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Boogarins’ Fernando “Dino” Almeida and Benke Ferraz began playing music together as teenagers in the central Brazilian city of Goiânia – creating psychedelic pop in their parents’ gardens, filtering their country’s rich musical history through a very modern lens. By the time the group’s home-recorded debut LP, ‘As Plantas Que Curam’ (2013), was released worldwide, the band had recruited a proper rhythm section and were developing a name around Goiânia. Soon after, the group was booking regular gigs in São Paulo and across the country.

Sombrou Dúvida, the band’s fourth full-length release, is a question. A play on words in Boogarins’ native Brazilian Portuguese. It’s a contraction of “Sombra ou Dúvida”, the title track of the album, which translates as ‘Shadow or Doubt’. There might seem to be a darkness to the question, given that both choices aren’t exactly cheery. Yet, Dino, the smiling, Afro-donned singer of the group tells us that “shadow” refers to a feeling related to your comfort zone, whereas doubt is the uncertainty that hits people and leads them to follow their instincts.”

Mdou Moctar immediately stands out as one of the most innovative artists in contemporary Saharan music. His unconventional interpretations of Tuareg guitar have pushed him to the forefront of a crowded scene. Back home, he’s celebrated for his original compositions and verbose poetry, an original creator in a genre defined by cover bands. In the exterior, where Saharan rock has become one of the continents biggest musical exports, he’s earned a name for himself with his guitar moves. Mdou shreds with a relentless and frenetic energy that utterly sets him apart.

Mdou Moctar hails from a small village in central Niger in a remote region steeped in religious tradition. Growing up in an area where secular music was all but prohibited, he taught himself to play on a homemade guitar cobbled together out of wood. It was years before he found a “real” guitar and taught himself to play in secret. His immediately became a star amongst the village youth.

Undivided Heart & Soul (2017)

“I was having nightmares every night, thinking, ‘Wow, they’re going to hate this,” says JD
McPherson.

When he talks about his new album, Undivided Heart & Soul, there’s no glimmer of self-adulation, or even the confidence one might expect of a veteran artist. Instead, there’s a snapshot of McPherson’s creative process bringing the record to life, a journey filled with fear and change, then boldness, and, eventually, catharsis.

The best rock music has a story to tell. This record chronicles a series of upheavals, frustrations, roadblocks, and kismet—a cross-country move, failed creative relationships, a once-in-a-lifetime career opportunity, and learning to love making music again by letting go.

McPherson calls moving his family from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, to East Nashville a decision based “on opportunity” and one he was reluctant to make but notes the profound influence the city has had on his new crop of songs.

“Up to this point, I thought I knew what I was doing with songwriting, that I don’t do this or that,” McPherson says. “Writing with people who co-write for a living…maybe I saw myself as John Henry, and them as the steel-driving machine.”

Along with collaborations with fellow Oklahoman Parker Millsap, Butch Walker, and Aaron Lee Tasjan, McPherson’s selections for Undivided Heart & Soul include many deeply personal themes: “Let’s Get Out of Here While We’re Young” shares writing credits with longtime bandmate Ray Jacildo and McPherson’s wife Mandy. He also delved into character profiles, both fictional and based on real-life experiences, stories McPherson has held onto but never thought of as fodder for songwriting, such as the Las Vegas bus station interlude detailed in “Style (Is a Losing Game).”

“That seems like a pretty normal thing for a singer-songwriter to do, to write about personal experience, but I really have never done that,” McPherson says. “It felt great but it also was tough at the same time. The thing is, John Henry is trying to beat the machine because he’s in awe of it. It was a lot of me saying, ‘You’re really good at this, and I have a hard time doing it.’”

Sons of Mali, musical refugees, groundbreaking artists, virtuoso performers, survivors. Unforgettable & undeniable. ‪Songhoy Blues‬ are the future of African rock n’ roll.

Steeped in the deep traditions of classic Malian music & desert blues fused with a youthful & super-charged sound of today, these 4 young men from Timbuktu continue marching, playing & dancing their way into the hearts & minds of music fans everywhere with their electric, eclectic & kinetic songs.

The band’s sophomore album, 2017’s critically-acclaimed RESISTANCE, solidified them as a group to watch, and they’ve followed it up with consistent live touring on 5 continents, helping to make them a force to reckon with.

2019 sees the release of their new album and expectations are high, for good reason –
‪Songhoy Blues make music that is unique, exciting, contagious & paradigm-shifting. The band already counts such luminaries as ‪Nile Rodgers‬, ‪Gary Clark Jr‬., ‪Run the Jewels‬, ‪Iggy Pop‬, Nick Zinner, Matt Sweeney & ‪Will Oldham‬ as fans, and are poised to put their musical footprint down for years to come. ‬

Songhoy Blues will be supporting their new album with live dates across N. America this fall, setting the stage with month-long residencies in New York City (April) and Los Angeles (May)

Most recently, the band completed a sold out run of UK dates, recorded a live session for BBC 6 Music; filmed an episode of the new UK TV show ‘Noughts & Crosses’ in South Africa (where they’re featured performing in one of the main scenes); are featured in a new photography exhibit called ‘My Rockstars’ by Hassan Hajjaj at La Maison Europeenne de la Photographie in Paris; and will be collaborating with UK artist Andy Morgan on a multimedia exhibition called ‘Music & Conflict’ at the Imperial War Museum, which debuts June 2019.

The band are also proud spokespersons for the charity WaterAID, and have helped to raise money & awareness toward providing relief in their native Mali. They will be appearing in an upcoming documentary on climate change in the Sahara; and were featured in the award-winning documentary “They Will Have to Kill Us First”, about the plight of musicians in war-torn Mali (https://www.theywillhavetokillusfirst.com)