At the last Birdcloud Cool Christmas, Joshua Hedley took the stage and performed a stunning rendition of “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” His long-standing presence performing at Nashville honky-tonks was a sufficient endorsement of his skill but actually heard him sing in person is a different experience altogether. It was confirmation that his upcoming Third Man Records release was worthy of anticipation.

The title track to said album, “Mr. Jukebox”, is now available in the form of this official video and it delivers as one would hope. In it Hedley does battle with a director wanting to exploit his country style, having him perform from a beaten down country home, riding a horse with a banjo or sitting in a rocking chair with a gun in his lap. It’s a funny video but, moreso, a commentary on the Modern Country World that Hedley doesn’t quite fit into. Thankfully.

There’s plenty of Classic Twangâ„¢ to his voice, backed by slide guitar, piano flourishes and a catchy hook. The album is surely filled with the same refreshing style and be pre-ordered over at Third Man now.

Side note: If you aren’t following @joshuahedley on Twitter, you’re missing out.

We posted about the Sad Baxter single for “Baby” back in November when it was covered by NPR’s “Songs We Love” and now it’s got an official video – courtesy of the Nashville Cream premiere.

The 90’s grunge vibe clearly influences more than just their music as this video is a perfect throwback to the time when music videos were semi-narrative, ridiculous and fun. This would fit right in on 120 Minutes and I’m sure Matt Pinfield would have plenty of good things to say about it.

To be clear, just because there’s a 90’s vibe here, I’m not slagging on this. Deezy’s voice has a growl to it that is undeniably appreciated and it presents itself perfectly at the apex of this track.

This new split single from Cosmic Thug Records features Emma Swift and Pony Boy each tackling covers of Neil Young – “Mellow My Mind” and “Like a Hurricane”, respectively.

Pony Boy’s take on “Like a Hurricane” turns the somewhat anthemic original into a mournful lamentation, expressing the underlying sadness of the song. Swift’s “Mellow My Mind” maintains the melancholy of Young’s version but trades the melodrama for her unique voice and a delightfully warbly guitar.

The single isn’t officially released until Feb 14th but you can hear both tracks over on Bandcamp now.

The Telefones relocated to Nashville from Atlanta in 2016 and released their debut Rack Your Noodle EP around the same time. The five-song undertaking manages to cover a good bit of ground as the band explores some psych-rock and shoegaze fused with the occasional punkish outburst. Immersing yourself in lead track “Subculture Danger” will give you a good idea of the kind of warbly surprises in store. Looking forward to their 2018 followup.

The full-length from Lasso Spells, Stuck in a Shape, was released in 2016 when the band resided in Brooklyn. Since that time, founder Brett Dudash has relocated to Nashville and is working on a followup entitled Bohemian Mechanics. Assuming that the project keeps moving in the same direction there will be plenty of 60’s psychedelic pop influence mixed with a hint of desert country.

John Davis is a busy guy. He released The Blinding White Of Nothing At All double record last year with The Lees of Memory, has been collaborating with Andy Herrin as Two Chalfonts and has a new project with Mike Armstrong entitled The Rectangle Shades.

The first two demo tracks from the project – “Ranting and Raving” b/w “Behind Dark Eyes” are available to stream now and it’s clearly a good fit between the two. Lead vocals are traded off between the two tracks and lots of instruments are used. It’s an excellent sneak peek at, hopefully, a larger release.

Art is hard. There’s just no way around that fact. Sometimes you’re going to encounter something challenging and odd to your sensibilities and ask “What is that?”

The forthcoming split/collab between B|_ank and R. Stevie Moore is certain to stir up those feelings. “RSM Take One (Hum)” is a collage of Moore’s non-sequitors and meandering keyboards that turns into a berating reminder to call your mom.

The video is an equally entrancing and baffling undertaking. The nude, slithering character moves about to the track in an improvisational manner that waffles between eloquent and graceful to something out of a horror movie.

I can’t confess to understanding it – either the song or the video. There’s a press release that accompanies it that states that the piece is “a stark reaction to the passivity of contemporary culture” as well as pointing out that the entire thing is “ridiculous, impulsive, and jarring.” It likely doesn’t mean anything but serves as a strange entryway into the world of B|_ank. You decide if that’s journey intriguing.

Both acts will play The East Room on Jan 27th. Here’s the details.

On March 2nd, Fat Possum will release the debut record from Sophie Allison’s Soccer Mommy project, entitled Clean. The label “debut” is a bit of a misnomer given that she has more than a handful of releases going back to 2015 but who am I to question marketing? No one, that’s who.

The first single, “Your Dog”, comes accompanied by this great video in which Soccer Mommy herself celebrates the death and dismemberment of a presumed ex-lover. It’s disturbing in that American Psycho kind of way.

One of the primary goals of We Own This Town is to dispel the myth that Nashville is only capable of a handful of musical styles. Our community is capable of a mind-boggling diverse amount of music and we want to ensure you’re aware of that.

Enter The Mad Gear, a band highly devoted to Video Game Music. This raging version of TMNT IV’s score to the “Technodrome” should be evidence enough of their devotion but they took it way further by collaborating with Brain Jar on their own game and soundtrack. The Mad Gear: Go Right and Fight! is a five-stage side scroller beat-em-up akin to Double Dragon, Final Fight and Ninja Gaiden. If all that is gibberish to you, just know that it’s a classic formula for button mashing and absurd scenarios.

The soundtrack is a high energy 8-bit chiptune undertaking that seems to stay true to the limited musical palette the old systems offered. There’s no bad track to start with but “Of Course He Has a Base on the Moon” will give your palette the taste it needs to decide if this is right for you.