Dan Riddle’s new supernatural spine-chiller The Last Possession is available on Terror Films AVOD Channel and Video On Demand. Photo: Terror Films, used with permission.
From director Dan Riddle and writer Greg Shouse and featuring Fear the Walking Dead’s Stephen Brodie, experience the spine-chilling thrills of The Last Possession. Out of options after a foreclosure, Kent Peroni is forced to move his wife, Stephanie, nine-year old son, Jack, and six-year-old daughter, Gabby into the home where his estranged father committed suicide years ago. Once there, the young family begins to notice strange events around the house, which become so terrifying they finally turn to a medium. Spirit guide, Granny Inez arrives, hoping to cleanse the home for Kent’s family, only to learn they are horrifyingly wrong about the nature of the evil that surrounds them. (Terror Films, 2022)
The Last Possession, starring Stephen Brodie, Cassie Shea Watson, Tom Proctor, and Patricia Rae is available on the Terror Films Channel and digital and Video On Demand.
“The Last Possession is a foreboding tale about a family at odds with themselves and each other as they move into a new home. Sometimes families want to love each other, but daily annoyances, financial pressures, and personal insecurities get in their way. In order to survive this house’s dark history, they’ll have to accept unwanted gifts, accept love where it’s offered, and trust each other. It’s hard to be a busy mom. It’s hard to be a father who is struggling to provide for his family. It’s hard to face adolescence. It’s hard to be the powerless little kid. …And it’s even harder when something diabolical is at your doorstep. Cassie and Stephen brought to life this uncomfortable family dynamic of tension and longing. Lourelle and Sawyer were shockingly astute for child actors, delivering naturalistic childhood taunting and true dread. Sometimes the last thing you want, becomes the last thing you have.” – Dan Riddle, director
Director: Dan Riddle Cast: Stephen Brodie, Cassie Sea Watson, Tom Proctor Genre: Horror Run time: 94 minutes Rating: NR
Dallas Ugly explores the vast reaches of three cords and the truth on their debut album Watch Me Learn, due out April 8, 2022. Courtesy photo, used with permission.
The music of Dallas Ugly shines with lustrous nostalgia on their debut album, Watch Me Learn. Built on a foundation of mellow interchanges of electric guitar and pedal steel, the rhythm and flow evoke an old-school country version of lo-fi hip hop radio. Combined with soaring fiddle and heartfelt vocals, it becomes something wholly new – a sound as unique as it is dreamy. Themes of change, loss, and growth, felt alongside the band members’ decade-long friendship, lend themselves naturally to the rolling country music vibes of their melodies and instrumentation. Together, Owen Burton, Eli Broxham, and Libby Weitnauer present a dreamy, last-call rendition of three chords and the truth. If you close your eyes, you can practically feel yourself slow dancing under the lazy orbit of a disco ball at midnight. (Dallas Ugly, 2022)
Dallas Ugly’s unique, quietly intense sound is all at once nostalgic and new, carrying an Americana torch into their own technicolor future. This group of college friends turned dedicated bandmates shared a track from their upcoming full-length debut, Watch Me Learn, out April 8, 2022. You can pre-order the album here.
The song, “Liberated No Ones,” lumbers along, ghostly, with touches of Gillian Welch-esque verses and bursts of spazzy Radiohead-sounding drum beats and violin-turned-arpeggiator fills. Watch the historically inspired video here which features footage of coal miners sourced from documentaries Steel: A Symphony of Industry, “Original Pocahontas” Coal and A Chance To Play.
The whole of Watch Me Learn—produced by Alec Spiegelman (Cuddle Magic, Ana Egge, Taylor Ashton)—explores the missed adventures and misadventures of life in one’s early twenties—mistakes being made, lessons being learned, bonds being formed and broken as one grows into the person they are meant to be. The band explores these themes with fondness and love, a gentle empathy for the inner child they have left behind. More than anything else, they explore them together. “I hope that what people take away from the album is an emotional response—take away the feeling of having just caught up with some old friends in a very intimate experience,” says Weitnauer. After all, that is what the album was to them: a way to reconnect with old friends after time apart—sharing the stories of the hardships and triumphs that led them back to each other. It is an album that in part looks back on the journeys and evolutions we make as individuals, but also looks towards the communities and people who shape our lives in equal measure.
Watch Me Learn track list: Remember When You’re Leaving Watch Me Learn Anyone New Saint-Louis Part of a Time Gold Money Liberated No Ones Fool’s Life Big Hands Ought To Miss You By Now Sleight of Hand
Dreaming Hollywood is available On Demand and Blu-Ray. Photo: Cleopatra Entertainment, used with permission.
Cleopatra Entertainment released Dreaming Hollywood, a dark action-drama from Writer-Director Frank Martinez, on March 22. Described as “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” meets Tarantino, Dreaming Hollywood takes a deep dive into Ray Balfi’s bizarre world of drug dealers, prostitutes, dirty cops, and social rejects as he tries to begin a new life and shops his cartoon screenplay to 100 L.A. production companies. While facing rejection after rejection Ray learns that someone has stolen his script and made his movie, “The Dog’s Meow” without his permission. Now, Ray’s already messed-up life is thrown into catastrophic mayhem as he seeks revenge. Who stole his script? Everyone he meets is suspect as Ray is now motivated with a new lust for life and for blood. (Cleopatra Entertainment, 2022)
In addition to winning the Audience Award at the Erie International Film Festival and winning the Best Feature Film at the London International Monthly Film Festival, Dreaming Hollywood continues its journey thru the Festival circuit, being officially selected at the upcoming Baja California International Film Festival, the Los Angeles Lift Off Film Festival, the Studio City International Film & TV Festival, the Rome International Movie Festival, and the 4TheaterMovies Film Festival in the Best Film and Best Screenplay Categories.
The film stars Turk Matthews, Eliot, Link Ruiz, and Madelyn Allen along with appearances by Rafael Sigler, Ben Lin, and Thomas Evans. The film is available on DVD and VOD Platforms and will also be available as part of a deluxe Home Entertainment Blu Ray package that also includes, as a bonus, a blistering audio soundtrack CD, featuring the music of DMX, ONYX, and more.
Cleopatra Entertainment is a Los Angeles based multimedia company founded by Cleopatra Records head Brian Perera. Recent films in release include Glenn Danzig’s vampire spaghetti-western Death Rider in the House of Vampires, Danzig’s debut horror feature Verotika, the critically-acclaimed rock and roll biopic Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynryd Skynyrd Plane Crash, the UK drama Mrs. Lowry & Son starring Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave, and the action-adventure extravaganza China Salesman starring Mike Tyson and Steven Seagal.
Unify will be out June 3 and Unify World Tour kicks off March 24, 2022. Photo: Lettuce, used with permission.
Lettuceis the greasiest, funkiest band on today’s music scene. On June 3, the GRAMMY-nominated six-piece—Adam Deitch (drums), Ryan Zoidis (saxophone), Adam ‘Shmeeans’ Smirnoff (guitar), Erick ‘Jesus’ Coomes (bass), Nigel Hall (keyboards/vocals), Eric ‘Benny’ Bloom (trumpet)—will be delivering a whole host of new tunes to the world in the form of Unify, the eighth studio album from Lettuce and the third consecutive record made at Denver’s Colorado Sound Studios. It completes a loose trilogy starting with 2019’s GRAMMY-nominated Elevate, and continuing with 2020’s Resonate. Fans can expect the same tight, wildly-funky instrumentals Lettuce has been known for, but in the tightest form they have ever taken. This time around, the guys have gotten the stamp of approval from one of the genre’s most legendary icons, Mr. Bootsy Collins, himself, who can be heard singing on the track “Keep That Funk Alive.” (Lettuce, 2022)
Lettuce recently premiered “Gravy Train,” the first single from Unify, featuring a tightly evolved rhythm section, pin-point accurate horns, and a guitar-bass unison part not executed this well since Leo and George did it down in New Orleans all those years ago. “‘Gravy Train’ just has that classic Lettuce vibe,” says Smirnoff. “It’s one of those songs that’s timeless and could have shown up on any of our first albums. Give “Gravy Train” a spin right now at this link, pre-order or pre-save Unify ahead of its June 3 release right here.
Dealing with the pandemic, being in separate places, trying to survive without our best friends, without touring, not to mention the political divide in this country,” says Deitch. “We really needed to unify.” Zoidis recalls, “This album came together at a time when we were away from each other longer than we had been in years.” Although the band was able to do a lot of writing and pre-production from their respective home studios, they had not been in the same room or on the same stage together since their European tour was cut short in March 2021, so the first song on Unify captures the raw energy of a much-needed reunion at Colorado Sound Studios—though, that is not exactly where the story begins.
Beginning March 24 in St. Petersburg, Florida, Lettuce will take their brand new material out on the road, and across the pond, for the Unify World Tour. Between their U.S. leg and September’s Europe run, the band will hit some of the country’s most beloved festivals including Bonnaroo, Electric Forest, Sonic Bloom, and High Sierra. A full list of tour dates is below and ticket information is available online.
Catch Lettuce on tour: March 24 – St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live March 25 – Charlotte, NC – Neighborhood Theatre March 26 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel March 27 – Wilmington, NC – Greenfield Lake Amphitheater March 30 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall March 31 – Baltimore, MD – Sound Stage April 2 – Philadelphia, PA – Brooklyn Bowl April 3 – Syracuse, NY – Westcott Theater April 6 – Hartford, CT – Infinity Music Hall April 7 – Burlington, VT – Higher Ground April 8 – Boston, MA – House of Blues April 9 – Portland, ME – State Theatre April 20 – Patchogue, NY – Blue Point Brewing April 21 – Albany, NY – Empire Live April 22 – Port Chester, NY – The Capitol Theatre April 23 – Washington, DC – National Cannabis Cup April 24 – Asbury Park, NJ – The Stone Pony April 27 – St. Louis, MO – The Big Top April 28 – Little Rock, AR – The Hall April 29 – Jackson, MS – Duling Hall April 30 – New Orleans, LA – The Joy Theater (with Soul Rebels) May 7 – Mill Valley, CA – Mill Valley Music Festival May 26-29 – Martinsville, VA – Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival June 16-19 – Hummingbird Ranch, CO – Sonic Bloom Festival June 19 – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival June 23-26 – Rothbury, MI – Electric Forest Festival June 24-25 – Swanzey, NH – Northlands Music & Arts Festival June 30-July 3 – Quincy, CA – High Sierra Music Festival August 11 – Cincinnati, OH – Taft Theatre August 12 – Huber Heights, OH – Rose Music Center at The Heights August 13 – Richmond, VA – Jam Packed Craft Beer & Music Festival August 26 – Martha’s Vineyard, MA – Beach Road Weekend Festival September 20 – London, UK – Scala September 21 – Tourcoing, France – Le Grand Mix September 23 – Paris, France – Billard L’alhambra September 24 – Rouen, France – Le 106 club September 26 – Frankfurt, Germany – Batschkapp September 27 – Rotterdam, Netherlands – Bird September 28 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso Noord September 29 – Leuven, Belgium – Het Depot September 30 – Berlin, Germany – Gretchen October 2 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Pumpehuset October 3 – Oslo, Norway – Cosmopolite Scene October 4 – Jahanneshov, Sweden – Slaktkyrkan October 5 – Gothenburg, Sweden – Jazzklubben Nefertiti October 7 – Hamburg, Germany – Mojo Club October 8 – Brno, Czechia – Groove Brno October 9 – Vienna, Austria – Club Porgy & Bess October 11 – Bern, Switzerland – Bierhübeli October 12 – Pisa, Italy – Lumiere October 13 – Rome, Italy – Monk Club October 14 – Milano, Italy – Santeria Toscana 31 October 15 – Rovereto, Italy – Auditorium Melotti October 17 – Stuttgart, Germany – Im Wizemann October 18 – Mulhouse, France – Noumatrouff October 20 – Barcelona, Spain – Sala La Nau October 21 – Madrid, Spain – Sala Caracol October 22 – Cenon, France – Le Rocher de Palmer
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys connect bluegrass past and present with Never Slow Down, due out March 25 via Smithsonian Folkways. Photo: The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, used with permission.
Necessity is what brought GRAMMY-nominated, IBMA Award-winning bluegrass group The Po’ Ramblin’ Boystogether in the first place—and it is necessity that keeps them fueled today. Initially, a basic need for entertainment at an East Tennessee moonshine distillery brought the band’s original lineup together, but now, after miles and miles of touring and multiple albums recorded, their need is to continue connecting the past to the present, breaking new ground in the unknown future of the “high, lonesome sound.” The quintet symbolizes not only the tradition, legend, and lore that is bluegrass music, they possess a key trait of the ancient tones all too easily forgotten in the 21st century—rebellion. This spirit is at the center of their newest album, Never Slow Down, out March 25 on Smithsonian Folkways, which is also their first album featuring fiddler Laura Orshaw as an official member of the band. Taking on material by their heroes the Stanley Brothers, Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard, George Jones, and more, The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys bridge the gap between the past and present, proving the eternal importance of bluegrass and making it accessible to all. (The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, 2022)
“We know what bluegrass is. We know the history. And we respect the history. But, we’re looking to expand the boundaries of bluegrass—that’s the truth of the matter,” says The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys’ lead singer and mandolinist, C.J. Lewandowski. “A good song is a good song. We want to honor the past, but we also want to do our own material—to have our own sound, and to play our own way.” American Songwriter premiered the lead single “The Blues Are Close at Hand,” calling the single “high-energy” and taking note of the band’s “skilled and respectful approach to bluegrass traditions.” Fans can click here to hear “The Blues Are Close at Hand” and pre-order or pre-save Never Slow Down ahead of its March 25 release at this link.
Never Slow Down also represents the latest chapter of The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys with the addition of fiddler Laura Orshaw as an official band member. Though Orshaw had made appearances on previous offerings from The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, her new full-time member status is front and center on Never Slow Down, whether it be taking the lead vocals on certain melodies or letting her intricate fiddle work shine through with its razor-sharp tone. “Having the fiddle in there really completes that signature lineup of what bluegrass music is,” Lewandowski says. “And with Laura, we’re able to open up all kinds of harmony structures, which gives each of us more opportunities to expand our palette of what we want to ultimately create and perform live.”
In signing with Smithsonian Folkways, the group has become a part of a nearly century-long legacy of musical celebration and preservation as they join the ranks of Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard, Del McCoury, Bill Monroe, The Stanley Brothers, and many other innovators of previous eras of Bluegrass that have material in the label’s fabled catalog.
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys are gearing up for their next, unwritten phase with an album release tour and spring festival engagements right around the corner, and carrying bluegrass into the future will always be their number one focus. “The beauty of bluegrass music is not just the tradition of it, but also its constant evolution,” Lewandowski says. “No matter what we do, we’re always going to be honoring something in some kind of way. And that because it’s just what we like to do—it’s part of every one of us in this band.”
Never Slow Down track list: Missing Her Has Never Slowed Me Down Where Grass Don’t Grow Lonesome The Blues Are Close at Hand When Are You Gonna Tell Me? Take My Ashes to the River Little Glass of Wine Ramblin’ Woman Woke Up With Tears in My Eyes Mason’s Lament Old Time Angels
Catch The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys on tour: April 9 – Bristol, VA – Bristol Spring Bluegrass Festival April 23 – Oakboro, NC – Big Lick Bluegrass Festival April 30 – Floyd, VA – Floyd Country Store May 4 – Branson, MO – Silver Dollar City May 5 – Branson, MO – Silver Dollar City May 6 – Webster, KY – The Randall Barn May 7 – Cincinnati, OH – Appalachian Festival May 26 – McClure, VA – Dr. Ralph Stanley’s Hills of Home Bluegrass Festival
Wood and Water: A Film by Jonas Bak. Courtesy photo, used with permission.
KimStim presents a Trance Film Production of Wood and Water, a film by Jonas Bak. Winner: Berlin International Film Festival – Special Mention: Compass-Perspektive-Award and Official Selection: New Directors/New Films Festival at BFI London Film Festival. Wood and Water will be released in New York (MOMA) on March 24 with a Los Angeles and national release to follow. (KimStim, 2022)
Wood and Water – With seamless grace, German director Jonas Bak moves from the tall spires of the Black Forest to the teeming skyscrapers of Hong Kong in his tranquil, deeply moving feature debut. Newly retired from her church job, Anke dreams of spending time with her grown children—including her uncommunicative and elusive son, Max, who has been living for years in Hong Kong, and who is unable to join his mother and sister back in Germany due to the ongoing pro-democracy protests.
In a daring decision, Anke, though suffering from loneliness and loss, travels to Hong Kong to find Max and perhaps also herself. The people she encounters, and her experience of the city help her to break down the inner walls she constructed years ago, and make way for a new chapter in her life. In his hushed, wholly original approach to this fish-out-of-water set-up, Bak constructs a gentle, ambiguous fable of becoming, shot on 16mm and featuring a wondrous, naturalistic performance by his own mother, Anke Bak.
Starring Anke Bak, Ricky Yeung, Alexandra Batten, Patrick Lo, Theresa Bak, Patrick Shum, Edward Chan, Susanne Johnssen, Lena Ackermann, Amy Aceituna, and Christel Johnssen. Run time: 79 Minutes (Germany/ France/ HK- Feature Film) In German, English and Cantonese
Jonas Bak (Writer/ Director/ Editor) Born in Konstanz in 1985, and now based in Freiburg, Jonas Bak studied film directing at Edinburgh College of Art before moving to London in 2015, and then Hong Kong in 2018 to work as a freelance film director and director of photography. He wrote and directed two short films, Wanderdrachen (2016) and One and Many (2017), both of which were screened at international film festivals including Molodist, Curtacinema Rio de Janeiro and Pacific Meridian. Wood and Water (2021) is his first feature film.
KimStim is a Brooklyn-based, full-service distribution company dedicated to releasing exceptional independent, foreign, and documentary films. KimStim brings to the US, and North American audiences selected films from around the world gleaned from the most prestigious film festivals and includes top prize winners from Sundance, Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Berlin, and Tribeca. Signature releases include Hu Bo’s epic masterpiece, An Elephant Sitting Still, the 2020 Oscar Shortlisted Best International Feature Hope, and Happy Hour by the Oscar-Nominated Director of Drive My Car, Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
Juno Award-Winner Steve Dawson makes the best out of his time with upcoming album Gone, Long Gone, out March 18, 2022. Courtesy photo, used with permission.
When 2019 turned into 2020, Canadian guitarist, composer, and seven-time Juno Award-winning musician Steve Dawsonwas as busy as he had ever been in his life—playing with his friends Matt Anderson or Birds of Chicago and helming his acclaimed Music Makers and Soul Shakers podcast, all while producing albums for a multitude of roots artists and touring under his own name. So when the pandemic hit and pulled the ripcord to slow down Dawson’s life, he took the positives with the negatives and relished in some time off to work on music that may have never seen the light of day otherwise. His flurry of activity resulted in enough solo material for three distinct albums, the first of which, Gone, Long Gone—an album focused entirely on Dawson’s songcraft—will be released on March 18. (Steve Dawson, 2022)
American Songwriter premiered “Dimes,” Gone, Long Gone’s horn-laden, funk-infused opener. With a punchy, funky guitar attack akin to Ry Cooder, “Dimes” explores the age-old idea of quality versus quantity. “I just wanted to have a nice laid-back, funky feel going on over this, and then in the middle, a 70s cop-show theme song breaks out,” says Dawson, reflecting on recording the tune which features an all-star lineup of players. Fans can hear “Dimes” now at this linkand check out the song’s lyric video, which premiered yesterday across the pond with Americana UK.Gone, Long Gone can be pre-ordered or pre-saved ahead of its March 18 release at this link.
Gone, Long Gone is Dawson’s first collection of songs since Solid States and Loose Ends came out in 2016, and features nine original cuts (mostly co-written with Alberta songwriter Matt Patershuk) and a soulful cover of The Faces’ “Ooh La La.” These new originals represent the first time Dawson has collaborated on songs with another artist, conceding that co-writing was a process that he previously found uncomfortable. Once Patershuk started firing off ideas to Steve, the ball got rolling, ideas flowed back and forth, and once the dust had settled, they had come up with a batch of new songs. The finished product proves that, as much as anything else, Steve Dawson is a singer-songwriter of the highest caliber and that Gone, Long Gone is the most realized album to be released under his own name to date.
As much as everyone has suffered through the past year, the beautiful music featured on Gone, Long Gone shows us that there is a bright side to our enforced isolation. It is not simply a record of the pandemic. These are songs with a life of their own that will resonate long after the memories of our current situation have faded.
Steve Dawson has long been recognized as one of Canada’s finest instrumentalists and record producers. He has collected seven Juno awards and 22 more nominations, was named Western Canadian Music Awards’ “Producer of the Year” three times and Canadian Folk Music Awards’ “Producer of the Year” four times with nominations too many to count between the two organizations. Dawson is the mastermind behind the popular podcast Music Makers and Soul Shakers, which has now published more than 100 episodes. His new album Gone, Long Gone is the first of three releases coming from a bountiful quarantine recording streak and is available on March 18, 2022. Phantom Threshold, a psychedelic pedal steel-driven instrumental album, is expected in July 2022.
Gone, Long Gone Track list: 1. Dimes 2. King Bennie Had His Shit Together 3. Bad Omen 4. Gone, Long Gone 5. I Just Get Lost 6. Kulaniapia Waltz 7. 6 Skeletons 8. Ooh La La 9. Cicada Sanctuary 10. Time Has Made A Fool Out Of Me
Jason Erie reconciles with country’s past and present on new album Tiny Fires, due out March 25 via Wirebird Records. Photo: Jason Erie, used with permission.
Is it okay to be proud of where one comes from even if that past is far from perfect? Can a country learn from the scars of its past and build something greater than any flawed, hand-me-down patriotism could ever summarize? According to New Jersey-born-and-raised folksinger and songwriter Jason Erie, the answer is a resounding “yes.” On Erie’s new full-length album Tiny Fires he spearheads a rebuilding effort, utilizing his signature hyper-sensory poeticism in intimate, agonizing portraits of the common man’s oft disregarded depth and frailty. Erie explores everything from modern consumerism to isolation, attempting to reconcile the imperfect realities of the U.S.A. and the flawed system passed down by its forebears. With that said, Erie’s message on Tiny Fires runs deeper than any run-of-the-mill, partisan protest record. Rather, it is an inherently unifying exposé on what it means to be human in a seemingly smoldering world and to find a home in its ashes. Tiny Fires can be pre-ordered or pre-saved ahead of its March 25 release at this link. (Jason Erie, 2022)
Over the course of 12 songs, Tiny Fires takes the listener across a sonic landscape that manages to incorporate everything from intimate acoustic ballads to raucous rock anthems—all of which showcase Erie’s unmatched versatility. Whereas producer Brett Ryan Stewart (Wirebird Productions) creates a masterful musical backdrop for the record, it is Erie’s extraordinary lyrical content and the consistency of his heart which ties the whole collection together. Where the first half of Tiny Fires is brimming with raw, dystopian hopelessness, in the latter half, the listener is greeted by a coming to terms of sorts. Erie seemingly begins taking ownership of his own role as a father, son, American, and human being. Perhaps the most obvious illustration of this empowerment comes in the song “Sins of my Father”—a marching rock track that seems equal parts anthem and dirge. It is written by the perspective of a son grappling with the troubled history of his father and his own identity within that lineage. The lyrics are deeply personal to Jason. “I’ve always been close to my dad and realize now that he worked really hard not to become his father. Thanks to that I get to say I hope to become more like him. Now that I am a father, this song serves as a reminder that trauma does not define who we are.” On another layer, the lyrics are also undoubtedly relevant to Americans forced to question their own collective history, the sins of their forefathers. It seems to beg some very important questions.
Within only a few years in Nashville, Jason has established himself as a must-know act in the renowned East Nashville Americana scene and a rising star in the Americana scene abroad. His first studio offering, The Art of Letting Go, gained widespread critical acclaim and landed the #28 slot on the Roots Music Report Americana chart. The Music Mermaid said, “The thing about Erie is that he’s not just a wildly talented musician — he’s a poet, a gut-puncher, a soul-shaker, an artist so in tune with the special ways that words can be spun. Not all singer-songwriters can do this, but somehow Erie does it all.” This sentiment is shared by anyone who has witnessed Jason’s live performances throughout his tours of the North and Southeast U.S.—as evidenced by his victory in the 2019 Eddie Owens Presents: Songwriter Shootout in Duluth, GA. Past winners of this competition include John Mayer, Shawn Mullins, Clay Cook, Jennifer Nettles, Tyler Childers, and Elliot Bronson.
The new documentary Stronger By Stress in now available on digital and on On Demand. Photo: Gravitas Ventures, used with permission.
Stronger by Stress is a documentary film about leveraging the concept of hormesis to our advantage. It talks about the science of stress, how it affects our bodies, what to do for stress management and which kind of positive stressors we should incorporate into our lives. The movie is told through the lens of biohacking and health optimization. It focuses on the idea of preventive healthcare, personalized medicine, self-quantification, experimentation and scientific enquiry. Stronger By Stress: Leverage the science of stress adaptation and become more resilient in your everyday life. From Gravitas Ventures, the documentary is now available on digital platforms and it is directed by Andzei and written and produced by Siim Land. (Gravitas Ventures, 2022)
Stronger by Stress – With conventional medicine struggling to keep up with our ever-increasing stress, biohackers show us their holistic approach to life not only increases a resilience against stress but also helps us to perform on higher level. If there is one thing the past year and a half has taught us, then it is that unexpected events and chaotic situations are bound to happen. No matter how advanced we think we are as a species, there is always something unpredictable that could cripple us as not only individuals but as an entire society. It is not a matter of if but when. We cannot do much about preventing these events from happening – we can only prepare for them in advance.
Humans and other life forms have developed complex systems for dealing with environmental stressors. In fact, these pathways actually make us more resilient against the same kind of stress in the future. Thus, we become stronger by the stress we experience. The biological phenomenon to describe this is called ‘hormesis,’ which is a dose-specific response to a particular toxin or stressor that does have a weakening effect on the body but leads to adaptation and super-compensation afterwards.
First Generation American will be out April 1, 2022. Photo: Elliah Heifetz, used with permission.
“Her second tongue was English, but her first was patience,” sings Elliah Heifetz on his new single, “Living Proof”—a loving ode to his mother who, along with his father and sister, came to America in 1990 as political refugees from the Soviet Union. “Everything she did, she had to do.” This story of upbringing is typical for generations of immigrant children, but Heifetz’ tale carries a unique calling card, his unabashed love for American country and roots music. “Living Proof” embodies the hope and resilience of Heifetz’ mother with equal parts John Prine, Townes Van Zandt, and Don Williams, riding a quiet half-time groove accented by sweet pedal steel guitar and true-to-life lyrics. “She was fighting for a corner of a brand new nation, and I, I’m living proof.” The first release from Heifetz’ upcoming full-length album First GenerationAmerican, fans can hear “Living Proof” now and pre-order or pre-save the album at this link. (Elliah Heifetz, 2022)
Set to be released on April 1, First Generation American finds this son of eastern European immigrants telling his most personal truths and truly confronting his life-long identity crisis. In late 2020, Heifetz connected with Grammy-nominated producer and fellow first-generation American Andrija Tokic. Flying to Nashville to track thirteen songs with Tokic at his all-analog Bomb Shelter studio, Heifetz recorded with an all-star band of legendary musicians including Dennis Crouch, Jeff Taylor, Jimmy Lester, Jack Lawrence, and JJ Tourville.
The record’s opening title track is a raucous, joyously tongue-in-cheek anthem for all children of immigrants, followed by the honeyed, heartfelt “Living Proof.” Other standouts include “Modern Man,” a rip-roaring blues rocker with a wink in its eye; “Anxiety,” a vulnerable conversation with mental illness; “Keep the Grass in the Ground,” a tonal nod to Heifetz’s late hero John Prine; and “Buzzin’,” the honky tonk shout-along he has always dreamed of leading. First Generation American blows open the door to the musical world inhabited by tour-de-forces like Tyler Childers, Waylon Payne, Joshua Ray Walker, and Margo Price.
Heifetz likes to say that on this record, he is a “tourist through country music”—paying reverent homage to the genre’s traditions while upending every old-guard, exclusionary norm he can find. It is a vital album for a hellishly turbulent time, a way to belly-laugh while we swallow the bitter reality of America’s hateful roots and complex future. And it is a perfect summary of something that has taken Heifetz down a rough road to learn: the stranger it is to listeners that he plays country music, the more right it feels. In this nation of immigrants, this patchwork quilt of a million differences, strangeness is precisely what makes you belong.
First Generation American follows the release of Heifetz’ debut EP, New Folk Songs, from which a number of songs were added to curated playlists—including TIDAL’s 2018 Best Of: Rising Folk/Country. Additionally, Dramatist Guild Foundation Fellow Heifetz has been crowned as one-to-watch as a composer and pop songwriter. In his songwriting career, Heifetz has collaborated with hit pop songwriters and producers like Freddy Wexler, Dave Kuncio, Corey Sanders, and Neff-U.
SA Examiner 