O.A.R.
For over 25 years, O.A.R. have embodied the kind of joyfully communal spirit that’s transcendent for both artist and audience alike. Since forming in Maryland in 1996, the multi-platinum-selling band have merged their musical DNA into a free-flowing sound and exhilarating live show, repeatedly selling out legendary venues like Madison Square Garden thanks to their massively devoted community of fans. In a thrilling new chapter for the ever-evolving collective, O.A.R.’s tenth studio album The Arcade marks their most collaborative effort yet: a boldly unpredictable body of work that fully showcases the extraordinary expanse of their singular musicality.
“From the beginning, this band has been about people with different influences and different styles of playing coming together to tell stories through songs based on my lyrics,” says O.A.R. lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Marc Roberge, whose bandmates include Richard On (lead guitar, backing vocals), Chris Culos (drums), Benj Gershman (bass), Jerry DePizzo (saxophone, guitar, backing vocals), MikelParis (keys, backing vocals, percussion), and Jon Lampley (trumpet, backing vocals). “Over the years our family has grown to the point where we’ve got seven musicians adding their flavor to the performances, and it felt like the perfect time to really lean into that collaborative spirit on the records, try new things, and celebrate the music we love.”
For O.A.R., the work of endlessly uplifting their followers is equal parts charmed responsibility and immense privilege—a dynamic that Roberge considers essential to the band’s remarkable longevity. “We’re still always saying to each other, ‘Can you believe we’re still doing this at this level, and it’s still this much fun?’” he reveals. “Apart from communicating, I think the number-one thing you need to keep a band going is really appreciate and find joy in what you do, and that’s absolutely the case with us. We don’t ever take any of it for granted.”
RIPE
Ripe’s new album Bright Blues is a collection of 12 songs full of sleek grooves and bold melodies n the middle of getting hit in the stomach,” says singer Robbie Wulfsohn, who came together with guitarist Jon Becker, drummer Sampson Hellerman and trombonist Calvin Barthel while they were all studying at Berklee College of Music.
The band drew acclaim from the likes of the Boston Globe, Huffington Post and WXPN with their first full-length, Joy in the Wild Unknown. Their streams on Spotify surged past 56 million as they conquered stages at festivals including Bonnaroo, Firefly, SweetWater and Bottlerock, and sold tens of thousands of tickets across the US, including selling out the iconic House of Blues Boston and Brooklyn Steel.
Bright Blues is their first release after signing to indie powerhouse Glassnote Records and their first release working with outside co-writers. Teaming up on production with Noah Conrad (BTS, Niall Horan) and Ryan Linvill (Olivia Rodrigo, Dermot Kennedy) helped bring the high-energy, freewheeling stage show to the recording studio, with the result being an album that shows the full scope of the band’s abilities as writers and performers. The live show has always been at the core of who Ripe is, and now the recorded music can stand alongside it as an all-encompassing representation of who the band is and where they are going.
Bright Blues is available worldwide on March 10th, 2023 via Glassnote Records. that the Boston quartet put together to help ride out tough times, an anthem for better days ahead.
D.J. LOGIC
The theorem of turntablist as musician has been long proven in the capable hands of DJ Logic, whom with jazz as his foundation has become a wax innovator by crossing genres and mixing his sound across the map. As one of the world’s most accomplished turntablists, DJ Logic is widely credited for introducing jazz into the hip–hop realms and is considered by most as a highly-respected session musician and an innovative bandleader.
Since his emergence in the early nineties amidst the Bronx hip-hop scene, the New York City based deejay has been amassing a veritable mountain of collaborations, including a full-fledged band with members of Blues Traveler (The John Popper Project ft. DJ Logic), a trio with Steve Molitz & Freekbass (Headtronics), a jazz project with Georgian prodigy Beka Gochiasvili, and as a member of Grammy-winning Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra’s The Offense of the Drum album. He also has a long list of other collaborations with artists ranging from the likes of Bob Weir, John Mayer, Medeski Martin and Wood, Christian McBride, O.A.R., Carly Simon, Marcus Miller, Jack Johnson, Vernon Reid, Warren Haynes, Charlie Hunter, Jack DeJohnette, Ben Harper, Mos Def, The Roots, Bernie Worrell, Bill Laswell, Melvin Gibbs, Fred Wesley, Sean Kuti and many more.