Tag: Wales

Song of the Day: LLaw – 101 Mix – 9Bach

9BACH has deservedly earned their flowers as one of the most acclaimed acts to come out of Wales. Known for fusing traditional Welsh musical heritage seamlessly with a contemporary, cutting edge feel, the band quickly gained popularity beyond their native borders, performing across various countries, including Spain, Holland, Canada, Aotearoa, Vietnam, Australia and the Middle East.

After taking a five-year hiatus, the band enters new grounds and collaborated with artist/producer Andy Gangadeen – who has worked with leading bands, among them, Chase & Status and Lava La Rue – for their single, ‘LLaw – 101 Mix’, exclusively available on Bandcamp. Inspired by Lisa and Martin’s love for the acid house movement from the 80’s and 90’s, ‘LLaw – 101 Mix’ immediately draws you in with a mesmerically smooth electronic drive, with Lisa’s vocal performance in Welsh adding the ultimate euphoric and liberating touch to the production.

9Bach was formed in 2005 by lead vocalist Lisa Jen and guitarist Martin Hoyland, followed by bass guitarist Dan Swain, vocalist and pianist Mirain Haf Roberts and producer Andy Gangadeen. The band name is a play on numbers and words: 9 is as in Nain, (pronounced nine), which means grandmother in the North of Wales; Bach means little and is also a term of endearment in Welsh. In one language 9 is something so mundane as a number, but in Welsh Nain is a cozy, family-orientated, lovely thing – all the qualities that’s associated with a grandmother.

As well as being the lead vocalist and founding member from one of Wales’ most innovate band, Lisa is also a long-term vocal collaborator with Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals: she featured on the Candylion album, and sang live on the Candylion/Hotel Shampoo tour dates. Along with fellow 9Bach vocalist Mirain, Lisa also featured on Gruff Rhys’ albums, Seeking New Gods and Bablesberg. In addition to her extensive work with Rhys, Lisa also lent her voice to Public Service Broadcasting’s Every Valley album.

Now they’re back from a lengthy break, 9Bach enters a new chapter, exploring even more innovative sounds. Their collaboration with Andy is sure to solidify position in the Welsh and international scene.

‘LLaw – 101 Mix’ is out available on Bandcamp. Have a listen below…

Follow 9Bach via:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/9BachMusic/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/9bach
Website: https://www.9bach.com/

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OUT TODAY: The Grand Cru share single, ’17’

If you were going to ask what songwriting team have individually toured the world  performing, written for The Korgis, Cliff Richard, Slash, Meatloaf, had their songs  played on BBC Radio 2, supported Celine Dion, played Jesus on the West End stage, performed sell out shows in theatres around the UK, have won some of the most prestigious songwriting awards in the world and now are writing a song about feeling 17 again! There would only be one name on that list… THE GRAND CRU!

International songwriting team The Grand Cru (comprising of Welsh and American talent) have a brand new single waiting to be embraced by the listeners entitled ’17’ (featuring The Grand Cru member Darren Parry on lead vocal duties) which comes from their 8 track album… ‘September 11 – Music To Heal Your Soul’.

This catchy, memorable, upbeat, Country/Americana influenced track was co-written between three well known Welsh male singer/songwriters and a sassy, female US (Floridian) songwriter.

The Grand Cru includes ex Jesus Christ Superstar lead, Steve Balsamo (who’s written for Slash, Meatloaf, Cliff Richard) and ex member of  The Story’s and Balsamo/Deighton. Also on ‘The Cru’ is multi-award winning Welsh singer/songwriter Darren Parry, who’s a former UK Songwriting Contest winner, Billboard, Unisong, ISSA and USA Song Of The Year award winner (who has co-written with The Korgis, Dan and Laura Curtis and others). The third Welshman is Rhondda’s multi-talented Lee Gilbert who is an acclaimed singer /actor. His 25 year career has spanned from theatre, radio and TV work which runs alongside his very busy music career.

The fourth member and brainchild of ‘The Cru’ is Florida based Bonnie Skop, whose family has a long history in music; including her Dad managing Ted Nugent and Bob Seger in their early days! The Grand Cru get their name from the French words… meaning “a wine of the most superior grade”. These songwriters are certainly that!

Darren says of the latest offering: “Steve, Lee, Bonnie and I wrote “17” predominantly on Zoom over the last 6 months or so, we wanted it to have an all American kinda feel to it”. Darren continues: ”We wanted to write something that encapsulated the excitement and emotion of falling in love as a teenager, reminiscing about a time gone by when love captured your heart and the emotions of youth”.

’17’ is the second single from their album following on from single, ‘I Was There’, which was shown on the big screen for the National Guard (EANGUS) 9/11 Remembrance  Gala at The One World Trade Centre building in New York on 11th Sept this year  for a star – studded event, hosted by Kelsey Grammer (Frasier).

’17’ is was released today (8th November) on all good music platforms. Have a listen below…

Connect with The Grand Cru via:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/p/the-grand-cru-61565108634490/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/the_grand_cru_songwriters_/

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Song of the Day: I Was There – The Grand Cru

International award-winning songwriting team, THE GRAND CRU (comprising of Welsh and American talent) have shared a brand new album, entitled ‘September 11th – Music To Heal Your Soul’.

The Grand Cru includes ex Jesus Christ Superstar lead, Steve Balsamo (who’s written for Slash, Meatloaf, Cliff Richard) and ex member of The Story’s and Balsamo/Deighton. Also on ‘The Cru’ is multi-award winning Welsh singer/songwriter Darren Parry who’s a former UK Songwriting Contest winner, Billboard, Unisong, ISSA and USA Song Of The Year award winner (who’s co-written with The Korgis, Dan and Laura Curtis and others).

The third Welshman is Rhondda’s multi-talented Lee Gilbert who is an acclaimed singer /actor. His 25 yr career has spanned from Theatre, Radio and TV work which runs alongside his very busy music career. The fourth member and brainchild of ‘The Cru’ is Florida based Bonnie Skop, who’s family has a long history in music; including her Dad managing Ted Nugent and Bob Seger in their early days! The Grand Cru get their name from the French words… meaning “a wine of the most superior grade”. These songwriters are certainly that!

100% of the net proceeds from the sale of the album go to support the Enlisted Association Of The National Guard of The United States (EANGUS). EANGUS is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the status, welfare and professionalism of Enlisted members of the National Guard and has a constituency base of over 450,000 soldiers and airmen, their families, as well as over 350,000
retired members/veterans.

Darren says… “Steve, Lee, Bonnie and I have written the album predominantly on Zoom over the last two years or so having been approached by The National Guard via a contact of Bonnie’s in the US. We have donated six of our songs to the cause but have written bespoke songs including “I Was There””.

Steve says…‘I Was There’ is a very emotional song about the morning of 9/11 in New York. The song focuses on three different characters… one female character is going to work in New York that morning, another character is a guy taking a flight from New Jersey to San Francisco”. Lee continues… “the third character is a child who fortunately sleeps late so he’s not on time for school. You’ve gotta listen to it, it’s a real emotional rollercoaster of a song”!

‘I Was There’ was performed by The Cru for the EANGUS 9/11 Remembrance Gala at The One World Trade Centre building in New York on 11th September this year for a star-studded event, hosted by Kelsey Grammer (of hit show Frasier).

‘I Was There’ and ‘September 11th – Music To Heal Your Soul’ album are out now. Why not watch the video for the emotive single, featuring the three Welsh talent.

Connect with The Grand Gru:
http://www.darrenparry.com
http://www.stevebalsamomusic.com
http://www.leegilbertmusic.co.uk

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New Lease Music’s Top Ten Music Videos Of 2023

Hey, Hey, Hey! Happy New Year guys! I hope you had an eventful festive period.

It’s that time of the year NEW LEASE MUSIC ramage through and pick out the top releases of 2023! Today, we start off with the best music videos featured on the blog in the past year. So why not sit back and check them out – oh and if you’re really digging these videos, why not leave a comment below.

Be sure to look out for NEW LEASE MUSIC’s Top Ten Albums of 2023 later today!

10. Sometimes Relax – LLAMAN x Pitch 92

9. Freak Out – Jessica Wilde

8. Face Off Part 1 – Quincy

7. PTSD – Dax

6. Iron Right – DJ Drama, Boosie Badazz & OMB Peezy ft Trouble

5. Podium – Ez Mil

4. The Rain – Bullet Brak

3. Love Tap – Tito Ft. Keet Kolbang

2. Share My Life – Raphael Tate

1. Grey – Holy Coves

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Steve Balsamo shares stunning Christmas ballad, ‘Snow Angels’.

STEVE BALSAMO needs no introduction to those who love great voices in the music world! Steve has toured the world, performed with and written for household names and was initially known for his superb rendition of Jesus in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’.

His new single, ‘Snow Angels’ is a lush, heartfelt Christmas Pop ballad, co-written with fellow Welshman, multi-award winning singer/songwriter Darren Parry and the young, English talent of singer/songwriter Josh Gleaves.

Steve says of his latest ballad, “Darren, Josh and I actually wrote the song on Zoom about 2 yrs ago, during the lockdown periods. I initially had the song title and a bit of a melody and we worked on the song over about 2 or 3 sessions online. The song was written pretty quick”. Steve adds… “Darren and I did a rough guitar version recorded into our phones at first, before Josh did an acoustic version in the studio in London a little while later.”

Steve continues… “It was only very recently that we had the very talented Andrew Griffiths (AGM Productions) produce this new studio version with a gorgeous, lush, orchestral type arrangement. I put down the lead vocal at Andrew’s studio (in the Swansea Valley) and Darren, Andrew and I did all the backing vocals/harmonies you hear, including the ‘choir’!”.

The title takes the imagery of ‘snow angels’ (the shape that people can make in the snow when they lie down) and uses it as a metaphor to tell the story of a relationship between two people at Christmas time.

Steve has written past songs for Slash, Meatloaf, Cliff Richard, toured with Jon Lord (of Deep Purple fame), formed the band The Story’s (who toured with Celine Dion and Elton John), was part of Balsamo/Deighton (an Americana duo with Rosalie Deighton) and more recently part of Balsamo/Collins/Riley with Andy Collins and Pete Riley.

Darren’s achievements include… 2004 UK Songwriting Champion (beating 6000 entries from around the globe), 2014/2016 USA Song Of The Year contest runner up (judges included Gwen Stefani, Don Henley and Phil Collins), 2019 ISSA Awards International Male Vocalist Of The Year, 2021 ISSA Awards International Male Songwriter Of The Year Silver Crystal Award winner and multiple other awards from Billboard and Unisong, to name but a few! Darren has co-written songs with hit songwriters like James Warren (The Korgis, “Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime”), Dazzle Music (Charlotte Church) and many others.

Young Josh is a 21 yr old award winning singer/songwriter from London, nicknamed ‘The Heartbreak Kid’! He lives and breathes his passion for music and started writing and performing from just 10 years old. Despite still only being 21, the sound of his guitar alongside his raw and ethereal vocals have filled venues all over the U.K. for over 8 years. During that time, Josh has established his own unique Country/Americana style and sound, guaranteed to draw a crowd wherever he plays!

This collaboration between three great singer/songwriters and the production talents of Andrew Griffiths has them manifest an earworm, contemporary, Christmas Pop ballad that also manages to hark back/take inspiration from the classic Christmas songs of old, such as ‘A Winter’s Tale’ by David Essex. The song beautifully shows off the softer side of Steve’s world class, 4 octave vocal range and deserves to become a new Christmas classic for our modern times!

‘Snow Angels’ was released on last Tuesday, 28th November…why not get into the festive spirit and have a listen below…

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