“Little by little, bit by bit. That’s how you eat an elephant,” Big Little Lions sing in the opening track of their sixth studio album, Inside Voice, set for release on October 5th via AntiFragile Music. When I heard words I’ve said millions of times being sung back to me, I knew that Inside Voice and I were going to…
Shadows, whether cast in real life or internally cloaking the soul, can obscure even the brightest lights. They magnify the mystery of the unknown and twist the shape of the familiar. In many ways the shadows blanketing Rose of the West’s recent set at Nashville’s High Watt served as a fitting metaphor for the band…
An event like no other, a festival within a festival, the SuperJam! is one of the most sacred traditions of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. While there have been minor changes over the years, its foundation remains constant: packing in as many of the festival’s best artists to sing songs that everyone knows, while…
The 2019 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival started off a little different for East of 8th. Having eased into Bonnaroo 2019 by spending Thursday night taking in the Americana and country music sounds of the Grand Ole Opry for East of 8th’s sister publication, Mother Church Pew, we had forgone many of the no-sleep, first…
“I am not your little lady, I am so much more than lovely. Fear me, hate me, call me crazy, you won’t break me,” snarls Nashville-based singer/songwriter Elisabeth Beckwitt in her new empowerment anthem “Lovely.” “I have become so much stronger over the past few years and am finally embracing my power as a woman,” she…
Nashville’s Wildfront is proof positive that pop is alive and well here in the Music City. With new single “Bloom,” frontwoman Josephine Moore sings of that moment when lust turns to love, what she calls “the period of greatest beauty.” With its 80s-inspired synths and hard-driving beats that evoke the imagery of hot summer nights and…
What people think about us is none of our business. True freedom begins when we decide not to worry about impressing others and give ourselves permission to just be. Nashville-based band The Brook & The Bluff sing of this longing to be careless, or maybe carefree, in the midst of self-inflicted rigidity in their beautiful…
In art, there are erasers or fresh coats of paint to cover mistakes. In theater, there are dress rehearsals before the final performance. There are even do-overs in golf (called mulligans). However, in life, we really only have one shot to get it right, because, as some say, you can’t put the toothpaste back in…
On September 27th, award-winning Irish singer/songwriter and activist Wallis Bird will release WOMAN, her sixth album. Bird spent the last two years writing and recording WOMAN encompasses the major changes in her life since her 2016 release Home. “The world has changed a lot, and I’ve changed with it. The #MeToo movement, Repeal the 8th, marriage equality…
“I started singing before I could even talk which is so funny,” says Kentucky-raised, Nashville-honed, Los Angeles-based alt-pop artist Kensington Moore. “Recently, my parents moved; there was a box full of stuff from when I was a baby, and we found a tape recording of my singing from when I was two years old. I literally…
If there’s one thing we know about time it’s that there’s never enough of it–a valuable commodity that you can spend, but there’s a hard and fast no return policy, which is why it must be spent wisely. Another thing we know for sure is that love is risky; is it worth the risk to…
Sequestered in the desert of Western Australia, the vibrant, red flowers of Eucalyptus macrocarpa stand out against the harsh landscape. The rare tree, nicknamed “rose of the west,” manages to prevail over the severe climate, opening its beauty to those who seek it. It’s with this image that Gina Barrington (vocals, guitar) found solace and inspiration for her project Rose of the West,…
The great Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” Nashville pop-rock band Temple Wildlife knows this to be true, as evidenced by their new single, “Decorated Panes.” Ironically, as one of their most upbeat songs to date, “Decorated Panes,” a song about the desire to see a…
While Nashville is known for being the home of country music, there are so many other genres that live and thrive here in the Music City–gospel, pop, alt-tock, and of course Americana. Even the Barbershop Harmony Society is headquartered here! That’s why it makes our hearts smile to have the chance to introduce our…
Singer/songwriter KaiL Baxley‘s experiences are as diverse as the day is long–the Los Angeles-based South Carolina native and son of a couple of outlaws who learned to dance from James Brown–the Godfather of Soul himself–has been an amateur boxer, a gunshot survivor, a football star, and a traveling troubadour. Those narratives naturally inform his…
