Artist Category: Pop

Nicole Atkins

For two decades, Nicole Atkins has created her own brand of spectral American rock & roll. She’s an old-school torch singer for the modern world, funneling her award-winning songwriting chops and genre-spanning influences — including psychedelic rock, Muscle Shoals soul, the pop grandeur of Roy Orbison, and the dark drama of Nick Cave — into six albums that have earned a global audience.

Regularly featured on year-end “best of” lists by Rolling Stone, NPR, and The New York Times, Atkins has collaborated with artists from across the musical spectrum, including Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, David Byrne, Chris Isaak, Spoon, Elvis Costello, and most recently supported Stevie Nicks on her 2024 US Tour. The title track of her major-label debut album won The ASCAP Foundation Sammy Kahn Award, and her songs have appeared in prime-time TV shows, Netflix and Max, national ad campaigns for American Express, and on the Billboard charts, with tracks like “Domino” becoming Top 40 AAA hits. A road warrior who has performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall to Late Night With David Letterman to Later… with Jules Holland, Atkins is also a professional illustrator and painter whose work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal and No Depression.

Anna Moss

Vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Anna Moss hails from the verdant forests and lush limestone of the Ozarks; yet her musical personality oozes New Orleans, the artist’s adopted hometown for many years. Anna’s new found brand of sultry stripped-down-soul is steeped in Southern R&B, Americana, porch jazz; apocalyptic love songs, gritty hymns of humanity, abolition, and compassion busked to fruition in the historic French Quarter streets. She is also one-half of the popular duo Handmade Moments.

“Folky soul gems with plenty of dark humor to spare. Think John Prine meets Grace Slick” – The Bluegrass Situation

Amelia Day

Amelia Day is a queer folk rock powerhouse entering the conversation with mainstays like Brandi Carlile, the Indigo Girls, and Melissa Etheridge. Underscoring her carefree melodies with gritty, confessional lyricism and raw, heartfelt delivery, she performs with an intimacy that makes even new listeners feel familiar. Amelia mixes elements of her adolescent Seattle mixtapes of folk, rock, and jazz in music that plays freely with genre, while still being undeniably “Amelia Day”.

Without a label, manager, or agent, Amelia has sold out venues like Seattle’s iconic The Triple Door, played festivals like Seattle PrideFest, Capitol Hill Block Party, and CHOMP!, been featured on popular stations like KEXP and 107.7 The End, and independently amassed over 4M streams and 120K monthly listeners on Spotify. Amelia Day recently completed her debut, self-booked West Coast tour and is hard at work recording her next project!

Bitch

Bitch is a longstanding queer music icon who Yahoo Entertainment called “a feminist force that the world needs now more than ever” when she released “Bitchcraft,” her 9th studio album, on the legendary label Kill Rock Stars in 2022. With her signature electric violin and lyrical smarts front and center over huge beats and deep synths, Bitch coined the genre “Poet Pop” and she has been touring nationally ever since, igniting her loyal following and inspiring new followers with her colorful and bold stage shows.

“Bitchcraft is a masterpiece,” said Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls, who, along with Ani Difranco, have taken Bitch on tour as their opener. Joey Soloway (Transparent) directed the music video for “Easy Target.”

In addition to headlining over 70 shows in 2022, Bitch honed her acting chops and played a role in the new Audible podcast of Alison Bechdel’s “Dykes To Watch Out For,” alongside Jane Lynch, Carrie Brownstein and Roxane Gay. The series was directed by Leigh Silverman, and Bitch co-wrote a song for it with Faith Soloway.

Bitch first achieved notoriety as one half of the queer folk duo Bitch and Animal. The band toured with Ani DiFranco, and released two albums on her label Righteous Babe Records. In the mid 2000s, Bitch went solo, and shared stages with the Indigo Girls, acted in John Cameron Mitchell’s film “Shortbus,” co-wrote a song with Margaret Cho, produced two albums of her elder and folk hero Ferron.

Bitchcraft, Bitch’s first album in 8 years, is one that makes you think and makes you dance. Full of violins, synths, and huge vocals, the record is neon pink and in your face. It’s Joni Mitchell set to a clicktrack; it’s queer Cyndi Lauper and will hex you with its brilliance. It also makes you think: about the state of the world, about evil politicians, about what it means to exist as a woman, and how to find joy along the way.

Shanna in a Dress

Shanna in a Dress is your quirky best friend who refuses to wear pants. She says what everyone has felt but no one else will say and you’ll get an uncensored journey of clever humor and heartbreak, extreme candor, and a hefty side of entertainment at her shows. This witty wordsmith is known for taking you on an emotional roller coaster, sometimes within the same song. Think John Prine mixed with Ingrid Michaelson with a twist of Phoebe Buffay from Friends all wrapped up in a sweet voice accented by guitar, piano, and ukulele. She’s as real as it gets, as anyone who follows her on FB or Instagram knows.

Shanna started her career at the University of Virginia, fell in love with Boulder, Colorado, and now keeps her fun music flowing out of Nashville unless she’s touring the US or Europe. You can’t get the same Shanna in a Dress show twice with her spontaneous banter and playful stage presence. She manages to teeter the line masterfully of taking on complex subject matters with smart, bold, and yet accessible lyrics. Her charisma and boldly honest songs are full of interesting language and wordplay and delight audiences of all ages.

Most recently, Shanna in a Dress was pronounced the winner of the Rocky Mountain Folks Fest Songwriting Contest and will be performing with a full band at the 2023 Rocky Mountain Folks Fest. In 2020 alone, Shanna was a winner in the Kerrville New Folk competition, winner of the Great River Folk Fest Song Competition, a finalist at Songwriter Serenade, and a Grassy Hill Emerging Artist at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival.

During the summer of 2021, Shanna bicycled from Seattle to Boston while music-touring on her epic “Tour de Dress,” playing over 60 shows from coast to coast and partnering up with the global non-profit Pangaea World Foundation.

In May 2022, her debut record “Robot” was released after a wildly successful crowdfunded campaign years earlier. She was the winner She has most recently been seen gracing the stages of Kerrville Folk Festival, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Black Bear Americana Fest, Great River Folk Fest, and the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. Tom Prasada-Rao calls her “Kerrville’s fastest rising star” and she’s certainly delightfully unique and is one to watch in the future.

Mint Green

Ronnica was born and raised in Boston in the neighborhood of Dorchester. She started Mint Green with drummer Daniel Huang in 2015. After two EPs, Mint Green released their debut LP “All Girls Go To Heaven” in June of 2022 on Pure Noise Records and have since won a Boston Music Award for Rock Artist of the Year. Mint Green has toured all over the U.S. and the U.K. and most recently have performed at festivals such as Boston Calling and In Between Days Fest. Mint Green’s music hits the sweet spot between indie rock, pop, and alternative and speaks to the members of the rock community that are POC, queer, women, and non-men. Mint Green hopes to continue transcending physical borders and societal barriers with their unique and evolving sound.

Biribá Union

Mike Block (Cello, Vocals), Christylez Bacon (Beatbox, Guitar, Rhymes), and Patricia Ligia (Electric Bass, Pandeiro, Vocals) form a dynamic trio, blending original music with global influences to form a fresh and accessible sound. Each member of the collective brings influences and repertoire from their diverse backgrounds, such as Brazilian, Hip-Hop, Classical, Jazz, Bluegrass, Funk, and Pop styles, synthesizing them through original compositions and songs that highlights their improvisational spontaneity and high energy stage presentation.

“a dynamic trio, blending original music with world fusion influences”
— SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE

“An unusual collaboration with a refreshingly new sound… improvisational spontaneity and high energy performance.”
— WSLR RADIO

Curtis Stigers

Curtis Stigers drives his publicists crazy. For the past 30 years, the singer, songwriter, saxophonist and guitarist has been making records that confound those who try to categorize his music or put him in a box.

Curtis Stigers has had several top ten hits as a long-haired, blue-eyed soul singer and he’s written and sung an Emmy nominated TV theme song. He’s recorded a track for one of the biggest-selling pop albums of all time and he’s released nine critically-acclaimed, award-winning jazz albums. He’s played for presidents and princes and he’s appeared in two Seth MacFarlane movies about a foul-mouthed cuddly bear called Ted. He’s recorded thirteen studio albums and a live album singing Sinatra songs with a big band from Denmark. He’s toured with symphony orchestras, written songs with Carole King and duetted with Al Green, Shawn Colvin and Tom Jones.

Who is this guy?

Stigers’ success as a songwriter has included co-writing with the likes of legends like Carole King, Barry Mann and Beth Nielsen Chapman, and his songwriting talent also led to an Emmy nomination for co-writing and singing the theme song to the wildly successful TV series Sons Of Anarchy.

It is his rich singing voice, however—singular, balletic, and at turns both mournful and playful—that has landed him on records with the likes of Al Green, Shawn Colvin and Jackson Browne, in studios with venerated producers like Larry Klein, Danny Kortchmar, and Glen Ballard, and on stages and concert bills with pop and rock legends, including Eric Clapton, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt, Prince, Rod Stewart and The Allman Brothers Band, as well as jazz giants Nancy Wilson, Al Jarreau, Gerry Mulligan, Randy Brecker, Michael Brecker, Chuck Mangione, Toots Thielmans, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Kurt Elling, Diana Krall, John Scofield, Larry Goldings and many more.

After being mentored in his early years by legendary jazz pianist Gene Harris, and by the revered jazz singer Mark Murphy, Stigers’ unique talent was recognized by music business impresario Clive Davis, who signed Stigers to a record deal after hearing him in a New York restaurant. A debut album sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide on the strength of self-penned hit singles like “I Wonder Why,” “You’re All That Matters to Me,” and “Never Saw a Miracle.” A year later, Stigers contributed a cover version of Nick Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love and Understanding” to The Bodyguard soundtrack, which has sold over 45 million copies worldwide. Multiple appearances on The Tonight Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Today Show and countless international TV shows, put Stigers directly in the spotlight of popular culture. Stigers also made cameo appearances in the movie comedies, Ted and Ted 2, written and directed by his friend, Seth MacFarlane.

During the pandemic, Curtis Stigers began a weekly internet livestream show called “Songs From My Kitchen” which he continues to present once a month with his four very cute dogs.

Born in Hollywood, raised in Boise, Idaho and transplanted to Manhattan, he now resides, between concert appearances, back in Idaho, where he’s proud to help raise hundreds of thousands of dollars each year for the Interfaith Sanctuary Homeless Shelter.

The latest Curtis Stigers album, This Life (February, 2022), is a self-produced look back at 30 years of songs, albums and concerts, featuring newly crafted versions of some of the biggest and best songs from his long, successful career.

Chris + Joe

Chris + Joe (Chris Langathianos and Joe Wilkins), a Cape Ann-based duo with deep roots in the Greater Boston music scene, are known for their tight harmonies, thoughtful songs, and engaging banter. Joe, a multi-instrumentalist, expert songwriter, and producer, teamed up with vocalist and producer Langathianos in 2013, and they have continued to capture audiences with their easy and melodic, yet diverse, style and approachable sets.

From easy melodic folk to contemporary pop and rock, Chris + Joe bring a new twist to old favorites, mixed with deeply personal, award-winning originals, and a side of self-deprecating audience engagement.

Robert Ellis

Recorded live to tape in just two days, Robert Ellis’s exquisite new album, Yesterday’s News, is as stripped-down as it gets, with the celebrated songwriter and producer’s delicate, reedy tenor accompanied only by nylon string guitar, upright bass, and the occasional piece of handheld percussion. The arrangements are harmonically sophisticated here, drawing on the open tunings and intricate fingerpicking of English songwriters like Nick Drake or Richard Thompson, and Ellis’s performances are similarly subtle and nuanced, tapping into the bittersweet longing of Chet Baker and the playful poignancy of Bill Evans and Jim Hall.

While that might seem surprising coming off 2019’s raucous Texas Piano Man, subverting expectations is nothing new for Ellis. Born and raised outside Houston, he gained early acclaim for his piercing introspection and absorbing narratives, but over the course of five solo albums, he flirted with everything from Paul Simon and John Prine to Elton John and Joni Mitchell in a series of sonic and visual transformations that ran the gamut from Redneck Steely Dan to Lone Star Liberace. NPR hailed his “musical daring and impeccable songcraft,” while Rolling Stone praised his “sharp eye for storytelling,” and the New York Times lauded his writing as an emotional “gut punch.”

Yesterday’s News marks Ellis’s debut LP for Niles City Records, an outgrowth of the famed Niles City Sound studio he and longtime collaborator Josh Block run in Fort Worth, TX.