Earlier this year, Sara Bareilles challenged herself to do the bravest thing she could do: go on tour completely solo. In alignment with her latest single, “Brave,” Sara is encouraging fans across the country to overcome their fears along with her. Sara is hoping that fans will share what kinds of things they are brave [...]

Ask Amy Grant what advice she would give herself if she could go back in time and she’d tell you, “don’t waste energy measuring yourself against somebody else… Because everybody is gifted.”

Words of wisdom from a woman who has been through a lot in her life. But it isn’t the 6 GRAMMY® Awards or the countless forms of recognition that are teaching Amy the most – though they are undeniably very important parts of her journey – on top of it all, it’s the life experience. It’s learning how to embrace blessings that come in different forms.

“You belong here,” – three words that had a profound impact on LEAGUES band-mates Thad Cockrell, Jeremy Lutito and Tyler Burkum. “There’s something about saying that you belong to somebody – that you belong here.” Says drummer Jeremy Lutito, “It’s kind of like you showing up at a party, and you don’t know it’s for you, but literally everyone is genuinely happy that you’re there. That’s our whole deal.”

Los Angeles rock band The Gallery is gearing up to release their first full-length record, Restless, in early 2013. The four-piece band is comprised of brothers Brendan and Ryan Cooney, Dave Mozdzanowski and Ben Lozano.

Every song on Cedar + Gold is like a window into the soul of an artist who is learning how to deal with the worst, while still hoping for the best. “I don’t take a story and spin it. I didn’t do that with this record, didn’t do that with these songs. I didn’t take something and make it mean something else. I literally took it and this is it. There’s no metaphor or something else I’m trying to get at. Just, ‘here it is.’ It was honest.”

It’s been three years since A Fine Frenzy, also known as Alison Sudol, released her charismatic sophomore record, ‘Bomb in a Birdcage.’ It couldn’t have been a more challenging and rewarding time in between records for Alison, who took an entirely different approach to her third record, ‘Pines.’ “I went into places with my heart and my soul with this record that I have never cared to go into before, I think,” she said. “It’s difficult to describe, you know?”

Delta Rae’s debut record, Carry The Fire, is set to drop on June 19th. The seven piece band is already starting to turn heads with the powerful harmonies and booming rhythm of the album’s first single, “Bottom of The River.”

Los Angeles band Everest is set to kick off their tour with Neil Young in November at Seattle’s Key Arena. Young hand-picked the band to open for him in 2008 after the band released their debut record under his label, Vapor Records.

The band is preparing to release their third studio album, Ownerless, which is set to drop on June 26th on ATO Records.

In a time when many artists are playing it safe and sticking to the kind of music they know, Brandi Carlile decided to depart from the expected and take an entirely new approach to the music on her latest record, Bear Creek. “We went into this studio with the mindset of shunning any tangible sense of continuity,” Brandi explained, “it was something we’d been conscious of in the past and we wanted to see if continuity would happen without trying to make it happen.”

After listening to the first song on Elle’s upcoming self-titled EP, I found myself humming and bobbing my head along with her every word. “Playing For Keeps” is featured as the theme song for the TV show Mob Wives Chicago – and I can totally see why.

“In some ways, this record feels like my first record,” Jon McLaughlin says of his newly released album, Promising Promises, “It’s the first time I have put down on tape exactly what I wanted to put down.”

This is Alanis’ first single from her forthcoming record, Havoc and Bright Lights, dropping on August 28th!