Reigning CMA Vocal Group Little Big Town is taking over NYC this week with a series of events in the Big Apple celebrating the release of their highly anticipated album Pain Killer. One of their stops was the iHeartRadio Country Live Series held at the iHeartRadio Theatre. Hosted by Bobby Bones, the hour long event, which could be heard on the radio and the internet, was part Q&A with LBT and part live performance. 
For the first thirty minutes, Bobby spoke with the foursome-Jimmy, Karen, Philip and Kimberly-about the album and dished on some of the stories behind the tracks.

Little Big Town started off the evening with "Quit Breaking Up With Me" and went into "Day Drinking" which they said involved enjoying a few cocktails a/k/a "method writing" when they were writing the track.  Next was "Stay All Night," which can only be described as a country-funk jam; one that was a definite crowd favorite. Then Deacon and Thor (as Jimmy and Philip are affectionately known) stepped away from the mic to let the ladies shine. Karen sang "Girl Crush," a song they knew they had to cut the minute they heard it because it was such a unique take on a situation that has been written about many times before. Then Kimberly took the lead on "Save Your Sin." And honestly, she threw herself into that song and was phenomenal. At the completion of the song Bobby said 'I liked it' to which Karen said 'You cannot not like it because that would be like insulting Holly Hobbie.' Kimberly was quick to remark 'For 20 years I have been the cute one and she has been the sexy one and I am tired of being the cute one!' Well, she may still be known as the cute one, but she surely can hold her own on a gritty track.

The last thirty minutes included LBT sounding polished and having a blast performing "Pain Killer," "Faster Gun" and "Live Forever," which Karen said was a song about why love is soooo good (as are their harmonies on the track). Additionally, they played "Tornado" and closed with "Boondocks" (complete with a rockin' intro).

Little Big Town's sound (and live performance) has definitely evolved into something quite extraordinary. Pain Killer is a diverse, quality album; definitely their best yet.

For more information and tour dates visit their official website.

And major kudos for not only introducing and complimenting their band, but thanking their team, and their "glam" squad because as Karen said "we don't wake up every day looking like this." It's nice to see artists appreciate others.

Monday evening October 13th, Angaleena Presley played her first solo show in NYC at Rockwood Music Hall in preparation for the release of her strong solo debut album American Middle Class which was released the following day. Playing with her extremely talented band, who had only been together a brief amount of time, the small crowd in attendance was privy to an intimate performance of her new material as well as many anecdotes from Angaleena herself. 

Slightly shy at first, by the second song of the set she seemed to relax and start to enjoy herself (her band, especially her drummer definitely enjoyed himself from the get go). In true story teller fashion, prior to each song, she gave us its backstory and by doing so, we learned a bit about Angaleena herself. Vocally, she has an airy, light quality to her voice that sounded equally at home on the footstompers ("Pain Pills) as well as the more somber songs. And those songs are her stories, whether they are about getting pregnant before marriage ("Knocked Up"--a song she said her son loves), small town characters ("Grocery Store") or growing up in Kentucky ("Better Off Red"). 

These narratives make for a traditional country album with songs that might not find their way to terrestrial radio, but should easily find a home on your playlist.

For more information visit her official website
Purchase American Middle Class here

It has been said that Chris Knight is a man of few words, and that may have been the case at Hill Country Live on Saturday night, but no one took issue as Chris's music clearly does the talking. And eight albums in, there is plenty to say. 

Knight, who hails from Kentucky, came to Brooklyn and played to a full house for an hour and a half set. His only real comments of the night were to thank people for coming and to comment to the guys who cheered when he drank a beer: "I don't understand why people cheer when I drink. I hope to get the same response for my music." I don't understand the whole cheering when an artist drinks either, but he need not worry as the cheers for his music were much louder and more frequent. 

From older tunes ("Hard Candy," "It Ain't Easy Being Me") to more recent, from his 2012 release Little Victories, Chris, accompanied by Chris Clark on mandolin, guitar and banjo, held the listening audience's attention with an acoustic set of honest story telling. Meaningful, sometimes melancholy songs about love, regret, and small town American life-sung by the unique voice of one of the most esteemed singer songwriters in the country-that connected with the listener and evoked a broad spectrum of emotion. Exactly what good music is all about. 

For more information visit his official website