Gettin’ All Kinds of Play! (Radio Play)

“Look Out” Album Cover

We have been getting all kinds of radio play lately! Check it out:

Here is April Snow‘s interview on The Buzz Radio. She talks with host Ace Micheals about co-writing music with Greg Conte, the relationship she has with Greg, Don, and Dave (and their families), how her husband feels about her posing for pinup shoots, and the proverbial “double-edged sword.” That of being a woman in the music industry. Have a listen here and be sure to wait until the end to hear them spin our tune “Look Out!“ April Snow on The Buzz!

The same single, “Look Out!” was also just featured on the “Blues Deluxe” Radio Airplay playlist for the week of February 10th – February 16th. The playlist is nationally syndicated and plays on over 100 radio stations to a listenership of over 2 million people. We were so excited to be included in this playlist along with some of our idols and favorite blues artists such as Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite, Robben Ford, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, and Python Lee Jackson & Rod Stewart!

Another single from our recent CD that is getting a lot of attention is our fun, tongue-in-cheek tune “Thunderbird.” Not only did Thunderbird win us the #1 spot on the first round of voting for the Hard Rock Rising contest (with approximately 300 unique local votes and 400 song downloads!) but it was also featured on The Dana Brenklin Show on KCLA FM amongst some amazing tunes by Anita Baker, Dionne Warwick, and other such powerhouses! Here is the cloud cast of that show. Thunderbird is the second song played and starts right around the 5 minute mark. The Dana Brenklin Show on KCLA FM

That’s the news on the blues for now kids. Stay tuned for our next blog!

Lookin’ For Your Support! Help us play at Hard Rock Hollywood!

Check it out guys! We entered a contest to play at Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood called “Hard Rock Rising.” We didn’t give it a lot of thought at the time and we missed out on the first few days of voting simply because we didn’t realize the contest had begun. But with the help of some of the greatest fans and friends ever we managed to sneak up from dead last place into SECOND PLACE! Seriously, we are number 2 out of over 550 bands competing to play at the Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood. Not only will we get to play at the Hard Rock Cafe but we will also be getting some REALLY cool opportunities:

• We’ll be battling it out with 11 other local bands at the Hard Rock for $500 in cash and prizes AND if we win we’ll move onto the National Round of the Hard Rock Rising contest.
• If we make it to the National Round we will battle it out with appx 100 bands in another voting round and the top 25 bands will move onto the Global round.
• The Top 25 bands will be reviewed by a panel of judges to determine the Grand Prize and 2 runner-up winning bands.
• The Grand Prize winner will play Hard Rock Calling in London as part of a World Tour, make an album and video with Hard Rock Records, and win new gear. (The runner-up bands will receive new band gear – to the equivalent of $10,000)!

As you can see there are some really cool prizes/opportunities to be had. We’re taking baby steps of course. First of all we want to be sure to play at the Hard Rock Hollywood. Just that in itself will be fantastic exposure and experience for the band and we can’t wait to play at that iconic venue! And of course we would LOVE to be the ones to win that round.

We need your help to get there and win! Here is a link to vote for us. You MUST live within 100 miles of Hard Rock on Hollywood Blvd. for your vote to count, you MUST “like” this facebook page, and then you have to download our song “Thunderbird” in order for your vote to count. It’s totally free! You get a free music download and it seriously takes less than a minute to do.

That’s it. Let’s rock HARD at the Hard Rock!

Look Out! Album Release

“Look Out” Album Cover

Howdy all you troublemakers out there! April Snow here to tell you all about our newest album. We had an amazing CD Release Party at the end of last year at Arcadia Blues Club and the album was officially released on iTunes on November 19th! It it now available all over the internet (iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby, ReverbNation, and of course through our website at http://www.LookinForTrouble.com)

Since we’ve released the album it’s been selling all over the place and playing on  various radio shows. Ace Micheals interviewed myself on his show “The Buzz” and played the title track “Look Out” on the show, The Dana Brenklin Show on KCLA FM played our original song “Thunderbird”, “Look Out” hit #11 on the California Roots Radio Airplay Music Chart, and coming up on February 10th – 16th “Look Out” will also be featured on a nationally syndicated radio show broadcast on over 100 stations nationwide!

Needless to say, the response has been overwhelmingly positive and we are tremendously proud of the album and grateful for all of the amazing exposure that’s been happening since it’s release. Here’s a link to the tracks on our ReverbNation site. Have a listen. Grab your copy of the album on iTunes, Amazon, etc. and feel free to share! 
http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/artist_songs/1433117

Entertainment Vine Interviews April Snow

Entertainment Vine is a website that publishes entertainment news, reviews, interviews, and press releases related to the movie, music, or entertainment industry.

Our vocalist April was recently approached by one of their regular writers, Jan Ostegard, to be interviewed about our band, blues music in general, and charitable endeavors. Here’s the interview:

Entertainment Vine Interviews April Snow

Inspiration and Influence: The Art of the Cover Song

April Snow – Vocals

Calling a cover song “original” seems oxymoronic but there really is nothing quite like a truly original cover song. Ever since I was a little girl I’ve found myself experimenting with popular lyrics and my own melodies trying to make them sound like they belonged to me. I love to hear a song done in a distinctively new way – it is quite an art form.

Many of the songs our band does are covers and many of them are very unique. Lately I’ve been playing around with songs that I think would be particularly unpredictable to cover as a blues song. (Stuff like Carrie Underwood, Justin Timberlake, maybe even Kanye West… time will tell!)  If you have any suggestions for the band we’re definitely open to hearing them! In the meantime I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite cover songs (and if you’ve never heard the original versions of these songs I highly suggest checking them out as they differ greatly from the versions I’m sharing with you.)

First up I could not leave out this gem of a cover song released in 2000 from the one hit wonder alternative band called Dynamite Hack. This is a cover of a single from rapper Eazy-E (also of N.W.A.) called “Boyz-n-the-Hood” How can you help but love hearing every rap lyric dissected slowly and enunciated clearly? Number one on my list.

Next up is an absolutely phenomenal cover that went viral recently. Yes, I’m talking about Noah (Only1Noah) covering LMFAO‘s hit “Sexy and I know It.” SO GOOD! First of all Noah may not be your typical sexy guy but that voice is sexy as hell. Raspy, bluesy, & those high notes are yummy! Sorry if the “Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle” line gets stuck in your head.

This next video is not only a cover song but a mash-up of two popular songs. I met Arlene Paculan back in February. She was visiting from Toronto and we met through the modern miracle of Twitter at an open mic where I captured this performance on video. This is her brilliant interpretation of Eminem‘s “Lose Yourself” and Bruno Mars “Grenade.”

Chelsea Williams is the baby sister of a childhood friend of mine and she has a knack for re-imagining songs. She is featured singing her version of Bruno Mars ”Billionaire”  in two recent Chevy commercials but the song that really caught my attention was this incredible cover of “So Good” by rapper/singer B.o.B. 

This one is especially special since it’s a cover of a cover! Honestly I have never heard the original cover so it may be even better than this cover of a cover but I love the silky smooth tone of this singers voice and this jazzy acoustic version of Britney Spears song “Oops I Did It Again” performed by Iman Wain

And last but not least, I always like to share one of our songs. This is a recent performance of our unusually sultry version of “Sixteen Tons” - Tennessee Ernie Ford‘s country hit from 1955 (originally recorded by Merle Travis in 1946) done here by Lookin’ For Trouble blues band.

And there you have it! Please share your own favorite covers with us and let us know if you have any bright ideas of unorthodox songs for a blues band to cover. Our ears are open!

Natural High

April Snow – Vocals

We had a great gig at The Canyon club in Agoura Hills this past Thursday, May 10th 2012 and I couldn’t sleep that night still swimming in the euphoric afterglow of it all. Recently I’ve been reading Steve Martin’s memoir called, “Born Standing Up” and in the early part of the book he makes mention of a phenomena that I couldn’t help but remember as I was singing this Thursday. I’m paraphrasing it but it’s something along the lines of an acute awareness of being in front of a crowd and having your mouth be in the present delivering the lines but your mind being in the future.

This is a phenomena that I am all too familiar with as a performer. If the audience could be inside the jumbled mess that is my head while I perform I honestly don’t think that they would enjoy the performance half as much! I’m singing one line while I’m searching my mind for the next lyrics, second guessing my pitch, hoping I don’t trip over my microphone cord, seeing if I can read the minds of my band, checking the clock to make sure we’re on time and trying to gauge if the audience is digging the song so far. It’s a mind boggle really but there is absolutely no way to turn it off. At least not since I got sober.

I am acutely aware of why drugs and rock-and-roll go hand in hand… if you’re stoned out of your mind you’re not stuck in your mind, your fears, or your doubts. But these days I let myself feel every feeling and experience every second I’m on stage (and every other second for that matter)… and I can assure you that I’ve never felt a better high than the one I get from being in those moments. Seriously, I’ve been high since Thursday! Despite the mind boggle, the slip ups, and the nerves… I can’t wait to get back out and do it again. I guess you could say I’m an addict.

Here’s a video from the show! Our version of People Get Ready. Enjoy! I know I did.

April Snow on Melly Belly show docu-series

Melly Belly

Local comedienne – Meline Tovmasian (Melly Belly) – interviews April Snow at The Office Bar and Grill Open Mic night in Burbank.

The background is a little noisy at times but you can watch a clip of April singing Sam Cooke’s “A Change Gonna Come” at open mic and hear Melly interview her about her background, upcoming show at The Canyon, charitable work, and screening of a documentary she’s been working on. Check it out!