BROWN COUNTY, Ind. — Southern Indiana-bred singer-guitarist Reverend Peyton is the bigger-than-life frontman of Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band . He has earned a reputation as both a singularly compelling performer and a persuasive evangelist for the rootsy country blues styles that captured his imagination early in life and inspired him and his band to make pilgrimages to Clarksdale, Mississippi to study under such blues masters as T-Model Ford, Robert Belfour and David “Honeyboy” Edwards. That passionate inspiration has made Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band America’s foremost country blues outfit and fuels the Rev’s new release, The Front Porch Sessions . Peyton’s dazzling guitar mastery is equaled here by his knack for vivid, emotionally impactful songwriting, and his originals are matched in their authenticity by the deeply felt vintage blues tunes that he covers. The album showcases the Rev’s irrepressible personality while echoing the enduring spirit of such acoustic blues icons as Charlie Patton, Blind Willie Johnson, Bukka White and Furry Lewis, whose “When My Baby Left Me” receives a memorable reading. The Front Porch Sessions was released March 10, 2017 on Family Owned Records / Thirty Tigers . The Front Porch Sessions maintains a potent level of intensity throughout, from the upbeat optimism of the album-opener “We Deserve a Happy Ending” to the blunt slice-of-life rural reality of “One More Thing” to the rollicking, playful swagger of “Shakey Shirley,” “One Bad Shoe” and “Cornbread and Butterbeans.” Meanwhile, the instrumentals “It’s All Night Long” and “Flying Squirrels” exhibit the Rev’s nimble, imaginative guitar work. That lifelong pursuit of musical authenticity was instilled in his musical consciousness while Peyton was growing up in rural Indiana, where his early love for blues, ragtime, folk, country and other traditional styles gave him a sense of direction that would soon manifest itself in his own music. He and the Big Damn Band won a large and loyal fan base, thanks to their tireless touring efforts and high-energy showmanship, along with such acclaimed albums as Big Damn Nation , The Gospel Album , The Whole Fam Damnily , The Wages , Between the Ditches , So Delicious and the Charlie Patton tribute disc Peyton on Patton . The Rev views The Front Porch Sessions as a personal creative milestone. “I really think it’sone of the best things I’ve ever done,” he asserts. “I’m interested in making hand-made American music, and the goal is to be timeless.”

Caught halfway between the dark swoon of pop-noir, the raw rasp of soul music, and the honest punch of Americana, Suzanne Santo's Ruby Red tells the story of a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who, more than 10 years into an acclaimed career, is turning a new corner. Produced by multi-platinum Grammy nominee Butch Walker (whose Los Angeles recording studio gives the album its name), Ruby Red marks Santo's first release as a solo artist. For the past decade, she's spent most of her time fronting the Americana duo HONEYHONEY, whittling her banjo, violin, and vocal chops into sharp shape along the way. Here, she takes a break from that longtime gig to explore something different, creating a moody, sexually-charged album filled with organic instruments, distorted fiddle, Walker's powerful electric guitar, and Santo's most stunning vocal performances to date. "I think I started writing songs for this record long before I realized that I was writing songs for this record,” said Santo. “I’ve identified with a collaboration for so long that the thought of taking a leap into the depths of my own music and having no idea what that would look like, definitely came as a shock. I was getting lazy and not finishing the tasks at hand like I really wanted, deep down, to be able to do. Writing this record was bewitching in a way.” Before they collaborated on Ruby Red, Santo made multiple appearances on Butch Walker's eighth album, Stay Gold. She joined him on the road, too, singing harmonies and playing violin, guitar, and banjo during a nationwide tour in 2016. During breaks in her touring schedule, she began diving into a different type of songwriting, looking to diverse albums by Erykah Badu, David Bowie, Townes Van Zandt, and the Alabama Shakes for inspiration. For years, she'd always been somebody else's bandmate. This was a time to explore her own identity. To write her own music. To ignore genres and defy expectations. To determine what, exactly, she wanted to say. . .and find out the best way to deliver it. “Once Butch acquiesced to producing the record, I had an ‘oh shit!’ moment where I realized that I needed to really show up,” continued Santo. “I had to have songs that were finished, let alone good enough. I couldn’t stop and I wrote all day every day to finish the songs I’d started years ago as well as the few that presented themselves in the 4th quarter. I took long walks in my neighborhood and listened to demos on my cell phone and worked out lyrics. I would also wake up in the middle of the night with new ideas and would get up and write them down or record them. It felt like the songs were seeping through the cracks of my mind and out of my mouth, without much of my consent. I think art is a channel, connected to something much greater than we are and I feel honored when it picks me from time to time. Ruby Red is an album about love, life, and lust in the modern world. Moody and melody-driven, its 11 songs range from "Handshake" — the record's epic opening track, equal parts Southern-gothic anthem and slow-burning soul ballad — to the driving "Ghost in my Bed," which pairs an explosive chorus with layers of mandolin, fiddle, and piano. Meanwhile, tracks like "Better Than That" focus on little more than Santo's voice: an electrifying, elastic instrument that's capable of both vulnerability and ferocity. Santo and Walker recorded Ruby Red quickly, pulling long hours in Walker's bright, sunlit studio in Southern California. The instrumental tracks were captured live, with help from guests like pedal steel player Dr. Stephen Patt — Santo's primary care physician, as well as a former member of the Edgar Winter Group — and drummer Mark Stepro. Santo kept the guest list small, though, splitting the bulk of the instrumental duties with Walker. "It was incredible to work with Butch. He facilitates a great time and an artistic environment that orbits solely around what’s best for the song, which is so rare in a business full of egos. Butch and this environment liberated and enabled me to work in a way that I never knew I was capable of." Although Ruby Red marks the start of something new, it doesn't signify the end of Santo's long run with HONEYHONEY. Santo will join bandmate Ben Jaffe in the television series The Guest Book, whose episodes feature the two musicians in acting and musical roles. The show premieres on TBS during the latter half of 2017, adding another bullet point to the acting career Santo launched years before HONEYHONEY's formation. Santo's story is still unfolding. This is the newest chapter, bringing with it a track list that doubles down on the songwriter's strengths and stretches her limits. There will be more chapters to explore. More colorful stories to tell. But for now, Suzanne Santo's future is looking Ruby Red. "This record is so fucking sexy, I can't deal,” said Walker. “Proud to have been in the room when these songs were going down. Put it on and turn out the lights."

Mephiskapheles are back in red and black. The band who invented the devilish, whimsical MTV- and radio-friendly genre of Satanic Ska, then defied critics by exploring even greater possibilities for their darkly original ska fusion, have reunited, with a new tour and new album in the works. Formed in the East Village of New York City in early 1991 by a group of artists, ad-agency employees, and jazz musicians, Mephiskapheles played their first show on Long Island, and from day one began attracting a diverse, dedicated fan base. Flash-forward to today; and with Satanic Ska being, without a doubt, the genre of music most relevant to our current times. Mephiskapheles are picking up where they left off, with a reissue program with Jump Up Records, a focused performance schedule, and a new Mephiskapheles album in the works

Rising punk rock band Off With Their Heads have released Home, their sophomore Epitaph Records' release. The band has released the first song "Nightlife" today, which can be streamed via YouTube. Check it out now by going here. Produced by Bill Stevenson of Decendents fame at the Blasting Room in Fort Collins, CO, Home retains all the boisterous spirit of the band's earlier efforts while sonically taking a monumental step forward. The new album embraces authentic punk rock at its core and combines melodic fast paced aggression with mid-tempo pop, while singer Ryan Young's rough and edgy vocals and genuine lyrics create a sincerity that can only come from a hard working band that lives and breathes it every day. "Home is about the struggles of constantly being on the move, trying to maintain relationships while being away, and not feeling like there is really anywhere to go home to anymore," says Young. It's about the reasons why people leave their hometowns and never go back." From the first track, "Star Walking", an explosive opener about things getting worse while waiting for things to get better, to the album's first single "Nightlife" about worry-filled, sleepless nights that keep you awake, Young describes the new album as "being about how hard it is to accept change for some of us." This is evident in the sobering track "Stolen Away" that takes a hard look at fleeting relationships while "Seek Advice Elsewhere" touches upon the importance of reflection. Young continues to say, "It's about getting older, and not being ok with it. It is about how religion can destroy a family. Finally, it is a dedication to anyone who can relate." Off With Their Heads have begun to carve out their own foundation in punk rock history with their very own take on rowdy, self-deprecating, beer-drinking, working class punk rock. When it comes to touring virtually year round, it isn't a choice as much as it's a lifestyle for Off With Their Heads. In March, the band will once again head out on another tour in anticipation of one of the year's most engaging punk rock records. Fans are invited to check out a punk-infused playlist curated by Off With Their Heads' very own Ryan Young by going here: http://bit.ly/UJtfEV

Off With Their Heads announce details on their forthcoming album Be Good, set for release on August 16. “All the other records were about moping around and feeling sorry for yourself,” says frontman Ryan Young. “This one is less about feeling sorry for yourself and more about accepting how goddamn miserable you are.” Young and the band members—bassist Robbie Smartwood, guitarist John Polydoros, and new drummer Kyle Manning—holed up at The Hideaway in Minneapolis with additional recording at Pachyderm Studios, a mid-century mansion where Nirvana recorded In Utero, to make Be Good. Young produced the record himself, and it was the first time he enjoyed the process, or at least tolerated it. “I don’t like how the old records sound, and I hate recording so much,” he says. “You could just hear all the dumb shit on them where I was like, whatever, just let it go, I want to get out of here.” Forced acceptance is a big theme of Be Good, though it’s a hard-learned one, often emerging in the form of primal screams in the band’s trademark style of gruff-punk. “Hands up to the sky and shout at the top of your lungs, ‘til the floor falls out!” Young yells on the title track, sounding somewhere between motivational speaker and hard-nosed therapist. Much of the self-deprecation that defined the band’s previous work has been adjusted. It was the years spent out of the van, developing a life at home in Chicago, that gave Young his newfound, slightly more positive perspective. “Not being on the road 250 days a year, actually trying to develop some sort of life outside of playing shows and drinking, you’d be surprised what that does,” he says. If ever there was a time for Ryan Young’s distinct brand on cautious optimism, it’s now. “The title is an answer to that question of what you’re supposed to do now that the world is so awful and the climate of this stupid country is so shitty,” he says. “Be good, be loud—that’s sometimes all you can do, I guess, as cheesy as that sounds."

In his twenty plus -year career as a San Francisco Bay Area-based musician, Hayes has won acclaim from fans and critics alike. He’s duetted with Aimee Mann, toured with the Birds of Chicago, Charley Crockett, Ani DiFranco and the Cold War Kids, been covered by The Be Good Tanyas and re-mixed by DJ Mark Farina, and had his music featured in a variety of television shows, films, and commercials. Raised in North Carolina and honed as an artist in Northern California, Hayes crafts music that, as the SF Weekly puts it, “succeeds on the tension between warm, resonant soul and dirt-road folk, all laced with a wandering troubadour’s coo.”