Author: Kari McElroy

Zoë Boekbinder’s sound is rich and unique and whimsical and meaningful. In their music, you hear the ongoing evolution of someone constantly working to grow and improve the world around them. Intersectional feminist/activist/striver/example-setter I’m pretty excited about their upcoming release, The Prison Music Project. From the very beginning as a visit to New Folsom Prison,…

Sweet, sincere folk/Americana. These two are joy-making. Fun fact: I had never heard of this band until Wednesday of this week. I was racking my brain for a “Y” artist, and my mind floated to a band I happened to see a few years ago at The Melody Inn — I could’ve sworn they were…

Original LA punks! X just released their first album with all original members in THIRTY-FIVE YEARS, and it’s fantastic. What’s more, they moved up the release from August to April so people would have something upbeat to listen to in lockdown, which is a really thoughtful move. Seriously: crank up their music, do a search…

Powerful isn’t a strong enough word for these two. The nuclear incandescence that they bring to music and performance is out of this world. They range from blues to soul to rock to gospel to everything in between and beyond. Playful to passionate, it’s all incredible.

I love projects like this musical alphabet, because I learn things about myself, about the subjects, etc. One theme I’ve discovered in the music I love is joy; not my joy, necessarily, because obviously, if I like them, they bring me some form of joy. No, the joy I’ve discovered is theirs. I love musicians…