Frahm had an early introduction to music, learning the piano throughout his childhood. It was through this that Nils began to immerse himself in the styles of classical pianists from previous generations as well as the music of contemporary composers, before forging his own musical path through composition.

Today Nils Frahm continues to work as an accomplished composer, producer and celebrated performer from his Berlin-based studio at the renowned Funkhaus. His unconventional approach to an age-old instrument, played contemplatively and intimately, and on a mesmerising scale through his vast stage shows, has won him many fans around the world. Nils has gained global notoriety for his highly developed sense of control and restraint in his work, as well as a breath-taking level of emotion and personality.

Following on from his first solo piano works Wintermusik and The Bells in 2009, and 2010’s 7fingers in collaboration with cellist Anne Müller, 2011 saw his break-through album Felt on Erased Tapes. Created by placing felt on the hammers of the piano, the record defines Frahm's signature sound which was a further development of the two-track experiment Unter/Über. Felt was followed by his solo synthesiser EP Juno and Wonders — a record by Oliveray, his duo project with long-time musical companion Peter Broderick. Nils then recorded the 2012 works Screws while recovering from a thumb injury, which he gifted to his fans on his birthday. Erased Tapes also released Juno Reworked featuring remixes by Luke Abbott and Clark.

2013 saw Nils return with his new album Spaces to critical acclaim, expressing his love for experimentation and answering the call from his fans for a record that truly reflects what they have witnessed during his live shows. Recorded over a period of two years the album captured live performances from various of his concerts worldwide. Nils also released his first music book in the same year, Sheets Eins, publishing the sheet music for tracks such as Ambre and Said and Done for the very first time.

In 2015 Nils launched Piano Day, an official global body created by Nils and his closest friends to celebrate the piano via various innovative, piano-related projects around the world. The first project revealed by the Piano Day team was the building of the world’s tallest piano: the Klavins 450. It was on the slightly smaller version built by piano inventor David Klavins that Nils recorded eight improvised piano motifs in one sitting, which formed his Solo album – presented to the world on the first celebration of Piano Day.

During the same year Nils’ first film score release Music For The Motion Picture Victoria written for the one-take feature film by Sebastian Schipper, won the esteemed German Film Prize for Best Soundtrack; the soundtrack opens with an edit of Burn With Me by German producer DJ Koze. And in the Summer, the BBC Proms presented a memorable performance at London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall curated by BBC 6 Music radio presenter Mary Anne Hobbs.

Nils celebreated his continued musical partnership with fellow artist Ólafur Arnalds with the release of their Collaborative Works that October and included their three previous EP releases Stare, Loon and Life Story Love and Glory, plus Trance Frendz — the audio recording of their intimate 45-minute studio film.

Following a Nils Frahm-curated Weekend Festival at London’s Barbican Centre and the release of his second published music book Sheets Zwei, 2016 saw a collaborative score with Woodkid for Ellis, a short film by French artist JR, starring and featuring spoken words by Robert De Niro.

After spending much of 2017 in hibernation in preparation for a busy period ahead, Nils will commence 2018 with his first live performances since 2015, and will embark on the beginning of a long worldwide tour entitled All Melody.

Time as a band breeds experience, yielding commitment to a cause and cementing a career path. This is something Plague Vendor has learned. The foursome, who emerged from a practice space in Whittier, CA in 2009, started by playing endless live shows around Southern California, filling everywhere from backyard parties to clubs to festivals with their raucous, formidable music. At the heart of every show, no matter the venue, was sincere energy and spirit, always resulting in a snarling, frenetic performance. The shows stacked up, accumulating every year, and eventually birthed Plague Vendor’s 2014 debut album Free To Eat, a dark, thrashing collection that clocked in at less than twenty minutes.

But the album, brash and aptly terse, was just an appetizer to the main course. The band’s sophomore effort, Bloodsweat, vastly expands on the sonic territory explored in their debut. Recorded over the course of two weeks in April of 2015 with producer and engineer Stuart Sikes (The Walkmen, Cat Power, Modest Mouse), the album takes a natural approach to Plague Vendor’s music. The musicians aimed to capture each track in as few takes as possible, avoiding many overdubs and embracing the same minimal production they bring to their live performances. Nearly all of the eleven songs on Bloodsweat were heavily road-tested, imagined and re-imagined live before ever making it into the studio.

From opening number “Anchor To Ankles” to closer “Got It Bad,” Bloodsweat reveals a purposeful narrative arc, taking the listener through songs that veer rapidly from aggressive thrash to melodic introspection. Together, the songs recount the last few years of the musicians’ lives, revealing the sacrifices they’ve made and the dedication they’ve embraced to become the band they’ve become. “Jezebel,” the disc’s flagship single, exemplifies the style Plague Vendor has dubbed “voodoo punk” a dance-fueled rock aesthetic tinged with shadowy darkness. The band’s influences, which range from At the Drive-In to Liars to The Cramps, are apparent but not overly obvious throughout.

Plague Vendor’s live show has shifted as they’ve developed these new songs, too. They’ve swapped out shock value for raw vulnerability onstage and the four musicians aim to create the most sound and the most intensity with the least possible utility and equipment. Palpable tension comes from the sense that anything could happen, but mostly Plague Vendor is interested in simplicity and the sort of expressive nakedness that can come from stripping everything away. It’s clear the band has sacrificed their formative don’t-give-a-fuck punk attitude for sincerity and gratitude, acknowledging the fans who’ve helped them arrive here now.

Bloodsweat invokes its own name as it unfurls, its songs edged with a sense of danger and vulnerability. It’s the product of a band who have traveled far and whose travels have committed them even further to themselves. As you hear it, as its songs surge outward, it announces: This is who Plague Vendor is now.

Plague Vendor is:

Brandon Blaine – Vocals
Luke Perine – Drums
Michael Perez – Bass
Jay Rogers – Guitar

Instrumentalists bear the burden of communicating musical ideas without the aid of lyrics or storytelling proper. For many years, that’s how 2018 Americana Award nominee Daniel Donato operated as the guitarist for Nashville acts like The Wild Feathers, Paul Cauthen and The Don Kelley Band.
From age 14, Donato has developed his brand of crisp, soulful, on-the-edge telecaster picking under bar lights, honing his skills and proving his mettle within the city’s prominent live music scene. All the while, a growing love of songwriting mirrored the pace of his ever-improving guitar chops.
Now, a short three years after his departure from Kelley’s classic country outfit, the 23-year-old is signed to WME as an artist with a docket of jam-ready country and bluegrass songs. Backed by his three-piece “Cosmic Country Band” ¬¬– cosmic country is a catch-all term for experimental roots music, often assisted by electronic sounds – Donato stands at the frontier of his career with characteristic intrepidity, no longer bounded by the expressive limitations of his instrument.
His strident voice and explorative songwriting carry his music into new territory, offering bold ideas to his fan base while staying true to what drew them to him in the first place: a palpable love of music delivered through excelled craft. With one eye on the night’s gig and another on the ages, Donato is continuing his journey down country music’s long and winding road, leaving no stone unturned.