Sights and Sounds: The Proven Ones, Katie Malco, Datura4

Here is a roundup related to some upcoming releases...

Blues rock supergroup The Proven Ones
to release new album

Featuring Kid Ramos, Brian Templeton, Anthony Geraci,
Willie J. Campbell and Jimi Bott

You Ain't Done Drops via Gulf Coast Records April 17, 2020 

It’s one thing to claim you are “proven,” it’s quite another to have the credentials to back it up. Comprised of five of the most formidable musicians on the blues scene today — guitarist Kid Ramos, vocalist Brian Templeton, keyboardist Anthony Geraci, bassist Willie J. Campbell and drummer Jimi Bott — the band has collectively amassed a slew of accomplishments; dozens of awards won, decades of years playing top-notch music, hundreds of recordings, thousands of hours on the road, and millions of fans worldwide. These five musicians have proven their worth to the world over decades of hard work.

The Proven Ones upcoming album, You Ain’t Done, expands the blues-rock template initially established with their debut effort, Wild Again. The latter garnered a 2019 Blues Music Award Nomination from the Blues Foundation for Best Contemporary Blues Recording and also brought Campbell, Geraci, and Bott individual nominations as well.

The upcoming album finds the band expanding their musical limits and making an even bolder statement. Produced, mixed, and engineered by Bott, and coproduced by the equally legendary Mike Zito, it was recorded at Dockside Studio in Maurice, LA (with additional recording at Roseleaf Recording in Portland, OR and Rear Window in Brookline, MA) and features songwriting contributions from each musician in the band. 

“We wanted to stretch the boundaries for this record” Templeton explains. “For the most part we are all known as blues musicians, and rightly so, but we love many styles and naturally want to indulge in them as well. I think we’ve accomplished that with this record. There’s rock, soul, country, some Latin influence, a bit of pop, and, dare I say a punk vibe in parts as well. I believe it’s going to break down a few walls.”

Members of TPO hail from bands such as The Fabulous Thunderbirds, The Radio Kings, The Mannish Boys, and Sugar Ray and the Bluetones. The Proven Ones can claim credits on literally hundreds of recordings.  They have shared the spotlight with innumerable world class musicians at major music venues across the globe. Together, they make for a potent force all their own. Vivascene declared, “The familiarity between these musicians breeds a feeling of comfortability and a palpable camaraderie… that enhances each and every note they play.” Individually, their respective resumes place them in the upper echelon of contemporary blues players.

Katie Malco announces new album 'Failures' out June 5, 2020 on 6131 Records
NEW SINGLE "ANIMAL" STREAMING NOW

UK-based musician Katie Malco has announced her first proper full length and her first new music in nearly seven years. The album, 'Failures' due out June 5th, 2020 on 6131 Records, finds Malco at her all-time best, taking all she's learned in recent years, both personally and musically, and combining both with an unmatched songwriting prowess. She's both vulnerable and intense, pouring herself into each song with an uncanny relatability.

Malco has recently toured alongside the likes of Julien Baker, Dawes, The Joy Formidable, and S.T. Manville (with whom she recently released a cover of The Counting Crows' "Colorblind"), as well as having supported We Were Promised Jetpacks, Jenny Lewis, and many more.

UPCOMING SHOWS
03/20 Austin, TX @ The Velveeta Room (6131 SXSW Showcase)
07/09 Cheltenham, UK @ 2000trees Festival

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http://6131records.com

Datura4 drops their fourth studio album 'West Coast Highway Cosmic' on April 17, 2020 via Naturalsound Records

THE VINYL DISTRICT IS PREMIERING THE AUSTRALIAN ROCK BAND'S LATEST SINGLE "YOU BE THE FOOL" FROM THEIR NEW LP | CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT!

Hot on the heels of their critically acclaimed third album, Blessed is the Boogie, Australian rockers Datura4 have hit the motorway running for another sonic journey through burning boogie, dirty blues and rock & roll soundscapes on their follow-up opus West Coast Highway Cosmic. The title was inspired by the highways that the band has traveled to get to the recording studios they’ve been using over the four albums they’ve done so far. The two studios are 200 kilometres [124 miles] apart and situated along the southwest coast of Western Australia. The long and sometimes lonely drives back and forth along these routes have definitely played its part in the band’s creative process, and whether it be new ideas or just listening back to what they’ve done in a previous session the ‘West Coast Highway Cosmic,’ as they like to call it, has been a constant spirit over all of Datura4’s studio recordings.

West Coast Highway Cosmic sees Datura4 stretch out and experiment with their sound that they’ve been building on ever since their debut release Demon Blues in 2015. “I see every album as an extension from the previous one,” admits frontman Dom Mariani, “and I’m conscious about not rehashing the same things over. The collection of tunes on WCHC is slightly more eclectic than on the previous albums, which makes it really interesting and exciting for albums in the future. There was a more spontaneous and looser approach for the majority of the recording, where we would take the basic song idea and let things go until we had the take that we liked. We got into the grooves you might say.”

“Bob Patient, who joined the group toward the end of the Blessed is the Boogie recording, was involved from day one on the new album and his keyboards play a bigger part and have added an additional flavour to the D4 sound," Mariani adds. “I wouldn’t say it’s a different direction, but more about exploring additional possibilities as musicians.” 

Datura4 is: 

Dom Mariani: guitar and vocals

Warren Hall: drums

Stu Loasby: bass

Bob Patient: keyboards

Datura4’s new studio album West Coast Highway Cosmic will be released April 17th on vinyl, CD and digital/streaming formats via Alive Naturalsound Records. Click here to pre-order the limited edition ‘70s Psych Splatter Vinyl of Datura4’s West Coast Highway Cosmic.

HERE'S WHAT CRITICS ARE ALREADY SAYING ABOUT WEST COAST HIGHWAY COSMIC:

“Eminently grooveable. - M. L. Rio, THE VINYL DISTRICT

“Datura4’s new single ‘You’re The Only One’, one of the standout tracks on their upcoming album, finds the band channeling the acoustic swamp blues of Tony Joe White alongside the big rock and roll harmonies of acts like the Black Keys.” – Neil Ferguson, GLIDE MAGAZINE

“If you need to just check the hell out of whatever’s going on around you (for just shy of four minutes, anyway), this soft, suspenseful fusion of haunting blues, slide and wild west flavours on Datura4’s single ‘You’re The Only One’ is your guy.” - Polly Glass, CLASSIC ROCK

[4/5 stars!] “West Coast Highway Cosmic is as consistent as white lines flashing past in the middle of the road, and is once again loaded with snarly, stripped-back riffage and keys-heavy, bad-ass blues jams. Datura4 are on a first-rate, four-album roll here – blessed with Dom’s honest, earthy DNA and with a little ‘patience’ thrown in to broaden their sound. Cosmic, indeed….stellar, even.” - Mark “Mad Dog” Shaw, GET READY TO ROCK

“If you enjoy the Boogie, you’re gonna love this band! Think of American bands like Grand Funk Railroad or British bands like Deep Purple and you’ll have a good place to start from. The music is stripped down and Bluesy, with solid rhythms providing the groundwork for great harmonica breaks and fine guitar licks.” - FEAR AND LOATHING