discovering and sharing the music that moves us. LET'S ROCK!

Author: Simon

Two-plus decades in the music industry as a program director, host, influencer, voice-over artist, and artist manager. Passionate about introducing music fans to talented artists. Avid sports card collector. Pizza lover. Microbrew connoisssoir.
13 New Albums That Should Be On Your Radar For 2022
8Nov By SimonNo Comments
Music

13 New Albums That Should Be On Your Radar For 2022

2022 is shaping up to be a great year for new music. A wide variety of musicians have channeled the challenges of the last eighteen months into new albums. Contemporary artists like Kid Cudi, The Lumineers, and Bastille will return with highly anticipated follow-ups. Rockers Guns N' Roses and Stabbing Westward will shine a light on guitars & angst while heritage acts like Elvis Costello and Tears for Fears try and remind people why they were on top of the heap at their peak. Then there are all the projects that are still in the wind that we're not even in the loop on yet. Let's take the Red Hot Chili Peppers for example. They've got a world tour coming up and dropping a single to coincide with those dates just makes sense, doesn't it? What new musical project are you m...
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Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness Set To Host 12th Annual Dear Jack Benefit Concert Saturday Night
7Nov By SimonNo Comments
Music, Reviews

Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness Set To Host 12th Annual Dear Jack Benefit Concert Saturday Night

Andrew McMahon was diagnosed with Leukemia at just 23 years old. He's spent the years since then raising funds to help support those affected by this terrible disease. Carving out a successful career across two+ decades and three projects, McMahon recently chronicled his story with the release of his memoir Three Pianos. His teen years into his early 20s saw the meteoric success of Something Corporate. From there he moved on to Jack's Mannequin before launching Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness and breaking out with "Cecelia and the Satelite" in 2014. Camp Wilderness Fan Access We've seen sold-out tours and popular follow-up albums ever since and McMahon shows no signs of slowing down. His newest project is a fan access platform called Camp Wilderness which aims to offer f...
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Blues Legend John Mayall Plots New Album With Star-Studded Cast
2Nov By SimonNo Comments
Music, Reviews

Blues Legend John Mayall Plots New Album With Star-Studded Cast

The legendary John Mayall delivers a funky soulful affair with a star-studded group of musicians in tow on his new album set for release on Forty Below Records. The Sun Is Shining Down will be available to the general public on January 28th. Mayall's career has spanned more than five decades. His band, The Bluesbreakers influenced a generation of musicians and his musical rolodex includes collaborations with Eric Clapton, members of Fleetwood Mac & the Rolling Stones. While he retired the Bluesbreakers moniker in 2008, he continues to travel his musical path. This will be Mayall's fifth album with Forty Below and 36th studio effort. Just part of a prolific career that also includes 34 live albums, 24 compilations albums, and 4 EP's (for good measure). Featuring Special Guest...
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Scottish Rockers Release Emotionally Charged New Album “…Happily Ever After”
31Oct By SimonNo Comments
Music, Reviews

Scottish Rockers Release Emotionally Charged New Album “…Happily Ever After”

In what is being called a rapid emotional response to the turmoil of the past year, Biffy Clyro is back with the adventurous new studio album, The Myth of the Happily Ever After. In the follow-up to the critically acclaimed A Celebration of Endings, the 11-track album features the new single 'Errors In The History of God'. The new release comes on the heels of the previously released "Unknown Mail 01" and "A Hunger In Your Haunt". This marks the first time Biffy Clyro has recorded an album entirely in their homeland of Scotland. Due to lockdown, the band set up a studio in their rehearsal space in a farmhouse close to their homes. The trio went in with the intention of completing songs from their previous album but the project took on a life of its own. This album is a real ...
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Dead Sara Announce Initial Tour Dates Of 2022
27Oct By SimonNo Comments
Events, Music, Reviews

Dead Sara Announce Initial Tour Dates Of 2022

One of our favorite bands around here at MendoWerks, Dead Sara is heading out on tour early in the new year with one of the world's most famous guitarists' side projects. Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators is ramping up for dates in February. What we're trying to say here is, if you're going to the show, make sure you get in in time for Dead Sara. The nearly month-long jaunt will kick off in Portland, Oregon, and wrap in Denver, Colorado a few weeks later. The main issue I have here is that this tour doesn't cover more parts of the country. Ain't It Tragic is the latest studio album from Dead Sara and features the stand-out tracks "Hands Up," "Losing My Mind" and "Heroes". For a behind-the-scenes look at the recording of the album click here. Dead Sara f...
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Green Day To Release One Song Per Week Leading Up To BBC Sessions Album Drop
25Oct By SimonNo Comments
Music, Reviews

Green Day To Release One Song Per Week Leading Up To BBC Sessions Album Drop

Punk rock icons Green Day are digging into the archives and releasing a collection of recordings from the BBC's legendary Maida Vale Studios. The BBC Sessions will showcase recordings from 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2001. The collection marks the first time these recordings will be properly mastered for official release. The first session which took place in 1994, occurred just months after Green Day dropped their seminal Dookie album. The band was raw and raucous and ripped through a four-song set that included "She," "When I Come Around," "Basket Case," and "2000 Light Years." They'd return three more times over the next seven years capturing the band at different stages of their career, capped with the 2001 session during Green Days' Warning era. Set for release on December 10, ...
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RÜFÜS DU SOL Enters New Chapter With Fourth Studio Album ‘Surrender’
21Oct By SimonNo Comments
Music, Reviews

RÜFÜS DU SOL Enters New Chapter With Fourth Studio Album ‘Surrender’

The Grammy-nominated RÜFÜS DU SOL have come into their own on their new studio album Surrender. The live electronic trio has come this far in their career on their own terms and continues their journey down their own distinct sonic lane. The Australian trio of Tyrone Lindqvist, Jon George, and James Hunt formed in the fall of 2010. Just a few months later they released their first EP simply titled Rufus. Influences from artists like Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails to Moderat and Jon Hopkins bleed through. The result is a bolder sound than they've created in the past. Lead singles "Next To Me", "Alive" and "On My Knees" have already racked up more than 50 million streams on digital platforms, one of which you may be using. That leads us to the latest single "I Don't Want To ...
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Jack White Releases Two Dramatically Different Versions of New Single “Taking Me Back”
20Oct By SimonNo Comments
Music, Reviews

Jack White Releases Two Dramatically Different Versions of New Single “Taking Me Back”

Jack White is back with a brand new single and it happens to be featured in the trailer for the new Call of Duty video game. White, no stranger to pushing the envelope, has decided to release two different versions of the song. According to a press release at the Third Man Records site, "Taking Me Back" was recorded in Nashville at Third Man Studios. White can be heard singing and playing each of the instruments on the track (not at the same time, obviously). The release is White's first new material to be released in four years. To date, White has built up quite a resume. He's a 12-time GRAMMY® Award-winner and 36-time nominee. All three of his solo albums – 2012’s BLUNDERBUSS, 2014’s LAZARETTO, and 2018’s BOARDING HOUSE REACH debuted at #1 on the Billboard (Soundscan) chart. ...
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Illenium Teams With Thirty Seconds To Mars On A New Single “Wouldn’t Change A Thing”
15Oct By SimonNo Comments
Music, Reviews

Illenium Teams With Thirty Seconds To Mars On A New Single “Wouldn’t Change A Thing”

Multi-platinum artist, producer and DJ ILLENIUM has just unveiled his latest project, a collaboration with alt-rockers Thirty Seconds To Mars. The song marks the first new material from the Jared Leto-led outfit in three years. "Wouldn't Change a Thing" is set to be included on the upcoming Deluxe Edition of ILLENIUM's fourth studio album FALLEN EMBERS which is due October 22. The release marks the first under the newly signed deal with Warner Records. The Deluxe Edition features five new songs and is available for pre-order & save now. So far the original album release has surpassed more than 400 million streams. ILLENIUM has an impressive five billion+ streams on his catalog to date. Tour is underway and more details can be found here. For updates and to stay in touch...
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INTERVIEW: WØLFDARLING’s Buzzworthy New Single “chemical violence” Out Now
15Oct By SimonNo Comments
Interviews

INTERVIEW: WØLFDARLING’s Buzzworthy New Single “chemical violence” Out Now

WØLFDARLING taps into a wide range of emotions to bring you a unique alt-rock vibe. From tragic and gloomy to showing bravery in the face of hopelessness, frontman Sam Urich says this about the new single "chemical violence", "This song is a conversation between myself and my mind. Everything beautiful, everything frightening." The band consists of Urich along with his brother Jack on bass with Jason Hartless on drums. The single was produced by Chris Ahn and Chuck Alkazian (Pop Evil, Soundgarden, Tantric) at Pearl Sound Studios in Canton, Michigan, and Ahn's studio in Los Angeles. For additional WØLFDARLING updates be sure to follow along on Facebook and Instagram. We recently connected with frontman Sam Urich and he filled us in on some questions we had about the project. ...
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