FABIO BANEGAS 

One of Fabio Banegas’ earliest musical memories finds him at age four accompanying his mother to the home of a friend who had two daughters.  As one of them sat down and played the piano, the sound had an almost surreal emotional effect that moved him to tears.  That moment sparked his passion for the instrument and centered the Czech-Argentine born musician’s sensibilities on sharing the profound joys of classical music throughout his life and prolific career as a performing and a world-premiere recording artist.  His commitment to his art is rooted in a singular, deeply generous and altruistic mission: “I have never cared to serve myself with the music; but rather, I have dedicated myself to serving the music with my talent.”

While Banegas’ years of classical training naturally included mastering pieces by the likes of Bach, Chopin, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, he developed an even greater affinity for the works of lesser-known greats like French Post Romantic composer César Franck (1822-1890) and the music of unjustly neglected composers from his native Argentina. 

Rather than take the more traditional commercial road of playing works by mainstream European icons, the pianist has devoted his career to artfully preserving and celebrating the music of Nicolás Alfredo Alessio (1919-1985), Eduardo Grau (1919-2006), Jacobo Ficher (1896-1978) and, most notably, José Antonio Bottiroli (1920-1990), who like Banegas was a native of Rosario, Argentina and mentored the young pianist for many years later in his life.
      

Banegas’ recent recordings include César Franck, a CD released in 2022 by Guild Music of the UK in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth with the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine under the direction of Francisco Varela.  Here he excelled as a soloist in one of the few recordings in recent history where a pianist interpreted Franck’s two main works for piano and orchestra: Symphonic Poem “Les Djinns” and Symphonic Variations. The collection was considered the best symphonic album by Audio Magazine, Germany. 
 

In 2023, the pianist marked the world premiere release by Naxos Records of works by Spanish-Argentine composer Eduardo Grau featuring Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra, also conducted by Varela. On this record, entitled Concertos for Soloists and String Orchestra, Banegas collaborated with leading soloists of international fame from Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Spain, including Spanish violinist Ana María Valderrama and violist David Fons and Czech flutist Jana Jarkovská.  Concertos for Soloists and String Orchestra earned Banegas, Valderrama and Varela the nomination for Best Contemporary Work at the first ever edition of the Academy of Music of Spain.
 

Banegas’ ongoing love and respect for the rich, colorful and voluminous compositions of José Antonio Bottiroli has inspired the release of three epic world premiere recordings over the past few years on Grand Piano, the specialist piano label distributed by Hong Kong based Naxos Records.  Each thoughtfully and sensitively curated collection celebrates a different aspect and aesthetic in the composer’s vast repertoire.  Launched in 2020 with Bottiroli: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 1 – Waltzes, the series includes Bottiroli: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 2 - Nocturnes (2021) and Bottiroli: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 3 – Elegies. The Nocturnes recording includes a suite titled “Five Piano Replies” that connects the composer’s music with his beautiful poetry, which is read by renowned stage and screen actor and human rights activist George Takei.
 

Banegas’ final world premiere Bottiroli recording will include the composer’s remaining pieces. including the 19 solo piano tracks and one featuring Banegas as soloist with the Brno Philharmonic from the Czech Republic under the direction of Argentine conductor Francisco Varela. 
 

The album contains other works related to the piano. Five of the tracks will involve compositions for two pianos which were recorded by the internationally award-winning piano duo Antón and Maïte (Maite León and Antón Dolgov) from Spain, who currently reside in Gratz, Austria and are regarded as one of the most prominent piano duos of their generation. There will also be a piano and flute piece interpreted by the celebrated Czech Duo Du Rêve formed by flutist Jana Jarkovská and pianist Bohumír Stehlík.  As the program comprises works inspired by Bottiroli’s memories and impressions, the recording will be entitled Mementos, thus bringing to a conclusion the previous volumes: Waltzes, Nocturnes and Elegies. 
 

The Los Angeles based Banegas’ journey to recording his mentor’s great body of work began in 2011, when he began archiving Bottiroli’s works with the help of Argentine musicologist Diego Orellana who lives in Belgium.
 

When Banegas returned in 2011 from a concert tour in Europe where he performed a program dedicated to renowned and semi-unknown Czech composers –as part of his desire to pay homage to his Czech heritage— he felt that his next project should be to catalogue, publish and record Bottiroli’s complete piano works.  “It became a duty,” Banegas says. “Having had direct contact with the composer for so many years put me in the rare position and gave me the confidence that I could convey the most approximate reference to his compositions as he intended.”
 

“I returned home to the U.S. and thought deeply about what my next project could be,” he adds. “I had started to play Bottiroli again from manuscripts of his that I had kept.  Bottiroli and his works had been with me since I was a teenager, with the possible exception of my mother, he had, in many ways, accompanied me more than any other person throughout my life.”
 

Banegas set forth in motion a plan to “rescue” and stabilize the manuscripts that had been untouched since Bottiroli’s death in 1990.  He digitized and then transcribed them into printable versions that could be used for publication, bringing the music from rough manuscript form to presentable printable editions.
 

Once he had created the first edition in two volumes of Bottiroli’s piano works and secured their publishing by Publisher Golden River Music in Europe, the pianist recorded the waltzes.  Orellana chose and sent three of Banegas’ interpretation of Bottiroli’s waltzes to the German division of Naxos Records. The Grand Piano label agreed to release the volume of waltzes and asked Banegas to record Bottiroli’s complete catalogue.  
 

The recording of these four magnificent volumes is the culmination of the student-teacher relationship Banegas had with Bottiroli in the six years before the composer’s passing.  Bottiroli was the Dean of the Normal School of Teachers No. 3 in Rosario where Banegas’ father was a student. When Banegas’ father celebrated the 25th anniversary of his graduation from the Normal No. 3, the composer, who had long retired, was invited to give a lecture.  After Banegas met Bottiroli at the event’s reception, the composer invited him to play for him and promptly accepted the young pianist as a student.
 

“One day I went to my piano lesson and he was playing a beautiful piece I had never heard before,” Banegas says. “He said it was one of his works and if I liked it, he would make a copy for me, which was when I first encountered his music. Over the years, Bottiroli taught me traditional classics like Clementi and Beethoven’s sonatas, waltzes by Chopin and pieces by Spanish composer Manuel de Falla. But I had also developed a special affinity for Bottiroli’s music which has lasted until today.”
 

As a soloist, Banegas has performed with the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine, the Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra of Budapest, the San Martin Symphony Orchestra of Argentina, the Claremont Symphony and the Fullerton Symphony in the United States.  He earned two academic degrees in music at the National University of Rosario (UNR), Argentina and a Masters of Music at California State University Fullerton (CSUF).  In his academic career, Banegas served as an assistant to Professor Ana Maria Cue at the School of Music of the National University of Rosario (UNR).
  

Adding to the 2023 Outstanding Achievement “Instrumentalist” Award of the Global Music Award and the nomination to the “Best Contemporary Work” in the first ever edition of the Academy of Music of Spain, Banegas already has an impressive list of accolades, such as: the Friends of the Arts of Rosario Award and the Mozarteum Santa Fe Music Award from Argentina, and the Redfield Award of the Orange County Philharmonic Society and the Phi Beta Delta Internationalist Award in the U.S.

As a music editor, Banegas has published first editions for Golden River Music and Euprint.  

He also studied journalism at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and has appeared as a pianist in several Hollywood film productions. 


 

BOBBY RUSH & KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD

Young Fashioned Ways

 

Growing up in Shreveport, Louisiana, Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s life was galvanized and his musical sensibilities awakened by “Hard Again,” an iconic 1977 album by Muddy Waters in collaboration with guitarist/producer Johnny Winter.
 

Now a five-time Grammy nominated blues legend himself, Shepherd, the multi-talented singer, songwriter and guitarist reflects, “When I heard those guys together, it sounded like a bunch of friends just playing their instruments, unaware they were creating one of the greatest blues albums of all time. Every time I listened, I imagined, what if I were Johnny and that were me playing with Muddy Waters? Writing and recording ‘Young Fashioned Ways’ with Bobby Rush is my own personal ‘Hard Again’ moment. You don’t find albums this 100 percent, real deal authentic every day.”
 

Mark Twain once famously said “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” This witticism proved true when Shepherd and Rush – born about 44 years apart - joined forces at Royal Studios in Memphis for the heart and soul-transforming sessions that led to “Young Fashioned Ways”’ 10 stunning tracks featuring Shepherd’s electrifying trademark guitarisma and Rush’s soulful vocals, rhythm guitar and down-home harmonica playing. The animating spirit driving this raw, gritty, truly mesmerizing album by the two Louisiana bluesmen is captured in the first line the 91-year-old Rush sings on the title track retitled “Young Ways”: “Well I may be getting old, but I’ve got young fashioned ways.”
 

The lead single from “Young Fashioned Ways,” the fast and funky, high-octane someone done me wrong romp “Who Was That,” will appear in “Flight Risk,” a film starring Mark Wahlberg and directed by Mel Gibson that releases in January 2025. Subsequent single releases will include the fiery and gritty electric guitar and harmonica driven “Hey Baby (What Are We Gonna Do)”. 
 

While Shepherd got as close as he could ever imagine to his Muddy Waters-Johnny Winter fantasy jam, Rush surely felt like he was back in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where as a teenager he had to don a fake mustache to play in local juke joints with his first band, Bobby Rush and the Four Jivers. Having signed his first record deal with Giant Records at 16 and releasing his Platinum-selling debut album “Ledbetter Heights” at 18, Shepherd has addressed issues of age many times before.
 

“With me and Bobby collaborating on a project, our age difference is of course going to be part of the initial conversation and makes for good headlines and clickbait,” Shepherd says. “But at the end of the day, he’s an incredibly talented musician and amazing human being who loves the same kind of music I do. We start playing together and all of a sudden, age has nothing to do with us. We were speaking the same language and there was a level of acceptance about truly joining together on the same page with the blues, coming from the same place, spiritually, musically and of course, geographically.”   
 

To that last point, Shepherd was born in Bossier City and raised in Shreveport and Rush hails from an hour up the road (via I-20 and US-79 N) in Carquit alongside Homer and Haynesville. They also have lots in common when it comes to their impact on a genre that’s always been in their DNA. They’ve each won Blues Music Awards - Rush a whopping 16 out of 56 career nominations. At 83, Rush received his first “Best Traditional Blues Album” Grammy award for “Porcupine Meat,” and he’s been on fire ever since, winning the same category in 2021 (“Rawer than Raw”) and 2024 (“All My Love For You”). He’s also been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.
 

In addition to his multiple Grammy nods, Shepherd has received two Billboard Music Awards, two Orville H. Gibson Awards which honors the world’s greatest guitarists,  a Blues Music Award and a Keeping The Blues Alive Award,. He’s also scored eight Top Ten singles on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart  shares the record with B.B. King and Eric Clapton for the longest running albums  on the Billboard Blues charts with his second album “Trouble Is…” In addition to his15 solo albums (recently including two volumes of “Dirt on My Diamonds”), Shepherd also recorded two albums as one third of The Rides in the mid-2010s with Stephen Stills and Barry Goldberg from Electric Flag. Meanwhile, Rush has released over 30 solo albums since the late 70s.
 

Considering the passionate tight-knit community of blues musicians, it’s not uncommon for artists of different generations to be booked on and interact at the same gigs and festivals. Shepherd remembers seeing Rush perform on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise a few years before he reached out to book him at his annual Backroads Blues Festival on a couple dates in the Pacific Northwest. After his set, Rush returned to the stage to join Shepherd’s band on a few songs. “We were talking backstage and getting along so well,” Shepherd says.

“Sometimes you just have a feeling about people, and you make important decisions in your life based on those. At one point, we looked at each other and I told him I think we should do a record together. Bobby said, ‘Man, I was thinking the same thing.’ It was just a matter of clearing a space in our busy schedules to make it happen.”

Besides time and logistics, one of the key decisions in the making of “Young Fashioned Ways” was tracking the sessions at the iconic Royal Studios in Memphis with prolific co-owner and engineer Boo Mitchell. Interestingly, Shepherd’s choice was less about the facility’s storied and roll call of classic artists (Al Green, Chuck Berry, Ike & Tina Turner, Buddy Guy, Bruno Mars & Mark Ronson) than the fact that both he and Rush had recorded there earlier in their careers and were familiar with the environment. “The more comfortable artists are,” Shepherd says, “the more freely the music will flow. Royal also made sense as a halfway point between where I live in Nashville and Bobby lives in Jackson, Mississippi.” 
 

Considering the stellar results, one of the most fascinating aspects of the “Young Fashioned Ways” experience was the fact that neither Rush nor Shepherd knew what songs would be on the album when they first walked into Royal Studios in December 2023. They wanted everything to emerge as a spontaneous surprise. Shepherd says, “We believed that between each of our unique talents, we could walk in there not knowing what was going to happen but totally confident it would be great.” Rush came in with a huge satchel of lyrics – so many that the guitarist jokes that if they had recorded everything he wrote, they would have 10 albums!
 

As a leaping off point, “Young Fashioned Ways” includes colorful re-inventions of four classic Rush songs – the hypnotic historical family drama “40 Acres (How Long),” the plucky, humorous acoustic gem “G String,” the vibey and atmospheric, celebratory declaration “Make Love to You” and the New Orleans Second-line stomping character narrative “Uncle Esau.” The original collaborations either found Shepherd specifically writing licks and melodies to Rush’s compelling, witty and insightful lyrics, or the guitarist coming up with a riff or melody and Rush reaching into his satchel and pulling out lyrics that fit perfectly. They recorded all the pieces acoustically to start. If they felt certain songs would sound better with a full band, they had the best veteran blues and R&B cats on tap to flesh them out live in the studio – Steve Potts (drums), Charles Hodges (keyboards and B-3), Darryl “DJ” Pruitt” (bass), Doug Wolverton (trumpet) and Charlie Di Puma (saxophone).
 

“I think we both had something to prove to each other with ‘Young Fashioned Ways,’” Rush says. “I’m glad I could help bring Kenny back to that Muddy Waters moment in his childhood. There was a moment where I was walking in the hallways at Royal and broke down in tears because as an older man who has spent many years trying to keep up with trends, I so appreciated him letting me in this door to do what I knew I could do. Just as music keeps me young, so does learning something new every day. It’s like he said, this kind of album is a rare thing, and when it comes to the blues these days, you can’t get much better than we have done it. Nobody who is my age is still doing it like this, and no one Kenny’s age can do old-style blues better. We’re both looking forward to doing a lot of shows together to support this.”



 

AJII

Biography

 

When Lionel Richie looked up prayerfully and said “Hallelujah,” he captured everything the millions of folks watching Ajii’s American Idol Season 22 audition were feeling the minute the soulful Brooklyn born singer sang the first line of Teddy Swims’ megahit “Lose Control.” On his way to a memorable Top 20 finish, he likewise wowed the crowds with an array of songs that speak to his ever-evolving and genre-transcendent artistry – Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man” (Hollywood Week), Alex Clare’s R&B/dubstep hit “Too Close” (Showstopper Round), Tems’ Afrobeat track “Higher” (Top 24 in Hawaii), Audioslave’s “Like A Stone” and The Weeknd’s “Call Out My Name.”
 

In one of Ajii’s most memorable moments during Hollywood Week, Richie asked him why he should be the next American Idol. The singer responded, “I don’t know if I speak for everyone in this room, but I don’t want to die with the music in me.” Like the music itself, it’s what came to his heart and soul in that moment. Another endearing part of his story was his shout out to his friend Claire at the nursing home where he worked the night shift as security guard, front desk clerk and intaker. She heard him singing in the halls numerous times and encouraged him to audition. 
 

Testament to Ajii’s great emotional impact on the competition show, he’s one of the rare contestants eliminated before the Top Ten to sign a deal with BMG Nashville/19 Recordings, the label with exclusive rights to sign Idol contestants. His first single “Rich Man” dropped in October, and his follow-up “Gahdayum” releases on December 13. The songs are co-writes by Ajii and several other songwriters, including the team that produced them, L.A. based electronic music producer Marky Style and Jintae Ko, a Grammy winning songwriter/producer who has worked with mega hitmakers OneRepublic, Jason Derulo, Sabrina Carpenter and many others. 
 

These dynamic collabs came about because of Ajii’s tenacity and continued commitment to his dream, even in the face of his elimination from the show. “I could have gone back home to New York to regroup, but instead I and my friend and manager Tanvir Haider, who accompanied and supported me on this journey, decided to stay in L.A. and seek out all the beautiful people who had reached out to me. I strongly felt there would be opportunities to create something amazing, and we didn’t mind the day-to-day financial struggles to achieve that.

“‘Rich Man’ was literally inspired by a call to my mom,” he adds. “She was concerned about the money, but I told her I could literally feel something so good happening here. I mentioned all the amazing artists I had met in these songwriting rooms and made it clear that I couldn’t come home till I had something. To me, the song isn’t literally about someone trying to be rich, but about the journey of trying to get there, and all the sacrifices required to achieve my dream. ‘Gahdayum’ is the perfect follow-up song, about how I went from streetlights to spotlights in just a few months.”
 

In addition to writing and recording, Ajii has enjoyed some interesting opportunities to perform and give back, starting with casting producer Audrey Pine Wright’s inviting him to the CMA Fest in Nashville to sing onstage with other Idol contestants as part of “The 19 Takeover.” He has also gigged with 2022 Top 10 contestant Julia Gagnon on her Here in Maine Tour and conducted a workshop for kids on a reservation in South Dakota – part of his commitment to inspiring less fortunate children any chance he gets.

In addition to paying loving homage to his parents, hard-working Pakistani immigrants who worked hard to provide for him and his four siblings, Ajii endeared himself to Idol fans by saying that while there was no money for formal music education, his hometown of Flatbush, Brooklyn was his music teacher. When you walk the streets there, he says, “you’re surrounded by so many different cultures and ethnicities. Everybody embraces their culture and music loud and proud. Over three blocks, you get exposed to reggae from all the migrants from the Caribbean, and then reggaeton, to start with.”
 

Ajii was also influenced by the Pakistani music of his heritage, including his uncle, a onetime professional singer of Kawali Ghazal Music, as well as the artists his older brothers listened to – including Jay-Z, Britney Spears, Linkin Park, Gnarls Barkley and Eminem, among others. These many inspirations came into play in the years leading up to his Idol audition, from writing and recording rap demos in his late teens to leading the nu metal band TMRW NVR PROMISED for two years, playing NYC venues like Lucky 13 and Bowery Electric, touring regionally and playing several festivals.
 

“I’m grateful that God blessed me with a good heart,” Ajii says, “because it has allowed me to connect with other people with good hearts and is what has gotten me this far in my life. I’m also thankful for a whole heap of people with pure intentions and goodness who have inspired me to put that kind of positive energy out there. I hope with my music I can be just a little piece of that, helping to make a meaningful change in the world.”


 

WILL MOSELEY

Biography

 

A proud small town Southern Country boy who spends a lot of time outdoors, Will Moseley doesn’t stay on his cell phone a whole lot – and when the handful of Instagram and TikTok videos he had posted caught the attention of American Idol scouts looking for talent on social media, the Hazlehurst GA singer/songwriter’s first response was, “These folks don’t have anything for me, I’m not the right fit.”
 

Agreeing regardless to listen to the encouragement of his ever-supportive buddies who kept telling him to give it a shot, he committed to the audition process, starting with five rounds of Zoom calls, then singing for (and blowing away) the judges in person. A few months after Lionel Richie (who said his “voice is amazing”), Katy Perry and Luke Bryan exclaimed, “Welcome to Hollywood” and gave him the coveted Golden Ticket at his live audition in Bryan’s hometown of Leesburg, GA, Will was the last man standing. To his great surprise, his growing legion of fans across the country voted him through round after round, week after week, until his triumphant finish as Season 22 runner up to Abi Carter. 

The audience of 5.64 million who watched heard Will fire up Bon Jovi’s “Its My Life,” Montgomery Gentry’s “My Town” and his official Idol single “Good Look Bad” on the finale is a world away from the small crowds he’d played to over the previous year and a half. Like any musician at the start of his career, he was slowly building a local grass roots following, hoping to carry over fans from one gig to the next as he played college bars, dive bars and restaurants closer to home – anything to pay the bills and help pay his way through Georgia Southern University, where he earned a degree in biology.
 

During the three days he stood in line in Leesburg to get his audience with the Idol judges he remembers thinking that success on the show wasn’t a make-or- break situation. Unlike some contestants who see the show as their only shot in music, succeed or fail, Will was going to keep making music either way. A quick scroll through his Spotify page reflects this serious intent, as he dropped four self-penned singles in 2023 – “Coming Down,” “Fishing For A Living,” “Somewhere in the Middle” and “Gone for Good,” which has over 2.2M streams. Will dropped another original “Why” in the middle of the Idol season.
 

In the months since Idol, Will has released two singles – “I Don’t Wanna Fight No More” and a raw, heartfelt, “Mosleyized” acoustic reworking of Mariah Carey’s holiday perennial “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” which gives fans a taste of his versatility and artistic vision, blending nostalgia with a down to earth Southern vibe and charm. The singer will be releasing numerous singles over the coming months, starting with two infectious mid-tempo originals marked by a mix of dark emotion and his biting sense of humor – “Everythiug But Me” (dropping December 6) and “Shithole Called LA.”
 

One of the biggest changes in Will’s life as a performer post-Idol is playing ticketed gigs at venues with up to 2500 seats. In addition to a show with fellow small-town Georgian and country rapper Kid-G, he co-headlined a Southern-Midwestern tour in the fall of 2024 with fellow American Idol Season 21 contestant Colin Stough. Having also toured earlier this year with the three-time Grammy winning superstar Zac Brown Band, the singer will be joining them for a special New Year’s Eve show at State Farm Arena in Atlanta – his first ever arena show. He has also played shows with country stars Dillon Carmichael, Whey Jennings (grandson of the legendary Waylon, a major influence on Will), Megan Moroney and others.   
 

Beyond his inspiring Idol success story, perhaps the most amazing aspect of Will’s burgeoning career is the fact that while his mom gave him his first guitar for Christmas when he was 16, he didn’t start playing it till 19 – and didn’t start getting serious about playing and songwriting until the pandemic lockdown during his time at Georgia Southern, which he transferred to from Maryville College where he played Division III football. Following three serious concussions, he shifted his focus (when he wasn’t studying) to music and never looked back.
 

Though no one on either side of Will’s family plays an instrument, thanks to his parents, he grew up listening to country legends like Jennings, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Trisha Yearwood, Shania Twain and his dad’s favorite artist, Kid Rock. He also spent a lot of time with his grandma, who was a huge Charley Pride fan. Among Will’s earliest memories were going every year with his and other families to hunting camp, where they would listen to the Classic Country Jukebox show on 95.9 WQZY-FM out of Dublin. He especially remembers everyone singing along every year to Johnny Paycheck’s “Old Violin.”
 

“I feel blessed that many folks who saw me on Idol compare me to Chris Stapleton, and that is a huge compliment,” says Will. “Like him and so many of the country artists I admire, I am all about authenticity, going out there, sharing the light, my stories and my testimony. For me, being an artist is all about being who I am all the time and not changing for anything or anyone. Those who do that may think it’s cool to be a different person every day, but if you’re sincere and authentic, you wake up and get to be yourself every day, and there’s something special in that. I love to have a great time up there partying with my fans, but at the end of the day, none of this is possible without God’s ble
ssing of simply being able to do it.”  



 

MELBA MOORE

“Imagine”

 

No disrespect to John Lennon’s timeless, Grammy Hall of Fame classic, but legendary singer Melba Moore – still vibrant and impactful after half a century-plus as a musical and cultural icon – is lifting the spirits of this modern generation with her own “Imagine,” a fresh and beautiful new song that has the potential to become the premiere anthem of hope for our time.
 

Written by Rahni Song (music) and Chantel Hampton (lyrics), the title track to Melba’s latest (and 28th overall) album offers an optimistic vision of global love and unity during a particularly fraught sociopolitical era. Gliding over a gracefully compelling melody, her deeply soulful, ever-emotive voice brings Hampton’s richly poetic words to life from the opening lines: “Can you imagine…a place of peace/Imagine if love filled every street/No more hate/We’d all be free/Imagine How pure this world could be.”
 

The second verse builds powerfully on these concepts, as Melba sings, “Imagine a love displayed/Causing loyalties to be erased/And within our hearts and in our minds/Love was a true virtue of our times.” The solution may seem elusive in an increasingly divisive, complicated world, but is simple at its core: “If we follow the script of love, we would have the cure.” Adding extra sparkle to the overall magical production is a seductive, jazzy guitar solo by Eric Leone, courtesy of Y3K Entertainment.
 

Melba felt an immediate connection to the tune – and Leone’s solo - when her daughter Charli Huggins, head of indie label The Gallery Entertainment, first brought it to her as an instrumental. Huggins tapped Hampton to pen the lyrics, and the singer felt the result was the perfect match of melody and poetry, and most importantly, a message that the world needed to hear.
 

In an article that appeared in The Urban Influencer before the release of the album, Melba said, “The song is about really having paradise on earth. What if everybody can live in peace? What if there was no more war? It’s written so beautifully that collectively we thought regardless of what the rest of the album is, this should be what our theme is, and what we want people to focus on.”    
 

The singer adds, “‘Imagine’ has a certain feel to it that captures your and invites you into a unique experience. As an artist with a long history, I am always looking at, How do I keep myself interesting? And how do I keep my identity with material that is authentic and not just chosen to stay current? I love what the song says about our collective ability to create a place of peace and hope. If we begin where we are, imagining a better world, we can bring that to reality.”
 

Moore is also pleased with the sound of her voice on the recording. “I hear my voice renewal on the song,” she says. “When people get older, they lose certain qualities. I feel like I don’t exactly have a new voice but one that is healed and renewed, with a certain sweetness. The voices of female singers get fuller, thicker and lower over time. As a classical lyric soprano, I have a higher range that I believe has matured in a positive way. I can hear it in the way I phrase the lyrics. It’s so important to tell the story well so people can feel the song’s emotion.”
 

Melba’s storytelling skills shine through on all 12 tracks of Imagine, including the two previous singles, starting with “So In Love,” which spent three weeks atop the UK Soul Top 30 Chart and returned her to the airwaves in the U.S. and around the globe. She followed with the release of “Take Me Away.”
 

These new tracks came on the heels of the listening public’s renewed appreciation for her Top 5 Billboard Dance Single (and Top 20 R&B hit) “You Stepped Into My Life,” a fanciful disco era take on a popular Bee Gees B-side. The track was an integral part of the repertoire in DJ D-Nice’s “Club Quarantine,” a virtual dance party livestream of his skills on the turntables during the pandemic that earned him the NAACP Imagine Award for Entertainer of the Year and drew millions of viewers, including the likes of former President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Halle Berry, President Joe Biden and top actors and activists.  
 

While best known for her seeming nonstop flow of hit albums and singles throughout the 70’s and 80’s, Melba made cultural history long before that, beginning her performing career as Dionne in the original cast of the musical Hair while becoming the first black woman to replace a white actress (future film star Diane Keaton) in a featured role on Broadway. In 1970, the same year her debut album I Got Love earned her a Best New Artist Grammy nomination, she won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Lutibelle in Purlie – a role she would later reprise in the 1981 TV adaptation for Showtime.
 

Decades before being a viral sensation and top influencer became mainstream pathways to fame, word of mouth about Melba’s colossal talent earned her appearances on every daytime and late- night talk show, placing her in millions of households. She became so well known that she was offered a summer variety show in 1972 with her then-boyfriend Clifton Davis. Soon after the success of “The Melba Moore/Clifton Davis Show,” she signed with Buddha Records, where she scored the Top Ten Billboard dance hits “This is It” and “Make Me Believe in You” and the Grammy nominated Top 20 R&B smash “Lean on Me.”
 

Signing to Capitol in the early 80s, Melba enjoyed a second prolific decade of success with Billboard Top Ten R&B albums like Never Say Never and A Lot of Love and many hit singles, including “Love’s Comin’ At Ya” and the #1 hits “A Little Bit More” with Freddie Jackson and “Falling,” a hypnotic ballad featuring one of the longest held notes (nearly 20 seconds!) in recorded history. In addition, Melba’s 1985 hit “Read My Lips” earned her a third Grammy nod (for Best Female Rock Performance), making her only the third Black artist after Donna Summer and Michael Jackson to be nominated in a rock category.
 

Her run of success on the R&B charts extended to 1990 with the Top Ten single “Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing” (aka the Negro National Anthem), recorded at the behest of Dr. Dorothy Height, President of the National Council of Negro Women, who wanted Moore to use her formidable talent to ensure that the song would reach a new generation. The track featured an introduction by Louis Gossett, Jr. and vocal contributions by Dionne Warwick, Stephanie Mills and The Clark Sisters, with a video directed by Debbie Allen.
 

While continuing her recording career, Melba returned to Broadway in 1995 with a part in Les Miserables and soon thereafter launched her long-running one woman show Sweet Songs of the Soul, later renamed I’m Still Standing. Some of her highlights in the 2000s include an appearance in the film The Fighting Temptations (starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyonce) and a role in a production of Ain’t Misbehavin’. Moving ahead, while continuing to perform in clubs and doing concerts, Melba envisions herself starring in more theatrical productions, including shows in the “gospel theatre” realm.
 

“Looking back, I’m very grateful for the many twists and turns which have given me the opportunity to develop a career of great diversity,” says Melba. “As the latest manifestation of that, I hope the song ‘Imagine’ resonates with many people the way it has with me and that the philosophy of the lyrics touch and inspire them. Life is very fragile and I’m just happy that I’m still here to share the music that means the most."



 

SHEA FISHER

Biography

 

It’s right there on BrainyQuote - Janine Turner gets credit for a famous quip about the Lone Star State: “You can take the girl out of Texas but not Texas out of the girl and ultimately not the girl out of Texas.” The actress was no doubt talking about herself, yet her few clever phrases also perfectly capture the fascinating life story, multi-faceted career and truest heart of singer/songwriter Shea Fisher. The Australian born singer makes a triumphant return to recording after too many years away with her new single “Take Me Back to Texas,” a poignant and soulful ballad about longing to go back there after realizing that the proverbial grass isn’t always greener in the big city.
 

Co-written with Garth Brooks’ longtime harmony singer Karyn Rochelle, the song begins with a beautiful romance in a ranch setting: “The sun was setting it was burning red. . .I was leaning up against your chest/Watching the horses run free.” Then bigger dreams take hold, so she “took off thinking I could find myself/Somewhere out here on the wind.” But before long, even if life in the city is going well, she misses the love and comforts of home, singing the wistful, emotional hook: “Take me back to Texas/Where the skies are ever blue/Where I left my foolish heart/Hanging on the moon.”
 

Beautifully shot by Shea’s fellow Australian Duncan Toombs – a video director and recording artist who appeared on The Voice Australia – the compelling clip for “Take Me Back to Texas” was filmed in part at the sprawling ranch outside of Ft. Worth that Shea shares with her husband, World Champion Tie Down Roper Tyson Durfey, and their three young children Praise Royal, Risyn Breeze and Tyen Cross.
 

While Shea became a major country star in Australia at 19 with her #1 singles “Just the Excuse” and “Everyday Girl,” Texas has had a calling on her life since she was a little girl. The daughter of bull riding and bareback riding champion Eddie Fisher and barrel racing champion Joanne Fisher, she grew up traveling her home country on the rodeo circuit, competing in her first junior rodeo at age five. When she was 10, her family moved to the U.S. for three years and lived in Nashville and Texas when Eddie was competing on the PBR Bud Light Cup Tour.
 

The singer’s breakthrough success Down Under with her two albums Everyday Girl and Shea – which earned her renown as “the true country music cowgirl of Australia” - led to a deal with Nashville based Stroudavarious Records and two #1 Stateside hits, “Suitcase” and “Don’t Chase Me,” which reached the Top 20 on CMT and GAC in the U.S. and aired on CMC in Australia. As fate would have it, during the radio promotion tour, the label shut down due to circumstances far beyond Shea’s control, leaving her without a record deal. Undeterred by this career setback, she decided to stay in the U.S. and keep writing songs even as other incredible outside business opportunities came up.
 

Driven by her belief that doors in life open and shut when they’re meant to and feeling God’s guidance every step of the way, she retreated to her cowgirl roots in Texas, where she met and married Tyson, began raising her family and launched two very successful businesses. Her kids clothing line Shea Baby (www.sheababy.com) is now available in 1000 stores in the U.S. and the couple’s silversmith company Shea Michelle Buckles (www.sheamichellebuckles.com) makes custom belt buckles for thousands of events.

They even made a special one for President Trump and took a photo with him wearing it.

A few years ago, Shea launched Fit with Shea, an online community dedicated to helping women of all ages get fit, healthy and confident with their bodies. Her multi-faceted goal-oriented fitness program includes 15 full body workout videos, a two-week food reset plan, advice on how to dress for specific body types. Last but for sure not least, she got a new horse named Itchy and returned to her family roots as a rodeo performer. A reserve champion rookie barrel racer with the WPRA in her youth, Shea became competitive again and has won several pro rodeos in recent years.
 

Even as she dedicated herself to being a mom and poured her passion into these exciting entrepreneurial activities, Shea’s love for music and songwriting remained constant. She performed her original song “Don’t Rush” (released as a single in Australia) on “The Huckabee Show” on TBN in 2021 and sang for 20,000 people at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.
 

In mid-2024, when she decided to begin recording again, she began posting more music related content on her Instagram page – and her increased presence and promise of new material prompted a leap from 30K followers to her current total of nearly 250K. In addition to “Take Me Back to Texas,” the singer has two follow-up singles and videos ready to go in 2025 -  the sexy, high energy “Ow in Cowboy” (a co-write with Billboard Award winning country singer Walker Hayes) and the country pop-rocker “The Truck,” co-penned with Jaron Boyer, whose songs have been recorded by Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts and Dierks Bentley.
 

“Between the time I had my early hits and now, the industry evolved from CDs and iTunes to streaming,” says Shea, who credits Garth Brooks and Shania Twain as her top influences. “In those days, everything was still about signing deals with labels, and as I discovered, that’s sometimes a difficult road. Now is the perfect time for me to return as a fully independent artist, because I can upload my songs to Tunecore and build a following on my own terms, with a hand-selected promotional team. I would say it’s a less challenging time to start or relaunch a career because there are so many new ways to get our music to listeners. A lot of labels hire outside independent contractors, but that’s something artists can do themselves.”
 

While still only in her mid-30s, all the time Shea has devoted to raising a family and her other businesses over the intervening years since her late teens burst of success make that era seem like many lifetimes ago. She sees her comeback story as one that can inspire women to realize that being over 30 and having kids doesn’t mean they’re past their prime of finding success. “A year ago,” she says, “I might have told myself it was crazy to think I could go on this whirlwind ride again, but it’s consistent with what I’m always telling the women in my life, including those in my fitness program. That is, if you have a passion and want to do something, it shouldn’t matter how old you are or what potential roadblocks lie ahead. You need to figure out how to make it happen.
 

As for making music, Shea feels that it doesn’t matter whether someone is 20 or 40. The goal is to stay relevant and connect with people who appreciate what artists like her are doing. “I’m not singing like I’m 20 anymore, and my songs now have a lot more depth than some of the airy fairy tunes I was writing and recording at 16,” she adds. “My target audience then was girls and women from 16 to 24, and now I’m singing for those who are 25 to 35 and can relate to what I’ve been doing in my adult life as a wife, mother and businesswoman. The singers I’m listening to are those I can relate to, including Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood and Lainie Wilson, all of whom are over 30. At first, the thought of coming back at this age felt like maybe I was trying to ride a dead horse. But now I realize that maybe women like me who have been through some of the same life experiences are missing something, and artists like me can help fill that gap.”  


 

ORIANTHI

Biography

 

Because it was as if one musical icon was anointing another, Michael Jackson will always be a foundational part of Orianthi’s incredible rise as one of the premiere electric guitarists of her generation. Blown away by her inventive, otherworldly skills with chords, funky rhythms and her inimitable solos, MJ hired her for his 2009 This Is It concert series and she participated in all the rehearsals.
 

That same year, Orianthi’s solo career started heating up as well, driven by the international success of “According to You,” her debut single as a singer/songwriter on Geffen Records which hit the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, the Top Five in Japan and the Top Ten in her native Australia. In addition to being named one of the 12 Greatest Female Electric Guitarists by Elle Magazine, Orianthi was Guitar International magazine’s 2010 Breakthrough Guitarist of Year. “According to You” remains her signature hit, with over 37M streams on Spotify and 26M views on YouTube.
 

After Jackson’s untimely passing, the multi-talented artist quickly became one of the industry’s most in demand live performers, touring with, among others, Alice Cooper (three years), Dave Stewart (two years), and most significantly – and sometimes under the name RSO – traveling the world on and off for eight years with Richie Sambora. She appeared on “American Idol,” performed “Fine China” with Chris Brown at the Billboard Music Awards and in 2013 paid tribute at the Kennedy Center Honors to Carlos Santana – ten years after the legendary guitarist first invited her onstage with him to jam when she was 18. For Orianthi, who performed her first stage show for Steve Vail at 15, these whirlwind years also included studio work with Jason Derulo, Adam Lambert, Mary J. Blige, One Republic and Michael Bolton.
 

Amidst all the demand for her galvanizing guitarisma, Orianthi never lost sight of her original goal to be a solo recording and touring artist. In addition to her independently released 2007 debut album Violet Journey and Geffen collection Believe (2009), over the past decade, she has released Heaven in This Hell, O and Rock Candy. She spent most of 2023 touring as a solo artist, including numerous dates throughout the U.S. and several shows in Japan. 
 

Though Orianthi will always be celebrated for her ability to rock studios and packed arenas alike with her blazing style, her signing with Woodward Avenue Records for a series of singles leading up to a full-length album marks an exciting return to her first stylistic love – a more organic, 60s-70s rock blues vibe. Recorded with her longtime band of drummer Elias Malin, bassist Justin Andres and keyboardist Carey Frank, her first 2024 release is “First Time Blues,” which the guitarist describes as “that first time you feel the pain of something different happening to you.” She adds, “You have a childlike love of life and don’t want to lose that innocence, but life can try to take it away from you, so it’s important to hold onto that. It’s a song that can take you back to being excited to wake up and feel grateful and excited about where you are.” Her second lead single is “Bad For Each Other,” an emotional barnburner about being addicted to loving the wrong person. 
 

Reflecting on the full album project, she adds, “The opportunity to perform so many of my own shows this past year has inspired me to reflect more personally on my life and chronicle my feelings in these songs. Some were written a few years ago, some a year ago, and others quite recently – yet they all capture everything what I’ve been through in the past to who I am today, as I’ve gone through different changes. My mindset has shifted significantly based on these experiences, the same way as you’re forever changed from being in a relationship. You’re never the same person you were before.”
 

Throughout her recording career, Orianthi has benefited from the guidance and expertise of numerous top veteran producers – including Dave Stewart, Ron Fair, Howard Benson. RedOne, Marti Frederickson and Jacob Bunton. On the new songs she’s recording for Woodward Avenue, Orianthi comes full circle, self-producing for the first time since Violet Journey and once again taking the advice of her old friend Prince, who once told her, “You don’t want people putting outfits on you.” That advice could extend more literally to her status as one of rock’s greatest purveyor of alternately classic and loud millennial hippie fashion, topped with hats inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Nicks.
 

Orianthi says, “I loved working with all these producers, but I’ve also learned there is something authentic about picking up the guitar, getting in the studio with your band and using all my skills as a gear nut that cuts to the core of who I am. There’s something liberating about spending a lot of time alone and fixing my energy on this different wavelength, getting back to myself. I’m grateful for the freedom to do that. It’s the same with clothes. I dress how I want the song to look. My aesthetic is to reflect the energy of the song in what I wear.” 
 

Capping a fascinating journey that began with her taking her dad’s Gibson 125 to school in Adelaide, Australia to play in front of anyone she could, Orianthi has, in addition to four Paul Reed Smith (PRS) guitars that constantly sell out, a signature Gibson S-J200, which is the second biggest selling artist acoustic of all time next to Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley Signature models. She also has her own coffee line and is developing lines of clothes (naturally) and jewelry in addition to a signature vodka.
 

“I owe a lot to my dad for shaping my musical sensibilities growing up,” says Orianthi, who studied classical piano before switching to guitar, with his encouragement, at age six. She enrolled at Tafe University in Adelaide at age 10 to learn classical guitar theory. “Through his incredible record collection, he introduced me to Eric Clapton, Cream, Elvis, B.B. King, Roy Orbison, Freddie King, Santana, Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys album, and The Beatles. Sports and guitar playing was a way to bond with him. My mum was listening to the Rat Pack, Tom Jones, Richard Marx and Michael Bolton – so I had a pretty wide range of music in my life.
 

“Besides being grateful to my parents for providing these foundations, I’m honored to call musicians like Steve Vai, Carlos Santana and Billy Gibbons friends and mentors, and am grateful that they’re always around to offer a word of encouragement during the challenging times. I hope as my career progresses, I can continue to live up to the inspiration they have given me for so many years.” 


 

MIKE MANI

Biography

 

From his early days in the Bay Area working with pop superstars at legendary producer Narada Michael Walden’s Tarpan Studios through helming projects and developing top artists (including pop/R&B singer Tori Kelly and Latin hip-hop sensation Becky G) at his thriving independent L.A. based studio The JAM, Mike Mani has been a consummate behind the scenes force in the music industry.
 

A Grammy winner (Best Rock Instrumental Performance) for “The Calling,” a track on Santana’s iconic Supernatural album featuring Eric Clapton, the multi-talented keyboardist, composer, producer, arranger and programmer has elevated and contributed to the careers of hundreds of pop artists while also rising to the pinnacle of the commercial composition scoring market, working with top ad agencies and video game developers.

After an incredible four decades of sharing his boundless creativity in the service of other artists and companies, Mike now showcases his multitude of sonic gifts in a bold, dynamic new way on his debut contemporary jazz album Triangles on Baja/TSR Records.
 

Written and produced by him, the stellar, infectiously melodic and stylistically multi-faceted collection features contributions by numerous guest artists, including Mike’s labelmate, #1 Billboard charting smooth jazz guitarist Nils, virtuoso saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Parlett, saxophonists Ashley J and Bryon Thompson, trumpeter Arturo Solar and veteran two-time Emmy Award winning bassist Tony Saunders. The upcoming lead single is the title track “Triangles,” a high energy, in the pocket romp that showcases Mike’s exciting piano melody and adventurous improvisational skills and features a fiery Parlett solo.
 

Other highlights on Triangles reflecting Mike’s diversity include the soulful, seductive mid-tempo ballad “Echoes of Love” (featuring Nils); the breezy light funk tune “Skyline” (featuring poppin’ piano/sax harmonies with Parlett; the dreamy, easy shuffling ballad “Smiles”; the balmy, tropical ballad “Pacific Blue”; the buoyant, spirted adventure “Road to Hana”; the slammin’, perfectly titled jam “Funk City” featuring Saunders’ intoxicating grooves; the breezy, exotic “Walks in Brazil” and two tracks ((“Heat in the City,” “By Your Side”) featuring the lush, Kenny G-like soprano sax of Bryon Thompson.
 

“When I’m writing and producing pop music for other artists, there are often rigid parameters related to pop-songwriting forms and the style of those singers – and I’m restricted from adding any chord changes that may be too sophisticated,” says Mike, a classically trained pianist whose resume of pop/R&B greats includes Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, Kesha, New Kids on the Block, Leona Lewis, Regina Belle, Tevin Campbell, Shanice Wilson, En Vogue, J Lo, Siedah Garrett and the Backstreet Boys.
 

“All along, it was a dream of mine to create a solo project, and my composing style and appreciate for strong melodies and tight rhythms made smooth jazz the appropriate mode of expression for that,” he adds. “My goal was to record an album that embodies the kind of contemporary jazz I loved growing up and that was popular when I started my career, including Jeff Lorber, the Yellowjackets and Kenny G. Some folks think of smooth jazz as background music, but I wanted my record to be one that people could turn up to create great energy for a party or to inspire them to drive faster. I wanted it to have a lot of grooves so that they can bop head to these tunes. While I love Triangles as a body of my work, I have a lot more music inside me.”
  

In a genre where titles are often either a light-hearted or poetic afterthought, the name of the collection has a deep meaning tied to several aspects of the veteran musician’s life. While he originally never intended on creating a project titled Triangles, it struck him that when he’s developing a track, there’s a trio of key elements – his keyboard, the computer he records into and a full-on creative-spiritual atmosphere with God. Mike reflects this mystical trinitarian aspect via the stunning cover art, which has a silhouette of a man playing piano with green and pink clouds billowing around it and three bright yellow triangles of different sizes pointing upwards. “Wherever my journey has taken me,” he says, “I’ve had an unshakeable trust in God, who is at the center of every endeavor and has always opened new doors on the way to my musical destiny.”
 

The other “three” in Mike’s life is him and his brothers. The third boy in his family, Mike grew up listening to his mom playing Beethoven and Chopin on the family’s Steinway piano and fell in love with the instrument himself at age seven. Before he started listening to contemporary jazz and R&B, he was a rock and roll kid who grew up loving The Beatles, Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. He joined forces in his early teens with his older brothers (who played guitar and drums, respectively) to form Oasis, a band that played many local events and parties (dances, bar mitzvahs, etc.) in their home region of Marin County.
 

Their parents had a guest house where they would rehearse and put music on a four-track recorder. One of Mike’s friends in those formative years was Tony Saunders, who enjoyed recording in the makeshift studio. The two jammed often together when Mike was in his teens, and they recorded several jazz songs together that they’re still fond of to this day. Many decades and career accolades later, Tony reached out to his old friend to collaborate with him and help him create a new sound on his own Baja/TSR project The Romance Continues, which was released in August 2024. Among the nine songs they wrote and produced is the first single, the sultry Latin charmer “Loving You Is Easy.” Mike’s impactful work on the album led directly to him getting his own recording deal with the label and the opportunity to release Triangles.
 

While Mike is currently focused on developing his artistry as an instrumental performer, he is still producing and developing artists at The JAM Studios, which he founded in 2015 with longtime creative partner Jordan Omley. While the two work more independently now, their initial collabs were based on Mike’s heavy rock and R&B roots combined with Omley’s deep roots in hip hop and urban music. After signing and developing Tori Kelly, they discovered Becky G. The overwhelming success of both artists has allowed them to continue to sign and develop a roster of incredible talent.
 

“I’ve had a lot of amazing experiences and great success with many artists in the industry, but I feel like God has allowed all that to be prelude for what I can accomplish now as a recording artist myself,” says Mike. “I’m looking forward to getting out there and playing the music from Triangles live. I’ve appreciated the positive reactions from those I have played the music for and look forward to connecting with audiences to see how my music will be received. I fully embrace the new path I am on and greatly enjoy the positive energy of the music. I hope Triangles is one of those records that will inspire people to turn it up and keep listening all the way through!”   


 

 

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