VeraNation

Amid the humid yet breezy bay of Tampa just beside the Buccaneer’s stadium, emerges thumping bass, throbbing lights, and colorful people. This year’s festival is dutifully named as the stages create a triangle gathering all angles of Earth’s biggest supporter slowly setting in the west.

After three years of releasing music independently, Scibilia has signed with Sony’s Epic Records with “You Are The Night” single. His acoustic, soul-packing voice is a door-stopper while his lyrics surface with emotional tides. Scibilia was a beautiful opener for Mexico’s Rodrigo Y Gabriela and sits well with any genre. We look forward to what his next label chapter may bring.

Creative mixologist Mat Zo is back with a brand new EP. While he may be ‘Tracing Steps’, it’s certainly a step in a new direction of innovation and ‘funky beats’. Self-titled track is a blend of upbeat elements of tropical electro-pop, one that is sure be a consideration for a summer anthem. Speaking of summer, I believe a “heat wave” is in order. This spiraling tech tune is full of pool time pleasure with splashes of twists and turns. “Lust” takes a dip into more progressive synthesising sounds; whereas, “Deep Inside” suggests a slow sunset into deeper progressive feels. Also progressive by nature, “Deep Inside” is a tune for multiple house and dance genres.

It’s always lovely to see women within the music movement. For the multi-cultural artist, Sofia Kouresis, Sofia Kouresis EP is just the first leg of a long experimental journey. She takes a different approach to house music with mingles of passenger subway rides and natural loops. Much like her atmosphere, her music knows no boundaries; yet it is bound to bring a fresh outlook on experimental/electronic music. Kouresis is also set to announce a US Tour this summer.

No better place for education and art to come together than in Charleston, South Carolina. The South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind Foundation, based in Spartanburg, presented award-winning singer/songwriter Mandy Harvey at the historic Charleston Music Hall. The Music Hall is one of the few community-based driven venues for acoustics, historic preservation, and guest service. Moreover, they have played host to countless benefits and dinners in addition to being the only movie theatre on the peninsula on Monday evenings.

To say P!nk’s concert is phenomenal is an enormous understatement.This is Broadway musical, Cirque du Soleil, Rock Opera, and Mardi Gras all rolled into one exciting event…with a capital E. The opening song was a raucous rendition of Get This Party Started; that had P!nk swinging from an oversized chandelier in a pink hotel lobby set, sent the crowd at the Colonial Life Arena off on a two-and-a-half hour extravaganza. Every minute was a highlight. The sets, however, deserve special mention. A 3-D screen backdrop accentuated and enhanced the stage props, including a larger-than-life Eminem inflatable and claymation cartoon carnival during Revenge and Fun House.

Downtempo artists Doug Appling (Empancipator) and Gabe Lehner (9 Theory) have teamed up for a rhapsodic, head-nodding new EP Cheeba Gold, out on March 22nd on Loci Records. The lead single Chameleon is a three-part journey that captures the spirit of the entire EP.

Making her highly anticipated return to North America this spring, DJ and producer Nicole Moudaber will touch down for 15 dates throughout March, April and May 2019 for what is to be one of her biggest tours yet on this side of the pond. Making appearances at high profile festivals including Coachella, the newly revived Winter Music Conference, Ultra Music Festival Resistance Miami and SXM Festival in St. Martin, coupled with a slew of club dates stretching from San Francisco to Toronto, 2019 is already working out to be an incredibly exciting year for the much-loved artist.

My personality really. I’m an introspective person. I’m fascinated by the natural world. Nature is always humming in the background and it keeps me connected to the world; not feeling so isolated all the time. Living in Western North Carolina, I love the forest/mountain region…