The National w/ Courtney Barnett
WHERE: EXPRESS LIVE! Outdoor – COLUMBUS, OHIO
GATES: 6:30pm
COST: $45.00 Advance/$45.00 Day of Show/$99.00 Premium
ON-SALE: March 8, 2019
BIO:
Both individually and collectively The National’s members have been involved in countless artistic, charitable and socio-political pursuits. The group released “A Lot of Sorrow” documenting their collaboration with installation artist Ragnar Kjartansson, that took place at MOMA’s PS1 and saw the band play their song “Sorrow” for six hours in front of a live audience. They are behind the Red Hot benefit albums Dark Was The Night and Day Of The Dead, and the compilation boxed set titled 7-Inches for Planned Parenthood. Band member’s have received a Golden Globe Nomination for work on the score of the 2015 film Revenant, founded or play a major part in MusicNow, Eaux Claires and Haven Festival and Boston Calling, and participated heavily in both Obama Presidential Campaigns, and much more.
2013 also saw the theatrical release of their documentary, Mistaken For Strangers set to the backdrop of the band’s 2010 release High Violet. The documentary was chosen to premiere on the opening night of the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival followed by a theatrical release in the US and worldwide distribution. Over their 16-year career the band has sold more than 1.7 million albums in the U.S. alone.
The National consists of Matt Berninger (vocals) fronting two pairs of brothers: Aaron (guitar, bass, piano) and Bryce Dessner (guitar, piano), and Scott (bass, guitar) and Bryan Devendorf (drums).
Official Website: https://americanmary.com/
Ella Mai w/ Mahalia
WHERE: EXPRESS LIVE! – COLUMBUS, OHIO
DOORS: 6:00pm
COST: $30.00 Advance/$35.00 Day of Show/$75.00 Premium
ON-SALE: March 8, 2019
BIO:
An R&B singer and songwriter with a casually commanding voice, Ella Mai wasn’t exactly an unknown artist before DJ Mustard signed her to his 10 Summers label, but the U.K. native hit the mainstream in 2018 with breakthrough single “Boo’d Up,” a sparkling slow jam that increased in popularity throughout the year. The single led to her Top Five self-titled debut album, which arrived that October and was followed shortly thereafter by a Grammy win for Best R&B Song.
Raised in southwest London, Ella Mai Howell moved to New York at the age of 12, then returned to England after she graduated from high school. In 2014, while attending the British and Irish Modern Music Institute in London, she competed on The X Factor as part of a trio named Arize, but the group didn’t advance beyond the initial audition and subsequently broke up. The following year, Ella Mai uploaded a solo EP of originals to SoundCloud and clips of covers to Instagram. The latter caught the attention of producer DJ Mustard, who in January 2016 announced that Mai had signed to his Interscope-distributed 10 Summers label. Mai made her proper debut the following month with Time, a poised EP of sleek, contemporary R&B. Featuring the Ty Dolla $ign collaboration “She Don’t,” the six-track release introduced an artist who could sing of fierce loyalty and ruthless spite in an incisive manner. Mai quickly followed up with two more Mustard-assisted EPs: Change, a November 2016 release, and Ready, issued four months later. Ready highlight “Boo’d Up,” a love ballad reminiscent of R&B’s pre-new jack swing era, cracked the Billboard Hot 100 in April 2018 and three months later peaked at number five — an unusually long period of ascent. “Trip” arrived as “Boo’d Up” began its slide off the chart and reached number 11 in October, the month Ella Mai released her self-titled debut album. Containing her two biggest hits to that point, Ella Mai debuted at number five on the Billboard 200. “Boo’d Up” was nominated for Grammy awards in the categories of Song of the Year (one of “the Big Four”) and Best R&B Song. At the early 2019 ceremony, she took home the prize for the latter. Don’t miss Ella Mai at EXPRESS LIVE!
Official Website: https://ellamai.com/
Judah & the Lion
WHERE: EXPRESS LIVE! – COLUMBUS, OHIO
DOORS: 7:00pm
COST: $32.00 Advance/$35.00 Day of Show/$75.00 Premium
ON-SALE: March 8, 2019
BIO:
For Judah & the Lion, the last two years should’ve been the best of their lives as the Nashville band toured behind a powerful single and a genre-upending album, sharing stages with heroes and playing to oceans of fans. But as everything was coming together for them, singer-guitarist Judah Akers’ family was falling apart in a hail of alcoholism and affairs, death and divorce. From that tension comes Pep Talks, the trio’s third LP and a hard left turn into deeply personal terrain. Knowing they had something new on their hands, Judah, Brian Macdonald (mandolin), and Nate Zuercher (banjo) took their time crafting a set of songs that not only shores up their one-of-a-kind sound—a heart-pounding whirl of folk, bluegrass, rock, hip-hop and electronic production—but takes the listener on a bracingly candid, surprisingly anthemic journey form the kind of pain that tears your whole world apart to the sort of hard-won hope that can bridge the deepest of rifts.
Judah & the Lion has been a family unto itself since forming at Nashville’s Belmont University in 2011. Judah was from nearby Cookeville, an aspiring baseball player with a secret love for folk guitar. Brian, form Chicagoland, was mostly obsessed with piano. Coloradan Nate was a son of symphony players but preferred metal. Their differences were their strength as they crafted their sound over a bluegrass-heavy debut, Kids These Days, and a mold-breaking follow-up, Folk Hop n’Roll, both produced by Dave Cobb (Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell) and made in two weeks. In 2017, their triumphant “Take It All Back” topped the alternative songs chart for three weeks in a row, paving the way for a Best New Rock/Alternative Artist win at the 2018 iHeartRadio Awards. While many of Pep Talks’ songs were written on the bus immediately after the band’s famously high energy shows—at various festivals and on tours with Twenty One Pilots, Incubus, Jimmy Eat World, and Kaleo—the boys co-produced and recorded this LP over three inspired months with help from boundary-busting friends like Darren King, Jon Bellion, and Kacey Musgraves. Come out and see Judah & the Lion at EXPRESS LIVE! on September 5th!
Official Website: https://judahandthelion.com/
Amanda Lindsey Cook
WHERE: Newport Music Hall – COLUMBUS, OHIO
DOORS: 6:00pm
COST: $23.00 Advance/$38.00 Day of Show
ON-SALE: NOW!
BIO:
Amanda Lindsey Cook is a songwriter and worship leader at Bethel Church and with Bethel Music. Originally from Winnipeg, Canada, Amanda has a dynamic history as a worship leader and songwriter that began at a young age. She has been a part of the Bethel Music family since 2010 and currently ministers throughout the United States and internationally. Amanda’s worship wraps words and pictures around what it is like to live honestly and passionately connected to God, discovering greater fullness and wonder in every season with Him.
Her most recent song “Starlight” is featured on Bethel Music’s latest album Starlight released April 2017. “Pieces” (co-authored with Steffany Gretzinger) is featured on Have it All (2016). Amanda’s first solo project with Bethel Music, Brave New World, released in September 2015 and won a GMA Dove Award for Inspirational Album of the Year. She is featured on five Bethel Music compilation albums to date and has written numerous anthemic worship songs including “You Make Me Brave”, “Closer”, “I Will Exalt”, and “Shepherd”. She co-authored numerous songs with Steffany Gretzinger for Steffany’s solo project, The Undoing (2014).
Amanda received three Covenant Awards from GMA Canada in 2014, including Female Vocalist of the Year, Song of the Year and Praise and Worship Song of the Year for her worship song, “You Make Me Brave”. She continues to minister through the US and internationally.
Amanda Cook is releasing a brand-new, original collection of songs called ‘House On A Hill’ and we couldn’t be more excited about this project! We think you’ll love it, too!
She’s going on tour to debut them in your city, so you should join her! We can’t wait for you to join us and be the first to hear these songs live at Newport Music Hall on March 27th!
Official Website: https://amandalindseycook.com/
Honne
WHERE: Newport Music Hall – COLUMBUS, OHIO
DOORS: 7:00pm
COST: $22.00 Advance/$25.00 Day of Show
ON-SALE: March 8, 2019
BIO:
Taking their name from the Japanese concept of “true feelings” and one’s intimate self, British duo HONNE combine soul with synths to convey their vision of musical intimacy. The pair of producers — James Hatcher and Andy Clutterbuck — met at university and began collaborating mere days after school started. Influenced by Al Green and Bill Withers, their warm electronic sound revealed hints of Quincy Jones’ early work with Michael Jackson, spread over sensual nocturnal sonics. They released their debut EP, Warm on a Cold Night, in September 2014, followed that same year by All in the Value. After starting their own label, Tatemae Recordings, in 2015, they released two more EPs, Coastal Love and Over Lover. HONNE built an online following and toured in Europe, selling out shows in their home country. In January 2016, Gone Are the Days was released, featuring “No Place Like Home” with British soul singer JONES on vocals. A collaborative single with Izzy Bizu, “Someone That Loves You,” followed months later as the pair prepared for a summer festival tour and their debut full-length album, which shared its name, Warm on a Cold Night, with their debut EP. They delivered the single “Just Dance” in 2017, followed by “I Got You” (featuring Nana Rogues) in 2018. Their sophomore set, Love Me/Love Me Not, arrived that summer. Come out and see Honne at Newport Music Hall on April 30th!
Official Website: https://hellohonne.com/
The Devil Makes Three
WHERE: Newport Music Hall – COLUMBUS, OHIO
DOORS: 8:00pm
COST: $25.00 Advance/$25.00 Day of Show
ON-SALE: March 8, 2019
BIO:
The power of words isn’t lost on longstanding Americana triumvirate The Devil Makes Three— Pete Bernhard, Lucia Turino, and Cooper McBean. For as much as they remain rooted in troubadour traditions of wandering folk, Delta blues, whiskey-soaked ragtime, and reckless rock ‘n’ roll, the band nods to the revolutionary unrest of author James Baldwin, the no-holds barred disillusionment of Ernest Hemingway, and Southern Gothic malaise of Flannery O’Connor.
In that respect, their sixth full-length and first of original material since 2013, Chains Are Broken [New West], resembles a dusty leather bound book of short stories from some bygone era.
“I always want our songs to unfold like short stories,” affirms Bernhard. “You could think of them like the chapters of a book. Of course, they’re shorter and maybe more poetic. This was a much more personal album about what it takes to be an artist or writer of any kind—and what you have to do to make your dream possible. It was really the headspace I was in. It might have something to do with getting older. You start reflecting on life and the people around you. I was doing that in these songs. That’s what makes the record more personal. I’m pulling from these things. Some of it is about drug addiction. Some of it is about the things you sacrifice. Some of it is about the detrimental things we do for inspiration. Nevertheless, they all have some sort of narrative.”
The Devil Makes Three’s journey up to this point could be deemed worthy of a novel. Their self- titled 2002 debut yielded the now-classic “Old Number Seven,” “Graveyard,” “The Plank,” and more as they organically attracted a diehard following through constant touring. Longjohns, Boots and a Belt arrived in 2003 followed by 2009’s Do Wrong Write between a pair of live recordings, namely A Little Bit Faster and a Little Bit Worse and Stomp and Smash.
2014’s I’m a Stranger Here marked their first debut on the Billboard Top 200 as the 2016 “hero worship homage” Redemption & Ruin heralded the group’s second #1 bow on the Billboard Top Bluegrass Albums Chart and fourth consecutive top five debut on the respective chart. The latter garnered widespread acclaim from the likes of Entertainment Weekly, American Songwriter, The Boston Globe, and more. Over the years, they casted an unbreakable spell on audiences everywhere from Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Hangout Fest, and Shaky Knees.
As the band began writing ideas for Chains Are Broken, they veered off the proverbial path creatively. Instead of their typical revolving cast of collaborators, The Devil Makes Three stuck to its signature power trio—with one addition. This time, they invited touring drummer Stefan Amidon to power the bulk of the percussion. The presence of a drummer remains most amplified as the band seamlessly translated the spirit of the live show into a studio recording and busted the rules even more. And for the first time, they retreated to Sonic Ranch Studios in El Paso, TX a stone’s throw from the Mexican border to record with producer Ted Hutt [Gaslight Anthem, Dropkick Murphys].
“We broke a lot of rules in making this record,” smiles Bernhard. “We’ve always done whatever we wanted to, but there were still some things we wouldn’t try. Those fears went out the window. Ted was a big part of that. He stayed with us throughout the whole process from pre-production until the final moment of recording. He pushed us outside of our comfort zone. We’ve never had this experience. So, we got really creative under pressure, which ended up being super fun.”
In the end, the words and music on the album leave a long-lasting imprint. “I’d love for people to feel inspired,” Bernard leaves off. “Some of the songs might be sad, down, or depressing, but they inspire me. I feel better through the process. I hope you do too.” Don’t miss The Devil Makes Three at Newport Music Hall on May 16th!
Official Website: http://thedevilmakesthree.com/
Mura Masa
WHERE: Newport Music Hall – COLUMBUS, OHIO
DOORS: 7:00pm
COST: $20.00 Advance/$25.00 Day of Show
ON-SALE: March 8, 2019
BIO:
Known by his stage name of Mura Masa, electronic producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Alex Crossan hails from the Channel Island of Guernsey located between England and France. A lifelong musician, Crossan began experimenting with beats and electronic production at the age of 15, and just two years later, his track “Lotus Eater” was picked up by a number of different BBC Radio 1 DJs, effectively launching his career. His 2014 Soundtrack to a Death mixtape was released by German indie Jakarta Records, and the following year he signed a distribution deal with Polydor to release his debut EP, Someday Somewhere. Arriving on his own imprint, Anchor Point Records, the EP featured vocal contributions from U.K. singers Nao, Denai Moore, and Jay Prince. His “Lovesick F*ck” single climbed to number one on viral charts and he followed up in late 2015 with the single “Love for That,” featuring Manchester singer Shura. A year later, Crossan collaborated with American rapper A$AP Rocky on a reworked version of “Lovesick F*ck,” breathing new life into the single now retitled “Love$ick.” He began 2017 with “1 Night,” a collaborative single with Charli XCX, in advance of his debut album. Mura Masa’s eponymous full-length effort arrived in the summer of that year via Interscope Records. Alongside Rocky and XCX, the release also featured guest appearances from multi-instrumentalist Damon Albarn, French singer/songwriter Christine & the Queens, and American rapper Desiigner. Returning in 2018, Mura Masa offered up the collaborative single “Move Me” with London rapper Octavian. Don’t miss Mura Masa at Newport Music Hall on May 22nd!
Official Website: https://www.muramasa.me/
Smallpools
WHERE: A&R Music Bar – Columbus, Ohio
DOORS: 7:00pm
COST: $15.00 Advance/$17.00 Day of Show
ON-SALE: March 8, 2019
BIO:
Smallpools is an indie pop/alternative band from Los Angeles, CA, United States. Forming in early 2013, the group released their debut single “Dreaming” on RCA Records, May 21, 2013. Thanks to catchy guitar hooks and internet blogs, Smallpools’ “Dreaming” is now spreading like wildfire. “Dreaming” skyrocketed to the top of the HypeMachine chart in just hours. “Dreaming” had hit over 20,000 plays on Soundcloud before the band even hit 500 “likes” on Facebook (Stereofox). Producing dangerously catchy dance oriented indie music, comparable to that of Passion Pit and Youngblood Hawke, Smallpools appeared to be destined for more than just #1 on HypeMachine.
On July 16, 2013, 3 days after the band’s first show, Smallpools released their eponymous debut EP. The record included “Dreaming” and 3 new songs, “Mason Jar”, “Over & Over” and “No Story Time”. Smallpools spent the summer supporting Australian indie popsters, San Cisco, on their first U.S. headline tour. Later that year, Smallpools toured in support of Cincinnati, Ohio indie popsters and label mates Walk the Moon, and also in support of another Cincinnati indie pop group, twenty one pilots. The group’s debut album, Lovetap!, was released on March 20, 2015. Their most recent EP So Social was released last December. Don’t miss Smallpools at A&R Music Bar on May 30th!
Official Website: https://www.smallpoolsmusic.com/
Wilderado w/ Duncan Fellows
WHERE: The Basement – Columbus, Ohio
DOORS: 7:30pm
COST: $12.00 Advance/$15.00 Day of Show
ON-SALE: March 8, 2019
BIO:
An arresting confluence of soaring melodies, lush harmonies, and driving indie rock, ‘Favors’ EP is the band’s most collaborative work yet, bearing the distinctive writing influence and unique sonic sensibilities of all four members (lead singer/guitarist Max Rainer, bassist/vocalist Colton Dearing, guitarist/vocalist Tyler Wimpee, and drummer Justin Kila). Recorded with production mastermind Phil Ek (Father John Misty, Fleet Foxes), ‘Favors’ marks the dawn of a new era for Tulsa rockers Wilderado, as their already-epic sound pushes into more nuanced and mature territory than ever before.
‘Favors’ follows a pair of EPs—‘Misty Shrub’ and ‘Latigo’—and a collection of singles released to widespread critical acclaim, with Consequence of Sound hailing Wilderado’s music as “glorious” and Paste lauding its “South-Central Americana-meets-Laurel Canyon vibe.” Praise across the pond was similarly effusive, with NME highlighting the band’s “impressive harmonies” and Clash falling for their “natural grace.” The tunes racked up more than 20 million streams on Spotify and helped the group earn festival performances including Bonnaroo, Sasquatch, Austin City Limits and Firefly in addition to dates with Band of Horses, Lindsey Buckingham & Christine McVie, Judah & The Lion, and more. Don’t miss Wilderado at The Basement on May 6th!
Official Website: http://wilderado.co/
PromoWest Productions and WCBE Presents
JS Ondara
WHERE: The Basement – Columbus, Ohio
DOORS: 7:00pm
COST: $12.00 Advance/$15.00 Day of Show
ON-SALE: March 8, 2019
BIO:
J.S. Ondara offers a unique take on the American dream on Tales of America, his debut album. Ondara grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, listening to American alt-rock and making up his own songs for as long as he can remember. After discovering the music of Bob Dylan, he moved to Minneapolis in 2013 to pursue a career in music. There he began making his way in the local music scene, continually writing songs about what he saw, felt and experienced in a place far different from home.
From a stockpile he says is hundreds of songs deep, Ondara chose eleven for Tales of America. They’re captivating tunes built around acoustic guitars and adorned with subtle full-band accompaniment for an openhearted folk-rock feel. He sings in a strong, tuneful voice well-suited to the gorgeous melancholy he expresses on the wistfully lovelorn “Torch Song,” or his steadfast infatuation on “Television Girl.” Ondara sings rueful lyrics in an anguished tone on “Saying Goodbye,” and leaves plenty of room for interpretation on “American Dream,” the first single.
Tales of America is indeed a classic American tale. It’s the story, told in song, of an immigrant seeking a new life, who dedicates himself to achieving his vision through hard work and determination. Come out and see JS Ondara at The Basement on May 29th!
Official Website: https://www.jsondara.com/
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Tickets on sale at ticketmaster.com and at the EXPRESS LIVE! box office located at 405 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215. For details visit promowestlive.com.
