Like Feist, Ingrid Michaelson and Sarah Bareilles, Boh Runga is the next singer-songwriter to keep your eyes on.

Hugely popular outside the United States, Boh Runga’s songs are an eclectic mix of modern and classic pop influences.

Free download: “Evelyn” MP3

Boh’s debut US solo album ‘Right Here’ (out July 14, 2009 self released digital only; Katipo Music) was produced by Marshall Altman (Greg Laswell, Marc Bourssard, Brooke Fraser) and is strongly reflective of her time spent transplanted to a life in Silver Lake, and covers the classic themes that make great pop music, love, loss and life.

Boh Runga’s New Zealand band Stellar is second only to Crowded House in terms of New Zealand music royalty.

After signing to Sony in 1999, Stellar quickly became Sony’s number one selling Kiwi band. Along with multi-platinum sales Stellar has also been awarded 8 Tui Awards (NZ Grammys) for their first two albums.

Watch Evelyn video:

On ‘Right Here’, Boh has a very notable, yet eclectic roster of artists contributing to the album including Serj Tankian (System of a Down) and writing collaborations with Wendy Melvoin (Prince and the Revolution), Kevin Savigar, Rod Stewart’s songwriter and Shelly Peiken who wrote “Bitch” for Meredith Brooks and also “Genie in a Bottle” for Christina Aguilera.

A multi-faceted artist, Boh Runga channels the same artistic energy and spirit from her songs to her other passion: jewelry design.

She runs an extremely successful New Zealand based jewelry line that will also be making its way to the states this summer. Demand was so high that they were just recently, able to catch up to production, so be on the look out for Boh inspired jewelry in boutique stores near you!

Boh is based in Los Angeles for the time being and thus far has two shows scheduled at the Little Room at Largo.

Buy Music:

Boh Runga on amazon.com

Boh Runga on amazon.co.uk

Los Angeles Shows (hosted by other new Zealand great Kim Crawford Wines)
8/3/2009 The Little Room

Boh Runga Official Website
MySpace

Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine has released his anticipated solo album, ‘The Fabled City’. The 11-song album, produced by Brendan O’Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam), is the first release to bear the political and social activist’s birth name and features appearances by System of a Down’s Serj Tankian and Shooter Jennings.

With more complex electric arrangements than displayed on the sparse solo debut ‘One Man Revolution’, ‘The Fabled City’ is the synthesis of his groundbreaking work as an innovative rock guitarist and revolutionary acoustic troubadour. For the first time, this album bridges the gap between Tom Morello, the acoustic protest singer and Tom Morello, the guitar legend.

Watch “Whatever It Takes” video:

Whatever It Takes

The tour in support of ‘The Fabled City’ will display both sides of Morello’s guitar prowess with both an acoustic set and full-band electric set performed each night. In regards to the format of the performances, Morello stated “On The Fabled City Tour, I will be playing both acoustic and electric guitar. I want to start off with the darker acoustic songs and then build to some of the wildest electric guitar playing I have ever unleashed on stage in my career. The idea is half Dylan/Half Hendrix. I have been practicing my ass off and can’t wait to rock.”

In addition to the tour, Tom Morello has been confirmed to appear at the annual New Yorker Festival in New York City on Saturday, October 4th, 2008. Morello will be performing songs and talking with James Surowiecki, staff writer at The New Yorker since 2000. The performance and interview takes place at the Acura Stage at Cedar Lake Theatre, 547 West 26th Street. For more information, go to the New Yorker Festival website.

THE FABLED CITY November 2008 Tour Dates
* More dates to be announced:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

11/1 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
11/2 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
11/5 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom
11/7 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot
11/8 Aspen, CO Belly Up Aspen
11/9 Boulder, CO Fox Theater
11/11 Minneapolis, MN Fine Line Music Cafe
11/12 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall Ballroom
11/13 Indianapolis, IN The Vogue
11/20 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
11/21 New York, NY The Fillmore NY at Irving Plaza

“The Rage Against The Machine guitarist’s remarkable transformation from purveyor of weapons-grade funk-metal riffs into introspective protest folkie yields even more impressive fruit on his second solo effort. A-” Entertainment Weekly

Tom Morello MySpace
Tom Morello Official Website

Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine is set to release the solo album, ‘The Fabled City’, September 30th, 2008 via Epic Records.

The 11-song set is the anticipated follow up to the 2007 ‘The Nightwatchman’ debut ‘One Man Revolution’. Now being billed as Tom Morello : The Nightwatchman, the album is the first release to bear the political and social activist’s birth name.

‘The Fabled City’ was produced by Brendan O’Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam) and features appearances by System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian and Shooter Jennings.

In addition to his career as a critically acclaimed solo artist, Tom Morello is a founding member and guitarist of the rock bands Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave.

The two bands are responsible for multiple Grammy Awards and a combined 30 million albums sold worldwide.

Listen – “Whatever It Takes” stream

The Nightwatchman stream widget:

Widely known for his unique voice as a master electric guitarist, his compositions as Tom Morello : The Nightwatchman have been primarily based around the acoustic guitar. However, as his MySpace page firmly states, “You don’t have to be loud, son, to be heavy as shit,” and the stories and sounds presented throughout the album showcases a depth and intelligence rarely heard in the modern musical climate surrounding it.

With more complex electric arrangements than displayed on ‘One Man Revolution’, ‘The Fabled City’ is the synthesis of his groundbreaking work as an innovative rock guitarist and revolutionary acoustic troubadour.

When describing ‘The Fabled City’, Morello stated, “My goal was to capture the energy and emotion of The Nightwatchman live shows. There is a much more rocking quality to this record, solos and riffs, mixed with darker acoustic songs. I think my singing has come a long way as well. I had a lot of devastating losses of family and friends during the past two years and The Fabled City is a search for hope through music and confronting injustice.”

In the spring of 2008, Morello launched The Justice Tour, a nationwide concert tour formed in celebration of the 60th Anniversary of The Human Rights Declaration. The tour, which featured performances from Perry Farrell, Slash, Dave Navarro, Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains, Wayne Kramer of the MC5, Sen-Dog of Cypress Hill and more, visited cities with a day dedicated to a local charity and a rock show to benefit that charity at each stop. The tour performances were an extension of the periodic residency he has presided over for the past two years at the intimate Los Angeles, CA venue, Hotel Cafe, and included live performances of many songs from ‘The Fabled City’.

Recognized by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the “100 Greatest Guitar Players of All-Time (#26),” Morello is one of only two guitarists featured as a playable animated character in the overwhelmingly popular Activision video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

Tom Morello graduated from Harvard University with honors as a Political Science major and has been a widely recognized political activist throughout his career. In 2006, he was the recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award.

Morello’s family has been a constant source of political and social inspiration as his great-uncle, Jomo Kenyatta was the first president of Kenya, and his mother, Mary Morello, founded Parents for Rock and Rap, an anti-censorship counterweight to Tipper Gore’s PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center).

With System of A Down’s Serj Tankian, Morello formed Axis of Justice, an organization whose purpose is to bring together musicians, music fans, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice and hosts it’s inspired radio show, The Axis of Justice Radio Network.

As a producer, Morello has worked with The Crystal Method, Anti-Flag, Puff Daddy, and many more. He has also scored compositions for major motion pictures such as the 2008 hit Iron Man (where he can also be seen as an actor), The Matrix, Collateral, Charlie’s Angels, Talladega Nights, XXX: State of the Union and more.

In the summer of 2008, Morello and Rage Against The Machine will headline many European Music Festivals. They also played a headlining performance at the Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago, IL.

Tom Morello : The Nightwatchman will be touring heavily throughout 2008 and 2009 in support of ‘The Fabled City’.

Tom Morello : The Nightwatchman ‘The Fabled City’ Track Listing:

1. The Fabled City
2. Whatever It Takes
3. The King of Hell
4. Night Falls
5. The Lights Are On In Spidertown
6. Midnight In The City of Destruction
7. Saint Isabelle
8. Lazarus On Down featuring Serj Tankian
9. Gone Like Rain
10. The Iron Wheel featuring Shooter Jennings
11. Rise to Power

The Fabled City on amazon.com

Tom Morello : The Nightwatchman MySpace
Tom Morello : The Nightwatchman Official Website

Happy early holidays! Fair To Midland will be embarking on their very first headlining tour across the US this December 2007. Vocalist Darroh Sudderth, guitarist Cliff Campbell, bassist Jon Dicken, drummer Brett Stowers and keyboardist Matt Langley will kick off the tour Thursday December 6th at LA’s Troubadour – full tour schedule is below.

On December 7th, Fair To Midland will also perform at the KIOZ Rock Before Christmas Fest in San Diego alongside Avenged Sevenfold, Suicidal Tendencies and Atreyu.

The band is currently in Europe with Serj Tankian and have also played with the Smashing Pumpkins, Chevelle, Dir En Grey and Flyleaf all this year – and have performed at this year’s Coachella and Bamboozle, as well as at the UK’s Download Festival and the main stages of both Germany’s Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park mega-fests. Not to shabby considering this was also the year they they released their major label debut, ‘Fables From A Mayfly’ on Universal Republic/Serjical Strike.

Fair To Midland’s December 2007 headlining tour dates:

Dates could change! Go to Fair To Midland’s Official Website for the latest tour dates and information.

December 6 Los Angeles, CA – The Troubadour
December 7 San Diego, CA – San Diego Sports Arena – KIOZ Rock Before Christmas fest
December 8 Phoenix, AZ – The Brickhouse
December 10 Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater
December 13 Madison, WI – High Noon
December 14 Flint, MI – Machine Shop
December 15 Libertyville, IL – Austin’s Saloon
December 16 St. Paul, MN – Station 4
December 18 Cedar Falls, IA – The Reverb
December 20 Jackson, MS – Club Fire (Rock 93.9 Twisted Christmas show)
December 26 Dallas, TX – House of Blues
December 29 Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s

Listen to “Dance of the Manatee” from Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True

Fair To Midland Official Website
Fair To Midland on Myspace

Kerrang has called Fair to Midland “utterly captivating” and the LA Times has praised them for their “potent emotional hard rock.” They are currently being featured in October’s issue of Alternative Press and their second single “Tall Tales Taste Like Sour Grapes” off their album ‘Fables From a Mayfly’ debuted at #3 this week on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart.

Fair to Midland is currently touring the US with Chevelle, and has also announced a bunch of dates with Serj Tankian: Oct 28, 2007 in San Francisco (where FTM just opened for the Smashing Pumpkins in July) and the UK and Europe in November.

Check out some amazing live footage from a recent show in Flint, MI – singer Darroh Suddereth literally hanging from the rafters…without missing a note:

Listen: “Dance of the Manatee” stream

Fair to Midland 2007 tour dates:
w/ Chevelle

Dates could change! Go to Fair to Midland’s Official Website for the latest tour dates and information.

Oct 6 – Curtain Club Outdoor Festival – Dallas, TX **
Oct 7 – The Bottling Company – Hattiesburg, MS (w/ Chevelle)
Oct 9 – Amos’ Southend – Charlotte, NC (w/ Chevelle)
Oct 10 – Headliner’s – Columbia, SC (w/ Chevelle)
Oct 11 – House of Blues – Myrtle Beach, SC (w/ Chevelle)
Oct 13 – House of Blues – Orlando, FL (w/ Chevelle)
Oct 14 – Revolution – Ft. Lauderdale, FL (w/ Chevelle)
Oct 16 – House of Blues – New Orleans, LA (w/ Chevelle)
Oct 18 – Stubb’s – Austin, TX (w/ Chevelle)
Oct 19 – Midnight Rodeo – Amarillo, TX (w/ Chevelle)
Oct 20 – Dos Amigos – Odessa, TX (w/ Chevelle)
Oct 22 – Boulder Theater – Boulder, CO (w/ Chevelle)
Oct 24 – SOMA – San Diego, CA (w/ Chevelle)
Oct 25 – Marquee Theater – Phoenix, AZ (w/ Chevelle)
Oct 26 – Ventura Theater – Ventura, CA (w/ Chevelle)

w/ Serj Tankian

Oct 28 – Slim’s – San Francisco, CA (w/ Serj Tankian)
Nov 15 – King Tut’s – Glasgow, Scotland **
Nov 16 – Academy – Manchester, UK (w/ Serj Tankian)
Nov 18 – Barfly – Liverpool, UK **
Nov 19 – Academy – Birmingham, UK **
Nov 20 – Barfly – London, UK **
Nov 21 – Barfly – Brighton, UK **
Nov 22 – Astoria – London, UK (w/ Serj Tankian)
Nov 25 – Melkweg – Amsterdam, Holland (w/ Serj Tankian)
Nov 26 – Elysee Montmartre – Paris, France (w/ Serj Tankian)
Nov 27 – Live Music Hall – Cologne, Germany (w/ Serj Tankian)

** Notes FTM headlining date

Fair to Midland on Myspace
Fair to Midland Official Website