The Paper Box | Brooklyn, NYC

In the fall of 2011, my band and I spent a week at White Star Sound in Virginia with my friend and producer, Jamie Candiloro (Ryan Adams, R.E.M., PJ Olsson) and tracked a collection of songs I had been writing over the past two years. The songs on my fourth full-length studio album, Fading Light, were written for different reasons, but this particular collection is some of the most intense, emotional and personal work I've done to date. I grew up in Rawley Springs, Virginia. Rawley Springs isn't a town -- just some cabins, trailers, and campsites in the mountains just east of the West Virginia state border. When I was a kid my uncle had October-fest parties. At one of these parties I remember this bluegrass band playing "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." Seemed like the whole party was singing along. My mom gave me Music From Big Pink by The Band soon after. From there music became my obsession. I started messing around with guitar when I was 3, but I wasn't really playing until 11 or so, and didn't start writing songs until around age 13. My first shows were open mic nights at local bars in Charlottesville, VA. I eventually moved to DC thinking it could be a good stepping-stone to New York. It was in DC where I recorded my first full album, Blue Dreams in 2004. I just went in with my acoustic guitar and sang for a couple hours and finished the same day. For about 4 years following Blue Dreams, I found myself lost and addicted to drugs. I did manage to record an album in that four-year stretch, Love Verses Heroin - certainly not the feel good album of the year. When I recorded my third album in 2007, ...And I Am The Song of the Drunkards, I was clean and back to enjoying playing music. I formed a band and we just played for the fun of it. There were no expectations, just joy. In 2010, I was the first artist signed to 9:30 Records in Washington, DC and released a collection of songs I called The Little Fox EP. Since that time, I have been fortunate to perform with Ray LaMontagne, K.D. Lang, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Drive-By Truckers and Badly Drawn Boy. Seems no matter the struggles in life, I always come back to music. Fading Light is my reawakening.

Baby Brother is a Brooklyn based, rock, rhythm and blues group with super infused punk-country undertones. Lead singer and guitarist Jeremy Beazlie fronts a whopping group backed by lead guitarist and Texas born and raised Vincent Vitek, and from Seattle, Ian Hardie on drums and Ben Longwell on the bass. Hard, fun, kick you in the gut rock and roll for all ages, provided that you're used to a little profanity here and there, Baby Brother want's nothing more than to blow back your hair, and melt your pretty face. They're not asking you to leave anyone, they just want a little bit of your time. A new band looking to expand and re-mine rock origins, Baby Brother has such influences as: The White Stripes, Screaming Females, Bob Dylan, Junior Brown, BR-549, Queens of the Stone Age, Johnny Cash, John Lennon, and Nirvana. They work hard, and if you don't know them, they play hard. Strap yer boots for a show with songs of spooky ghost tales, uplifting rockers, tales of betrayal, abuse and...love? Baby Brother runs the gamut and so should you, so nod yer head, tap yer feet, and for God's sake, shake Yerbouti.

Singer-songwriter Kalen's music is best described as rock-noir. The bruised beauty of her lyrics, her dark and shimmering compositions, the haunting expressiveness of her voice, and her dynamically cinematic producing skills imbue her music with a visual layer of intrigue. It is a moody blend of blues, trip-hop and rock with bits of dub step and world beat that’s artfully accessible. Her onstage fashion is just as dramatic. She cuts a striking image with power piece jewelry, torn clothing, chunky boots, and cherry red lipstick. The New York-based singer first gained notoriety fronting the avant-funk band Ladybug Stingray, a band that combined performance art with abstract dance grooves. With that band she performed from coast to coast, from NYC’s Webster Hall, to Brooklyn’s The Knitting Factory, to LA’s Whiskey A-Go-Go. She also headlined The Wassaic Project’s summer festival twice. As a solo artist, she’s channeled the adventurousness, theatrics, and dynamics of Ladybug Stingray into a distinct personal aesthetic that’s groove based but also ambient and boldly emotional. Kalen is a session vocalist at Tainted Blue Studio and for Equal Sonics. She is currently writing and co-writing songs with some of New York City’s best rising writers and producers, developing her catalog and licensing her music for film, TV and multi-media. On the rare occasion she has the time, she plays keys and sings in NYC based bands such as Missing Ships and Stone The King. Kalen is also working with nonprofits, like Girls Inc., leading workshops that empower young women through music. Kalen fan-funded Falling From The Sun, her solo six-song debut EP, via a Kickstarter campaign. Her solo work has been favorably compared to Grace Jones, Peter Gabriel, and Portishead. Reviews of her solo career have been impressive. Streetcred Music Critique enthused: “Kalen paints us a picture with her brilliant lyrics. She is a talented young artist who can wail the blues like a veteran.” Ishrat Ansari, owner and booker of West Village landmark, Café Vivaldi, insightfully remarked: “Kalen is a very promising singer-songwriter who brings in influences in her writing and music ranging from Pablo Naruda to Eric Satie.” Daily Vault enthused “She has an excellent range and handles ballads as well as she does roof-raising tracks.” Fusion-jazz luminary, and Zawinul Syndicate member, Gary Poulson recently said: “Kalen has ‘otherworldly’ vocal prowess. She has the rock energy of Janis Joplin, the soul diva gospel chops of Alicia Keys, the ethereal expression of Kate Bush, and she can rap like nobody’s business.”

About: progress aka progressia aka hasta la progressia siempre. Progress is a collective of musicians who believe in capturing the essence of music. They're an Afro Latin, Funk Jam band that also draws on influences from rock, soul, RnB, and hip-hop.