Tag: Mike Leslie

Highway Companion — Joe Jaber Celebrates the Open Road on “Ride With Me” Single

Joe Jaber. Courtesy photo.

Joe Jaber relishes the freedom of the open road on “Ride With Me.”

The Novi, Michigan, singer-guitarist captures that sense of adventure and the enjoyment of sharing it with someone special on his latest blues-rock single.

“We all have so much in our daily to-dos, and sometimes we lose track of what’s important,” Jaber said. “Traveling with someone that lights your fire and exploring what’s on the open road without restrictions makes us feel alive.”

Backed by fiery electric guitar, upbeat piano, and pounding drums, Jaber sings, “Gotta get away / Can’t wait another day / The grind is going to beat me down / I know you’re the one / Let’s ride under the sun / Our destiny is now.”

“I hear a little Bob Seger inspiration in that one,” he said. “I’ve been releasing some of the deeper-side-of-life songs lately, and I wanted to put one of the many I haven’t released yet that has that roll-the-windows-down and crank-out-the-jams vibe for summer. I’ve been told this one will deliver.”

Once he had “Ride With Me” written, Jaber shared it with producer Bryan Reilly at Scramble Shack recording studio in Ferndale. The two recorded the song with guitarist Pete Peltier, who brought an explosive sound.

“It was especially fun in the studio with the band, and Pete Peltier is an excellent guitarist and so easy to work with,” Jaber said.

“He had a great tone and drive for the song throughout it. At the end, I heard an outro melody in my head that I loved. I verbalized it to Pete, and he nailed it. I love the final stamp on the song.”

Jaber and his band The Last Divide will share songs like “Ride With Me” and his previous single “Paper Doll” during a September 18 show at Cadieux Café in Detroit. He will also premiere the new video for “Paper Doll” at the show.

“The setlist will be a variety of songs … but we will also be playing some good-time Americana / blues rock,” Jaber said. “We are playing with up-and-coming artist Cami Rose, and we are still finalizing an opener. Both the opener and the closer will be great female artists.”

I recently spoke with Jaber about his background and recent releases ahead of the show.

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The Soundcheck – Strange Heart, Erin Zindle & Carolyn Striho, Letrick Olson, Steven Foster, Blank Tape Tax

The July edition of “The Soundcheck” celebrates the concept of summer through different emotions and experiences—love, authenticity, remembrance, nostalgia and connection. It’s time to think about “Your New Favorite Lover” while you “Stay Behind The Wheel” and later arrive at your destination and receive a warm greeting of Welcome to Pookie’s. There’s also a need to reflect on the life and love of “Willow” and remember what’s For Debbie.

Strange Heart, “Your New Favorite Lover”

Since releasing their sophomore album Falling Back Again in October, Detroit’s Strange Heart returns with a soulful new R&B single, “Your New Favorite Lover,” as well as a companion studio video and an official lyric video.

Rhythmic drums, gleaming electric guitar, humming bass and romantic piano wrap listeners in a heated embrace alongside frontman Josh Clemens’ fervent vocals.

He sings, “Ooooh I’m not trying to hide / What you see is what you get / Now you’re the owner of this wreck / Honestly, what did you expect of me / You only get the best of me / You’re begging for the rest of me / Honey, you’re not ready, but come and get it now.”

The track’s infectious, sensual groove is guaranteed to captivate new and current Strange Heart fans. Drummer Bobby Jankowski, bassist-vocalist Mike Schneider, lead guitar-vocalist Mike Leslie and Clemens have won me over, and I know they’ll delight you as well.

Strange Heart also blazes on stage with an eight-piece band (complete with horns), so check them out July 20 at The Whitney in Detroit and July 22 at Eastern Palace Club in Hazel Park.

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Riding High — The Lows Perform Saturday at Inaugural Motor City Muscle Festival

 

The Lows will play Motor City Muscle on Saturday.
The Lows will be riding high this weekend with a coveted slot at the inaugural Motor City Muscle festival.

The Detroit-based hard rock band will join more than 120 artists, including Ace Frehley, The Dead Kennedys, Belinda Carlisle and Sponge, during the free festival, which includes seven stages of music and a muscle car showcase today through Sunday in downtown Detroit.

The Lows will take the stage in Detroit’s Hart Plaza at 3:15 p.m. Saturday for their hour-long, 15-song set. Fans can expect original Lows’ tunes and covers from Detroit music legends, including Alice Cooper and The Stooges, as well as ‘90s grunge classics.

For Angelo Coppola and his Lows bandmates, the festival is an incredible chance to help revive the rock music scene in the Motor City.

“Basically, I think there’s not enough of the straight-up rock sound going on anymore,” said Coppola, frontman for The Lows. “There are some great bands like Greta Van Fleet and some others from Detroit doing it. I think the world needs more of it, and I think tons of people personally want something to change with mainstream music. We’re just trying to hopefully be part of it carrying the torch and bringing it back around.”

The Lows EP
Coppola learned his band would join the all-star rock music festival lineup after he submitted “Road Trippin’,” a track from The Lows’ 2017 self-titled debut EP for a 12-song Motor City Muscle compilation album.

“The criteria for that was the song had to be about cars, and it had to mention Detroit in the song,” he said. “I went back into the studio where I recorded the EP, and I just changed one line of the first verse with producer Chuck (Alkazian) to include a reference to Detroit in there, then I submitted it, and they picked it for the album.”

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