5 Songs You Should Hear Right Now

My weekly call to action for you to turn up the songs I’ve been rocking to this weekend. Turn them up LOUD.

Jet Black Alley Cat- “Are You Ready For This”

As sad as I am to see one of my favorite bands calling it quits, the fact they’re releasing more music before they part ways makes it a bit easier to handle. I remember seeing Jet Black Alley Cat play to an empty room years ago and a few short years later they were selling out shows and touring the country. They’ve always been a favorite at the station and frequent guests on The Local Buzz. I’m not sure how many songs they are releasing before they call it, but if “Ready For This” is any sign of what’s to come, I honestly hope we are in fact ready. Check out the video below. This band has always been a mix of strong musicianship and vocals, cool, fun, and honesty. I’ve said many times you can try and put Jet Black Alley Cat into a musical box, and they’ll fight their way out. Love you boys. Always.

LONELYOUTH- “Funeral”

I used to make the joke that any time someone requested the “heaviest” stuff I had, I would always play Lonelyouth. They’re staples of The Local Buzz and now making national waves which makes my Nashville radio DJ heart grow 3 sizes bigger. They’ve always amazed me with their no apologies approach. They make the kind of music they want and it’s reflective in their songs. Their latest release, “Funeral”, is a testament to that. There’s not a lot of bands in town that sound like Lonelyouth, and judging by the releases they’re putting out in 2020, its gonna be hard to top them in this town.

KennyHoopla featuring Travis Barker- “Estella”

KennyHoopla quickly became one of my favorite new artists of 2020 earlier this year when I first heard the song “Plastic Door”. I was lucky enough to have him on my radio show, sorry about the technical problems that day my dude, and it was great to see how driven and excited about music he was. You don’t meet a lot of people at his level who are still stoked about every single moment in their career and it’s refreshing to see someone who portrays that emotion in his music and onstage, live that emotion as well. His latest release, “Estella”, features Travis Barker from Blink 182 on the drums and its quickly becoming my favorite collab and song of 2020. I love the lyrics in the song “I just die at the thought of being alive at the same time as you” and I hope we all get to feel that passionately about someone or something in our lifetimes. I’m calling it now, 2021 is the year of KennyHoopla and you can hold me to that. I’ll die on this hill.

CAVO- “Lead On”

Cavo released our latest single, “Lead On” Friday and to be honest the crazy positive response has been a bit emotional for all of us. We recorded these songs and music videos last year and weren’t really sure when or if they’d see the light of day. “Lead On” was by far my favorite video we did. I loved the darker look to it with the black and white (Juan is a genius videographer) and I personally loved the message behind the song . I also went a little different with the drums in this one, I kind of wanted a sense of “Controlled Chaos” in the chorus. It’s been a long road with the CAVO boys and we’re having more fun than we have in a long time. My boys forever.

Sugar In The Gas Tank- “Bye”

I recently came across one of my new favorite bands in town, Sugar In The Gas Tank. Their name struck me from the second I saw their Instagram page and then I found myself singing their song, “Bye”, in my head all day long.  It’s the kind of song I feel like you’d hear in a movie at the end when a person realizes he made the right decision. They’re a newer band to the scene in Nashville and if this song is a sign of what’s to come, when shows come back , I feel like these boys will be selling out clubs for sure. Check out “Bye” below.