Category: Entertainment News

Forthcoming new album release: I Want It All Right Now – Grouplove

Grouplove announces deluxe version of I Want It All Right Now – out on May 10, 2024. Photo: Brantley Gutierrez, used with permission.

On their new album I Want It All Right Now, Grouplove offers up a body of work built on a raw but incandescent sound that vocalist/keyboardist Hannah Hooper refers to as “resistance pop.” As Hooper reveals, the Atlanta-based band’s sixth full-length album emerged from a period of intense transformation for herself and her husband/bandmate, vocalist/guitarist Christian Zucconi. Over the course of 11 shapeshifting songs, Grouplove’s debut release for Glassnote Records documents that progression from external searching to radical self-discovery, infusing each track with the wildly unbridled spirit the band has always embodied. (Big Hassle, 2024)

I Want It All Right Now fully harnesses the ecstatic energy Grouplove has brought to the stage on multiple international headline tours and at leading festivals like Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza. In a major leap forward for the band—whose lineup also includes bassist Daniel Gleason, guitarist Andrew Wessen, and drummer Ben Homola—the album explores the deepest tensions of the human psyche with equal parts tenderness, curiosity, and exacting self-revelation. A bold evolution of the defiantly sincere songwriting they first delivered on their 2011 debut Never Trust a Happy Song, I Want It All Right Now ultimately leaves the listener newly awakened to the wisdom and power of their own intuition.

I Want It All Right Now Deluxe will be available everywhere on May 10, 2024.

The deluxe album will feature six new tracks, including the live version of the album’s title track “All” from Madison Square Garden. With Jake Clemons from Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band lending his talents on the saxophone, the live rendition sheds any previous confines and swells into something altogether larger than life.

Multifaceted in her approach to artistry, Hannah Hooper has painted all of the band’s artwork. Grouplove’s artwork has become almost as recognizable as their sound over the years, seeing the band work out the tensions of life through all mediums at their disposal.

In February, Grouplove released the first deluxe track “Chances.” The rapturous, overstimulated, hallucinogenic singsong saw the band channeling their ecstatic energy into the deepest tensions of the human psyche, all while playing with the contradictions and complications of existing. I Want It All Right Now, the band’s sixth studio album, was originally released in 2023.

Over the last month, Grouplove has been joined by Bully for the North American Rock And Roll You Won’t Save Me Tour. Fans who missed the tour or simply want more need not despair as the band has upcoming festival performances this summer at Wildflower! Festival, Bonnaroo and Oceans Calling. By popular demand, Grouplove has been added to 9 new dates this fall supporting P!nk.

UPCOMING TOUR DATES
May 17 – Richardson, TX – Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival
June 14 – Bonnaroo – Manchester, TN
June 22 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage (with Arkells)
September 28 – Ocean City, MD – Oceans Calling Festival
November 3 – Austin, TX – Moody Center ^
November 6 – Arlington, TX – Globe Life Field ^
November 8 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center ^
November 11 – Raleigh, NC – PNC Arena^
November 12 – Raleigh, NC – PNC Arena^
November 14 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena^
November 16 – Birmingham, AL – Legacy Arena at The BJCC^
November 18 – Orlando, FL – Camping World Stadium^
November 20 – Columbia, SC – Colonial Life Arena^

^ supporting P!nk

I Want It All Right Now Deluxe track list:
“All”
“Cheese”
“Malachi”
“Hello”
“Eyes”
“Billie”
“Tryin’”
“Cream”
“Francine”
“Climb”
“Wall”
“Chances”
“Can You Feel My Love”
“Fire”
“House”
“Fishbowl”
“All (Live)”

Courtesy photo, used with permission

1715338520

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

I Want It All Right Now release date

Book to series adaptation: ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ by Heather Morris

‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ has been adapted into a Peacock original series. Photo: Amazon

Historical fiction transports readers to bygone eras, blending fact with imaginative narrative. They resurrect ancient civilizations and wartime landscapes with meticulous research and vivid storytelling. Through the eyes of fictional characters, readers explore crucial events, from epic battles to intimate moments of daily life, offering insights into the human condition across time. These stories often combine real historical figures with invented protagonists, creating a rich tapestry of emotion, intrigue, and adventure. These books not only entertain but also educate, inviting readers to ponder the echoes of the past in our present and future. One such historical novel is The New York Times and International bestseller “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” by Heather Morris.

Heather Morris is a native of New Zealand, now living in Australia. For several years, while working in a large public hospital in Melbourne, she studied and wrote screenplays, one of which was optioned by an Academy Award-winning screenwriter in the US. In 2003, Heather was introduced to an elderly gentleman who ‘might just have a story worth telling.’ The day she met Lale Sokolov changed both their lives. Their friendship grew and Lale embarked on a journey of self-scrutiny, entrusting the innermost details of his life during the Holocaust to her. Heather originally wrote Lale’s story as a screenplay – which ranked high in international competitions – before reshaping it into her debut novel, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.” It is a tale of hope and courage based on interviews that were conducted with Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov—an unforgettable love story in the midst of atrocity. It has now been adapted into a Peacock original series (6 episodes) and will be available for streaming starting May 2, 2024. (Amazon, 2024)

“The Tattooist of Auschwitz” – In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.

Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.

One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.

A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov’s experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.

Forthcoming new book release: ‘You Like It Darker’ by Stephen King

‘You Like It Darker’ will be out May 21, 2024. Photo: Amazon

It is no secret that I love horror novels, especially from Stephen King. His were the first books I enjoyed in elementary school (yes, elementary school) but surprisingly, have yet to give me nightmares. I look forward to every one of his releases and my home library is filled with most of his books, especially the short story collections. I even have “The Bachman Books;” if you’re a Constant Reader, you get it. So today, I’m pleased to share that the Master of Horror has a new book coming out next month: “You Like It Darker.” Enough said.

Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes the short story collection “Holly,” “Fairy Tale,” “If It Bleeds,” “The Outsider,” “Sleeping Beauties,” (cowritten with his son Owen King) and the Bill Hodges trilogy: “End of Watch,” “Finders Keepers,” and “Mr. Mercedes.” His epic works “The Dark Tower,” “It,” “Pet Sematary,” “Doctor Sleep,” and “Firestarter” are the basis for major motion pictures, with “It” now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. His new book “You Like It Darker: Stories” will be released on May 21 and is available for pre-order on Amazon. It is an exciting new collection of twelve short stories, many never-before-published, and some of his best EVER. (Amazon, 2024)

“You Like It Darker” – “You like it darker? Fine, so do I,” writes Stephen King in the afterword to this magnificent new collection of twelve stories that dig into the darker part of life—both metaphorical and literal. King has, for half a century, been a master of the form, and these stories, about fate, mortality, luck, and the folds in reality where anything can happen, are as rich and riveting as his novels, both weighty in theme and a huge pleasure to read. King writes to feel “the exhilaration of leaving ordinary day-to-day life behind,” and in “You Like It Darker,” readers will feel that exhilaration too, again and again.

“Two Talented Bastids” explores the long-hidden secret of how the eponymous gentlemen got their skills. In “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream,” a brief and unprecedented psychic flash upends dozens of lives, Danny’s most catastrophically. In “Rattlesnakes,” a sequel to Cujo, a grieving widower travels to Florida for respite and instead receives an unexpected inheritance—with major strings attached. In “The Dreamers,” a taciturn Vietnam vet answers a job ad and learns that there are some corners of the universe best left unexplored. “The Answer Man” asks if prescience is good luck or bad and reminds us that a life marked by unbearable tragedy can still be meaningful.

King’s ability to surprise, amaze, and bring us both terror and solace remains unsurpassed. Each of these stories holds its own thrills, joys, and mysteries; each feels iconic. You like it darker? You got it.

1716288692

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

‘You Like It Darker’ release date

New horror movie release: Dancing Village: The Curse Begins

Aulia Sarah, Claresta Taufan Kusumarina and Maudy Effrosina in Dancing Village: The Curse Begins. Photo: Lionsgate, used with permission.

Love horror movies? I do. Horror movies tap into our primal fears, exploiting the dark recesses of the human psyche. They’re a rollercoaster ride of adrenaline and terror, plunging audiences into a world where the supernatural collides with reality and making excellent use of tension and suspense. While exploring themes of mortality, the unknown, and the macabre, they remind us of the thin veil that exists between the rational and the irrational, making us confront our deepest fears in the safety of a movie theater. If you’re looking for a new horror movie, here is an Indonesian horror movie coming out today, Friday April 26, 2024: Dancing Village: The Curse Begins (International title: Badarawuhi Di Desa Penari). It has English subtitles.

In this horror-thriller, a shaman instructs Mila to return a mystical bracelet, the Kawaturih, to the “Dancing Village,” a remote site on the easternmost tip of Java Island. Joined by her cousin, Yuda, and his friends Jito and Arya, Mila arrives on the island only to discover that the village elder has passed away, and that the new guardian, Mbah Buyut, isn’t present. Various strange and eerie events occur while awaiting Mbah Buyut’s return, including Mila being visited by Badarawuhi, a mysterious, mythical being who rules the village. When she decides to return the Kawaturih without the help of Mgah Buyut, Mila threatens the village’s safety, and she must join a ritual to select the new “Dawuh,” a cursed soul forced to dance for the rest of her life. (EG PR, 2024)

Directed by: Kimo Stamboel
Screenplay by: Lele Laila
Producer: Manoj Punjabi
Starring: Aulia Sarah, Maudy Effrosina, Jourdy Pranata, Moh. Iqbal Sulaiman, Ardit Erwandha, Claresta Taufan, Diding Boneng, Aming Sugandhi, Dinda Kanyadewi, Pipien Putri, Maryam Supraba, Bimasena, Putri Permata, Baiq Vania Estiningtyas Sagita, Baiq Nathania Elvaretta

Dancing Village: The Curse Begins is a prequel to KKN DI DESA PENARI, which was the highest grossing Indonesian film in history when it was released in 2022.This new film is the first film made for IMAX movie ever produced in Southeast Asia and in 2024, it will be one of only five films made for IMAX productions worldwide. Producer Manoj Punjabi is Indonesia’s most successful film and TV producer, and is the founder of MD Pictures, the country’s largest film company. Punjabi has produced 168 movies, including five of the biggest all-time local box office hits in Indonesia, including SEWU DINO and KKN DI DESA PENARI.

Photo: Lionsgate

New album release: Talking to Strangers – Jack McKeon

“Last Slice of Heaven” is the first single off Jack McKeon’s forthcoming new album Talking to Strangers, due out June 21, 2024. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Jack McKeon is a different sort of musician; a Nashville-based singer-songwriter with an honest, plainspoken vocal, an eclectic-roots sound, and a knack for bringing crystalline characters to life. A student of the greats drawn to the timeless, rather than the trendy, he hails from Chatham, New York (a few hours north of New York City and a world removed from the Americana and bluegrass scene he now inhabits), and harbors a deep love for the written word. First inspired by literary music icons from Hank Williams and Guy Clark to Tom T. Hall and John Hartford, McKeon arrived in Nashville in 2021 and has since established a reputation for his own message-drive lyricism—a value which shows up in its full sonic serenity on his 2024 album debut, Talking to Strangers, due out June 21. (IV-PR, 2024)

Recorded live over three days, Talking to Strangers captures the warm, organic sound of contemporary Appalachian soul, infusing folk rock with an easy-going bluegrass sway and speaking to his long-held musical values. It’s a work of classic craftsmanship, sturdy and simple yet packed with the nuance of a true, intentional wordsmith, and just the first significant step in what McKeon sees as “a lifelong pursuit.”

“Last Slice of Heaven” is the first single from Talking to Strangers. Fans can stream or purchase the single and pre-save Talking to Strangers ahead of its release.

With a classic banjo kick-off and rose-colored details dotting the first verse, Jack McKeon gives listeners their first taste of his new album with “Last Slice of Heaven.”

McKeon’s depiction of developmental creep is the story of every landowner outside of burgeoning cities nationwide. It doesn’t take long for the story to take a darker turn. How are the bills getting paid? Is there a new contractor twisting the county’s arm to condemn? “But now the land that he’s been working is worth more than he could need,” McKeon sings in the song’s pre-chorus. “If selling out’s surrender, is leaving like defeat?” “I wrote this song to give a voice to the person I imagined holding on to this ‘Last Slice of Heaven,’ a character at odds with the transformation around him who’s fighting to hold on to his own identity,” says McKeon. “…in spite of ‘A world that’s always changing what it means to be the same.’”

The Bluegrass Situation premiered the music video for “Last Slice of Heaven,” a simple, poignant affair in which McKeon picks the song on his vintage Gibson dreadnaught in his own little slice of heaven.

Talking to Strangers track list:
Willow Lane
Paler Shade of Blue
Highway 29
Last Slice of Heaven
I Don’t Trust You
Hard Headed
Crooked Teeth
Past the Point of Rescue
Waffle House Wonder
Love at the End of the World

1718968451

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

Talking to Strangers release date

New book release: ‘Toxic Prey’ by John Sandford

‘Toxic Prey’ is the thrilling new Lucas Davenport novel by John Sandford. Photo: Amazon

John Sandford is in the top 10 of my favorite authors. His crime fiction and mystery books are so engaging to read and I’ve read almost all of his Lucas Davenport novels. So naturally, I was pleased to hear that the next Prey novel, “Toxic Prey,” has just been released. Prepare yourself for another exciting Lucas Davenport mystery.

John Sandford is the pseudonym for the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Camp. He is the New York Times bestselling author of thirty-three Prey novels; two Letty Davenport novels; four Kidd novels; twelve Virgil Flowers novels; three YA novels coauthored with his wife, Michele Cook; and three other books. His latest thriller, “Toxic Prey” is the 34th Prey novel and has Lucas Davenport and his daughter, Letty, teaming up to track down a dangerous scientist whose latest project could endanger the entire world. (Amazon, 2024)

“Toxic Prey” – Gaia is dying. That, at least, is what Dr. Lionel Scott believes. A renowned expert in tropical and infectious diseases, Scott has witnessed the devastating impact of illness and turmoil at critical scale. Society as it exists is on shaky ground and the direct link to Earth’s death spiral; population levels are out of control and people have allowed disarray and disorder to run rampant. While most are concerned about deadly disease, Scott knows that it is truly humanity itself that will destroy Gaia. It’s only by removing the threat that the planet can continue to prosper, and luckily, Scott is just the right man for the job.

When Scott disappears without a trace, Letty Davenport is tasked with tracking down any and all leads. Scott’s connections to sensitive research into virus and pathogen spread has multiple national and international organizations on high alert, and his shockingly high clearance levels at various institutions, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory, make him the last person they’d like to go missing. As the web around Scott becomes more tangled, Letty calls in her father, Lucas, to help her lead a group of specialists to find Scott as soon as possible. But as Letty and Lucas begin to uncover startling and disturbing connections between Scott and Gaia conspiracists, their worst fears are confirmed, and it quickly becomes a race to find him before the virus he created becomes the perfect weapon.

ARROW brings Pandemonium to their May 2024 streaming lineup

The French macabre horror movie Pandemonium leads ARROW’s May 2024 lineup. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Arrow Video is excited to announce the May 2024 lineup of their subscription-based ARROW platform, available to subscribers in the US, Canada, the UK, and Ireland. Enjoy a selection of new titles, from carefully cultivated curations, shorts by new talent, and deep dives into the tastes of filmmakers whose talents have delighted audiences and shaped genre filmmaking. (Arrow Video, 2024)

The May 2024 lineup leads with the exclusive ARROW release of Quarxx’s French macabre horror Pandemonium, available May 27 in the US, Canada, UK, and Ireland.

Drawing on themes found in Dante’s Inferno and Milton’s Paradise Lost, Pandemonium is a multi-textured existential fantasy, topped with signature notes of visceral horror, disturbing fairy tale, wry comedy, and dark thriller. From the creative mind of Quarxx, comes this aesthetically stunning and relentlessly macabre tale. Pandemonium made its world premiere at Neuchâtel and went on to screen at Fantasia, Frightfest, Fantasy FilmFest, Sitges, Grimmfest, Trieste, and Screamfest and you can see it at home on ARROW with a host of brand new extras.

May Seasons bloom May 3 with Jennifer Reeder Selects (UK/IRE/US/CA)
Titles include Switchblade Sisters, The Sacred Spirit, Lady Morgan’s Vengeance.

Also on May 3, subscribers in all territories can enjoy a pair of underseen violent short films.
The Host (UK/IRE/US/CA): In this tense-as-hell 1960 short from Jack Hill, Sid Haig plays an on-the-run cowboy who is laying low. But, to remain safe and appease a local tribe, he must commit another terrible crime. Hill and Haig’s incredible talents were burning bright right from the beginning in an atmospheric, violent debut feature that is not to be missed.

The Adventures of Denchu-Kozo (UK/IRE/US/CA): Hikari is a boy who is bullied at school because he has an electricity pole growing out of his back. One of his classmates named Momo comes to his rescue and he thanks her by sharing his secret possession with her: a time machine. Activating the time machine transports him 25 years into a dark, dystopian, world of the future. There he encounters members of the Shinsengumi Vampire Gang who are hunting a woman named Dr. Sariba who is revealed to be Momo’s future self. He and he alone must save the world.

On May 10, head to the fields and forests and watch Cunning Folk (UK/IRE/US/CA).
Cunning Folk is a collection of folklore and folktales, the locals who believe in them and the outsiders who inevitably fall foul of them. If you know what’s good for you, you will fear, respect and uphold the Old Ways of the Cunning Folk. Or else…
Titles include The Wyrm of Bwlch Pen Barras, Threshold, Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji.

On May 10, enjoy a trio of recent additions to the indie horror lexicon.
Legs (UK/IRE/US/CA): Joy and Harry are trying to have a baby. One night, Joy swallows a spider in her sleep. When Joy subsequently develops an insatiable appetite for flies, it dawns on her that there may be more than one way of becoming a mother.

The Afterlife Bureau (UK/IRE/US/CA): “There’s something which comes after death and before you meet your maker… paperwork.” The Afterlife Bureau is a dark comedy in which brings Earthly nuisances such as bureaucracy to the afterlife.

Ouzo and Blackcurran (UK/IRE/US/CA): Two old friends take a trip down memory lane, but they are not alone – there’s someone there who never left.

On May 17, stay up all night and watch The City that Never Sleeps (UK/IRE/US/CA).
On ARROW, the Big Apple is known as The City That Never Sleeps because the films set on its streets will give you nightmares. Psychopathic gangsters, deranged killers, out-of-control street gangs, even zombies and misshapen, deadly ex-conjoined twins, get a taste of an older, scarier, grittier, scuzzier New York in The City That Never Sleeps.
Titles include: The Driller Killer, Basket Case, Mammoth.

Also on May 17, enjoy origin stories of genre legends.
Eaten Alive (UK/IRE/US/CA): Nearly a decade before he donned Freddy Krueger’s famous red and green sweater, horror icon Robert Englund delivered a supremely sleazy performance in Eaten Alive, another essay in taut Southern terror from Tobe Hooper, director of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Oozing atmosphere from its every pore, Eaten Alive matches The Texas Chain Saw Massacre for sheer insanity helped in no small part by some marvelous histrionics from Chain Saw star Marilyn Burns and William Finley.

Spider Baby (UK/IRE/US/CA): This was the first solo feature by Jack Hill, whom Quentin Tarantino dubbed “the Howard Hawks of exploitation filmmaking,” and it remains one of his wildest and weirdest. Lon Chaney Jr gave one of his most memorable late performances as Bruno, their guardian and protector, who has managed to cover up their crimes until two distant relatives lay claim to their house. When they insist on moving in, Bruno has to cross his fingers and hope that the ‘children’ behave towards their new guests.

On May 24, slide into The Ick (UK/IRE/US/CA).
Guaranteed to gross you out and featuring the sleaziest and skeeziest films on ARROW, this one is bound to give you The Ick.
Titles include Doom Asylum, Hellish Flesh, The Baby.

On May 31, ARROW closes out the lineup by sending audiences to Heaven or (Mostly) Hell (UK/IRE/US/CA).
Recently dead and stuck in limbo with a very important choice to make, up or down. Who knows if we get a choice of paradise or the abyss à la the beginning of Quarxx’s film Pandemonium? We’ve tried to give you a choice in this collection, but let’s be honest, on ARROW, the choice favors purgatory more than the pearly gates.
Titles include Pandemonium, Hotel Poseidon, A Ghost Waits.

Head over to ARROW to start watching now.
Subscriptions are available for $6.99 monthly or $69.99 yearly.

ARROW is available in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland on the following Apps/devices: Roku (all Roku sticks, boxes, devices, etc.), Apple TV & iOS devices, Samsung TVs, Android TV and mobile devices, Fire TV (all Amazon Fire TV Sticks, boxes, etc.), and on all web browsers.

With a slickly designed and user-friendly interface, and an unparalleled roster of quality content from westerns to giallo to Asian cinema, trailers, Midnight Movies, filmmaker picks and much, much more, ARROW is the place to go for the very best in on-demand entertainment.

In the coming months, ARROW will be adding Oscar-winning hits, European classics, Asian cinema masterworks, rediscovered Westerns, offbeat gems and much more as part of ARROW’s international strategy to support and celebrate the medium of film.

Tickets on sale now for 42nd annual Tejano Conjunto Festival

The legendary festival to feature the best in Tejano Conjunto music. Photo: Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center

Tickets are on sale now for the 42nd Tejano Conjunto Festival (TCF) en San Antonio, May 15-May 19, the first and longest-running conjunto festival in the country. It is internationally recognized as the most influential event for this beloved South Texas musical tradition. TCF will encompass five robust days of live performances and dancing, including a special Seniors Dance and Conjunto Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, 2024)

The free Seniors Dance will be held on Wednesday, May 15, for seniors ages 55 and older with music from Los Hermanos DeLeón and Felipe Perez y sus Polkeros. The Hall of Fame ceremony on Thursday, May 16, will feature a special dinner and dance. It will showcase esteemed Hall of Fame inductees from previous years including Bene Medina y su Conjunto Águila, Eddie “Lalo” Torres, Boni Mauricio y Los Máximos, Ruben Garza y La Nueva Era, and Santiago Jimenez. Jr., who has been nominated for three Grammys. Both the Seniors Dance and the Hall of Fame event will take place at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9186, 650 VFW Blvd, and are co-sponsored by KEDA Radio.

The main weekend line-up for the 42nd Annual Tejano Conjunto Festival at Rosedale Park, 303 Dartmouth St, will feature three days of the best in conjunto music from Friday, May 17 through Sunday, May 19, 2024.

On Friday, May 17, the Festival kicks off with Conjuntazzo with Joel & Sarah, Los D Boys, Gilberto Pérez Jr. y su Conjunto, Los Conjunto Kings de Flavio Longoria, David Flores y Los Tremendos Alacranes, and Los Desperadoz.

On Saturday May 18, the festival features student conjuntos from Rio Grande Valley, Retoño, J.R. Gómez y Los Conjunto Bandits, Mando y La Venganza, Conjunto Prestigio, Bernardo y sus Compadres, Impozzible, Los Tellez, Los Monarcas de Pete y Mario Díaz, Ruben de la Cruz, Los Cucuys de Rodney Rodriguez, and Lázaro Pérez y su Conjunto.

On Sunday, May 19, the Tejano Conjunto Festival starts with student conjuntos from San Antonio and then closes out with the Texas Sweethearts, Linda Escobar, Susan Torres y Conjunto Los Pinkys, Cindy Ramos y su Conjunto, Los Delta Boyz, Santiago Garza y la Naturaleza, Eva Ybarra y su Conjunto Siempre, Los Texmaniacs with Flaco Jimenez, and Los Fantasmas del Valle.

Prepare for an unforgettable experience as these legendary performers ignite the stage with their mesmerizing melodies and infectious rhythms.

The festival draws an enthusiastic  audience of more than 10,000 fans, dancers, and musicians from across Texas and the United States, as well as Mexico, Europe, and Asia. The crowd has grown over the years to include legions of fans who return each year to dance and celebrate Conjunto culture. The Tejano Conjunto Festival has become a model for many other Conjunto festivals that have appeared since it started in 1982, and is credited with highlighting the singular music and culture of South Texas Tejanos. This year’s events will be held at Rosedale Park (303 Dartmouth St) and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9186 (650 VFW Blvd). Tickets and sponsorship packages are now available.

TCF is one of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center’s most beloved annual events. Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Executive Director, Cristina Ball is the director, Dan Margolies is the producer. It was founded by Juan Tejeda, the first Xicano Music Program Director of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, who continues to serve as an advisor. 

“Celebrating the Tejano Conjunto Festival is a vibrant tribute to the heartbeat of San Antonio’s and South Texas’ rich cultural landscape encompassing music, dance and community spirit. Like the soulful melodies of conjunto music, this festival resonates as a beacon of Tejano and Chicano heritage, unity, and empowerment, echoing through generations with enduring strength and resonance.” – Juan Tejeda, the first Xicano Music Program Director of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center and founder of the Tejano Conjunto Festival en San Antonio

“This year’s festival holds the promise of an unforgettable celebration,  shining a spotlight on the rich traditions of Tejano and conjunto music. We’re looking forward to creating lasting memories at this remarkable event.” – Cristina Ballí, Executive Director at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center was founded in 1980 as a nonprofit, multi-disciplinary organization. Located in the heart of San Antonio’s westside, the Guadalupe is one of the largest community-based organizations in the US with the mission to cultivate, promote and preserve traditional and contemporary Chicano, Latino, and Native American arts and culture through multidisciplinary programming.

2024 Official Poster. Poster Overall Contest Winner Designed by San Antonio native Anna Arce

New album release: When It All Goes Down – Sarah King

Sarah King’s new album When It All Goes Down is available now. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Award-winning singer-songwriter-guitarist Sarah King makes her long-awaited full-length solo debut with When It All Goes Down, exploring life’s seismic shifts via her own singular strain of Gothic Americana. Produced, engineered, and arranged by David Baron, the album sees King weaving classic rock ‘n’ roll, Southern soul, true country, and primal folk-blues into something inspiring and cathartic, deeply personal yet wholly universal. Fired by King’s spellbinding, seen-it-all vocals and rock solid rhythm guitar, songs like “The Longest Night” and the empowering, anthemic title track are haunting, oft-times harrowing, tales of impossible guilt and inconsolable grief, of raising hell (and the repercussions that follow), of how to stand face to face with the Devil himself yet somehow emerge bigger, better, and badder than before. (One In A Million Media, 2024)

Currently residing in the Green Mountains of Vermont, in a tiny log cabin without cell reception, Sarah King has walked many a hard road to reach When It All Goes Down. New England born and raised, King spent her early twenties down South, playing in a GA-based rock ‘n’ roll band and generally “growing up, a.k.a. becoming an adult.” She eventually moved back north but found herself at a crossroads, slightly burnt out but driven by an evolving passion for front porch folk and traditional blues, hard times music as real and true now as it was nearly a century ago.

A captivating and engaging live performer, King is keen to bring her cathartic blues to life on stage both as a solo artist and bandleader. Rich with rare integrity, earnest emotion, and a restless energy born of extraordinary experience, When It All Goes Down captures an acutely authentic artist exploring her spirit and songcraft in an effort to reach a place that’s both true and transcendent not only in herself, but in all those who also call upon the power of music in their time of need.

“My stories are folk stories,” says Sarah King. “Of the people, for the people, by the people (I’m a person). These are songs for folks who’ve lived through some shit and want some music that doesn’t shy away from that.”

When It All Goes Down track list:

1. Lord Take My Soul
2. Always an Almost
3. When It All Goes Down
4. The Longest Night
5. Blame it on the Booze
6. Stronger Than You Ever Knew
7. You Were Wrong About Me
8. Hey Hey What Can I Do
9. Whiskey Thinking
10. Pretty Things
11. The Moth
12. Devil’s Try

“A declaration of empowerment… with a wild, unbridled attitude”
– Americana UK

“A haunting tale with slow-burning Americana Noir sound”
– Glide Magazine

“Fiery, vulnerable songs informed by heartbreak and whiskey alike”
– Relix Magazine

“Merciless…she sings with a venomous tongue”
– American Songwriter

“Hard-hitting soul drenched Americana”
– Lonesome Highway 

“King’s powerful voice is uniquely suited for Americana and blues, a force of nature that conveys big emotions amidst rock-steady arrangements”
– Rainbow Rodeo

Red Bull Batalla: worldwide rap battle tournament at Paper Tiger

Red Bull Batalla returns to Fiesta San Antonio. The world’s biggest Spanish language freestyle rap competition takes over Paper Tiger. Photo: Red Bull Batalla, used with permission.

Red Bull Batalla, the world’s largest Spanish-language freestyle rap competition, returns to San Antonio as part of Fiesta San Antonio 2024, bringing together some of the America’s best freestyle rappers to battle it as part of a bracket-style tournament on Saturday, April 20 at Paper Tiger. (Red Bull Batalla, 2024)

After a successful debut last spring, Red Bull Batalla returns to San Antonio, welcoming 16 aspiring MCs, a quarter of which hail from the Lone Star State. 

These Latino lyricists will put their wit, creativity, and stage presence to the test over a series of bracket-style knockout rounds all for a chance to compete at the USA National Final later this fall, and potentially the 2024 International Final in Madrid, Spain this November.

Immediately following these intense rap battles, attendees will be treated to music performances from a pair of hip-hop stars – fast-rising Mexican rapper/singer Tornillo and Houston’s very own Bo Bundy – to close out San Antonio’s Red Bull Batalla Regional Qualifier.

Attendees will be able to get their hands on a brand new metal created to commemorate Fiesta San Antonio 2024. Designed by Texas-based Monarch Trophy Studio, these special medals are limited in quantity and offered as a first-come, first-served gift to attendees.

Photo: Red Bull Batalla

Throughout the evening event, guests will also be treated to several tasty cocktails curated by Red Bull, as well as free haircuts and beard trims courtesy of some of San Antonio’s premier barbers and hair stylists including Faded Culture and Kurly Kutz, among others. This barber pop-up experience will be available first come, first serve starting when doors open at 8p.m.

Fans 18+ are encouraged to RSVP for Free online today to reserve their spot in advance, although prices increase to $5 the week of the event. 

USA REGIONAL QUALIFIER – EVENT INFORMATION:

DATE: Saturday, April 20
TIME: Doors open at 8p.m., rap battles start at 9p.m.
LOCATION: Paper Tiger (2410 N St Mary’s St, San Antonio, TX 78212)

MCS:
• Boss
• Cuban **
• Heavy
• Magimbri **
• RuRa
• Pharaon
• Maluque
• White Caracas **
• Oner
• YENKY ONE
• Jordi **
• Versomc
• J Luna
• TREBOL
• LINK_ONE
• CAS **

** MCs based in Texas

JUDGES:
• Chester – Spanish freestyle legend and longtime California scene icon
• Skiper – Red Bull Batalla Mexico National Final 2021 Champion and freestyle OG
• Barba – San Antonio and Texas Native, Barba is a mainstay in the Texas freestyle scene

HOST:
• Racso White Lion – Official host of the 2023 Red Bull Batalla USA season and creator of the Indigo Freestyle League based in Orlando, Florida
• Fluffy – Host of Red Bull Batalla and Official host of the Texas freestyle league, Urban RapStars

DJS:
• DJ Lobo – Resident DJ for Texas freestyle league Urban RapStars
• Rudy Rios – San Antonio native and resident DJ at Vibras bar

Since 2005, Red Bull Batalla has provided a platform for the best hip-hop improvisors in the Spanish-speaking world to connect, develop, and compete. Within the last few years, the Red Bull founded project has become the world’s biggest international freestyle battle competition, uniting Spanish speaking Latin America and Spain. The roots of this improvised rap scene are as deeply connected to hip hop as they are to the improvisation styles of traditional folk troubadours. It has evolved into a style completely distinct from that of hip hop in North America. With Batalla, Red Bull gives an opportunity for young MCs to train, perform and improve their improvisation and rapping skills.

Photo: Red Bull Batalla