Sharon Van Etten and Julia Barwick
Sharon Van Etten’s recommendation: “For the last few months, I have been couch surfing at different friend’s houses. I wake up in a different place almost every day. One morning, I woke up to Julianna Barwick’s song Cloudbank. The sun was just peeking through the windows. It was an early dusty light and in a moment of grogginess, I didn’t know where I was. But I was lulled awake by her beautiful church-like vocals echoing through the apartment. I got slightly teary, in a happy way, and walked towards the music. My friend, Sean, was playing her album, Florine
MP3: Cloudbank by Julianna Barwick
Editor’s note: Julianna is raising money over at Kickstarter to release her album on vinyl. If you have a few extra bucks, please contribute to this most excellent cause.
About our guest author, Sharon Van Etten: Sharon has been stunning artists and the music press since her first full length collection, Because I Was in Love
About our guest author, Hesta Prynn: Hesta’s hip hop career is quite the stunning Cinderella story. Hesta and her two Long Island gal pals formed Northern State for fun, but the band was able to attract some of the biggest rap names in the game to help on their records (Pete Rock, Questlove, and Ad-rock of the Besties to name a few) after the band’s first EP landed a glowing review in Rolling Stone. When Hesta went solo in 2008, she enlisted producer Chuck Brody (Wu-Tang Clan) to help create a new sound that she says is “…. ‘post-everything.’ It’s post-hipster, post-genre and post-pop.” (Listen to the mp3 for Can We Go Wrong below to get an idea). Hesta has a new EP out (also called Can We Go Wrong), which you can purchase here and is doing a series of shows with, you guessed it, Kenan Bell. Check her web site for the full tour details.
MP3: Can We Go Wrong by Hesta Prynn
About our guest author, Justin Jones: If you live in the DC area and you’re a live music fan, then you most definitely have been to the area’s premiere venue, 
a listen (MP3 below) and you’ll hear why Justin was given the honor of being the label’s first round draft pick. “You can imagine I’ve been exposed to more music than most,” Hurwitz says, “but once in a very blue moon, a new artist stops me dead in my tracks.” Jones has also caught a lot of attention with his live performances where has been seen opening for heavy weights like Loretta Lynn, Alejandro Escovedo and Levon Helm. Don’t miss the opportunity to see him open for Sheryl Crow in the coming weeks. Check