ARTIST BIOS
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SAMPLES
Raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, amongst future Ivy Leaguers and Wall Streeters, Raymond Joseph developed a disdain for small talk and shallow conversation. Instead of treading lightly with his peers, he opted for existential debates. When he wrote his first song at 11, it included the question: "God, why do you take innocent people away?"
On his new single, "Oh My God," the same awareness is there. "Rows and columns here, the perfect lines / An idle fear in me," he sings.
"Oh My God" is a bittersweet battle against complacency. It features both a loveliness ("She moves like calligraphy ... She knows who I am") and a uniquely blasé paranoia ("Is that a siren in the streets? / I couldn't tell you anymore"). Musically, the easy introduction fails to stifle an increasingly obvious anxiety within, and the frenetic production builds until you forget where you started. Each tap of the "replay" button surprises you with a return to simplicity.
Of course, the complicated part is always lying in wait, too. Raymond wrestles with panic disorder and depression. His music has been key to making sense of that struggle.
“It’s a funny thing isn’t it? Feeling happy about sad songs,” Raymond says. "It’s because the singer feels sad, too. I’m not alone in that sense. I can have that connection. I think it can be pretty uplifting to listen to a sad song."
At 18, that desire for a deeper connection led him to Belmont University in Nashville, a music-obsessed institution that provided a strong network of like-minded peers. The move helped Raymond launch his career nearly 1,000 miles from home.
Following the father-son collaboration The Attic in 2011 and an immersive music education, Raymond released the album Free (2015) and the standalone single "Silhouettes" (2017) under the name RJ Bracchitta. Years of Nashville gigs and touring helped him build a loyal audience that eagerly awaits his first major release as Raymond Joseph.
"Oh My God" and the rest of the forthcoming EP mark major changes in approach; instead of arranging tracks to complement a live production, Raymond insisted on a "soundscape" that will make fans want to slip on their over-the-ear headphones. Co-producer — and former Belmont classmate — Ian Miller's work calls to mind indie classics such as Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, while Raymond is clearly influenced by recent milestones such as Ray LaMontagne's Ouroboros, Phoebe Bridgers' Stranger In The Alps and Ethan Gruska's Slowmotionary.
He compares the sonic result to some of his favorite Radiohead records.
"The second any of it starts — no matter if you hate it or like it — it puts you in this headspace," Raymond says. "And all of a sudden, you’re not listening to a song. You’re on a journey."
Bobby John Henry — an 81-year-old singer who ran with Merle Haggard and other heavyweights during the Bakersfield Sound era — has become a premier culinary figure in Music City. Dubbed "The Baker of Music Row" by Nashville Scene, his wholesale bakery across the street from BMI world headquarters has served prominent restaurants around the city since 2000.
When Haggard fell ill in 2015, Bobby John decided to dust off his guitar and write a get-well song for his old California friend. "Praying for Merle" turned into "Fishin' With Merle" after Haggard's death, and Bobby John officially premiered the single on WSM 650 AM this April. He is set to release an official single in late 2018.
"Looking back, I realized I never really told him how great he was and what an influence he’d been in my life," Bobby John says of Haggard. "There are thousands of young singers and writers who were influenced by this man’s extraordinary grasp of the human condition."
Born in Enid, Okla., and raised in McCool Junction, Neb., Henry's voice carried him onto late-night Kansas City bills with jazz giants such as Count Basie and Duke Ellington as a teenager.
A successful stint in Las Vegas led to a publishing deal in Los Angeles and a home in Bakersfield, Calif., where he befriended Haggard and wrote songs for Frankie Avalon, Diana Trask and Karen Blackwell, among others. Bobby John's impressive vocal range helped him stand out as a singer in his own right.
"He is one of most dynamic artists to come to Bakersfield in a long, long time," Maggie Boyd wrote about Bobby John several decades ago. "He is physically attractive (down-right gorgeous), single, the keeper of a beautiful personality and is blessed with more than his fair share of sex appeal. Top this with a quality voice that reminds you of a fine mellow rare wine, and you've got one Super entertainer ... BOBBY JOHN HENRY."
This past winter, Nick Fabian found himself back at his childhood home. He’d made the trip from Nashville to Dallas dozens of times since he moved to Music City to begin his career. But this felt different; he was suddenly unsure of his next move.
None of the songs he had been writing and producing felt like “him,” so he did what came naturally: He sat down at his family’s Steinway and poured out his soul.
“I just started writing this taunt to the devil, the world, publishers who rejected me, everybody,” Nick says. “Whatever you do to me, it’s not going to end me. It’s going to make me stronger.”
He began with the chorus: a gigantic, teetering pop-soul earworm that would fit snugly alongside Hot 100 hits by Charlie Puth, Shawn Mendes and Selena Gomez. The message cut deeper than most mainstream acts, aligning somewhere closer to Ben Rector, Needtobreathe and Gavin DeGraw.
“I believe the only thing that truly breaks a man / Is never living up to everything he truly can,” he roared.
Soon, “Let Me Down” was complete. Nick co-produced the final product with Rian Ball, and the song and video are due worldwide Sept. 21.
All of this after a brief flirtation with surrender.
“I actually toyed with the idea of giving up,” Nick says. “That was one of the first times I ever did that. Did I really need to be doing this to myself? I’ve always had the mentality of failure being part of the process, but I think until you reach the possibility that you really can fail, that’s a big wake-up call. Even if you do try your hardest, you can still not make it.”
Nick grew up in a musical household in north Texas. Instead of hiring babysitters, his parents would bring him along to their performances at the Dallas Symphony. Throughout his childhood, he developed a love and deep understanding of classical music, and a passion for the Motown catalog of the 1960s.
Soon after ditching college — an experience he would later sing about at the iconic Bluebird Cafe — he moved to Nashville in 2016 and recorded his debut EP, Stuck In My Head. The release gained major traction on social media, with music videos totaling views in the hundreds of thousands on Facebook alone. Highlights such as the title track — which Toronto’s The Gate called “totally charming” and “unforgettable” — and the slow-burning “Exits” established him as one of strongest piano-pop artists in a city full of guitars.
He was featured on Stealing Oceans’ 2017 single “Brother,” and released a pair of self-produced singles — the heartstring-pulling “Love Is Everlasting,” and steamy “Box of Chocolate” — in early 2018 before retreating into the studios at Starstruck Entertainment to hone his production skills.
It was during this time that he made the fateful trip back home that spawned “Let Me Down.”
“I write things much more intentionally now,” Nick says. “I hope if people take anything away from ‘Let Me Down,’ it’s that suffering and pain in life can always lead to a better version of you, if you let it.”
Most romantic relationships can't survive a 1,000-mile wedge, which means the mere existence of Flip Rushmore might prove music is more powerful than love.
The route between Minneapolis and Nashville is daunting for drivers without an appreciation for so-called flyover country, but it brought together an indie quartet — Alex Smith, Dan Klauer, Nick Spielman and Adam Szczepaniak — that founded a band and recorded a full-length debut, Big, If True (released June 1, 2018).
"There are some bands that really know how to put out quality alternative rock, and Flip Rushmore do it excellently," wrote Dom Smith of Soundsphere Magazine.
He and others took a liking to the opening track, "Phife & Merle," which, "boasts a certain Queens of the Stone Age vibe ... that'll tear through your speakers right up until the last twang of guitar," per Born Music.
Another track of interest: "That Hollow Sound," an electronic-influenced song that initially inspired Smith to reach out to Szczepaniak about starting a new project.
Deceivingly spare and easily accessible, the album highlight introduced Flip Rushmore to a modest Spotify audience.
Big, If True was the culmination of nearly two years in the studio — progress was made whenever Smith trekked back to his hometown Twin Cities — and the band managed to put together a pair of debut shows in Minneapolis with slim rehearsal time. Now, the foundation is in place for something special, as evidenced by a packed 7th Street Entry crowd at the Big, If True release party. Distance is but a number, after all.