Let’s try this again: When ReverbNation approached me in March 2014 about partnering with Pauseandplay.com, I didn’t know what to expect.
They gave me access to a private dashboard, which featured every artist that submitted their music to be added to Pauseandplay.com’s massive new-music release schedule. Hundreds had made submissions in just a few days; it was overwhelming. Where the heck do I start? I thought to myself.
Well, you start at the beginning. 🙂
The very first song I cued up at ReverbNation allayed my fears, and it remains my favorite ReverbNation-affiliated song to date: Ian Roberts’ “Sweetlove Butterfly.”
The British singer-songwriter sounded like such a breath of fresh air in an age of overproduced, soul-less, cookie-cutter music. “Sweetlove Butterfly” would fit right in between The Beach Boys and James Taylor on the radio, with a little Henry Gross mixed in. It’s a genuine throwback to the breezy California pop of the 1970s.
The song came from Roberts’ “Come Outside and Play” EP, released on March 17, 2014. In just a few weeks, he sold more than 15,000 downloads of the song, an impressive feat for an indie artist.
Weeks later, he released a music video for “Sweetlove Butterfly.” Directed and produced by Daniel Gentely, the smooth-sailing video featured the skillful Stratford Skaters strutting their stuff at a shopping mall in Stratford. It later won best music video at the St. Albans Film Festival 2014.
What’s Roberts up to these days?
“Over the last two years I’ve been sometimes gigging solo, sometimes as a duet with a good friend, and at other times with the full band,” Roberts says, “but it’s been constant and massively enjoyable. I love playing live and meeting new people at gigs, and people are so kind and complimentary of my songs. I seem to attract thoroughly decent people to my music, I also have an amazing family around me, and that takes up all my spare time. I’m a really lucky man and I count my blessings every single day.”
At the moment, Roberts is putting a new band together.
“Paul Dawson who’s an amazing jazz guitarist, is jumping in with us,” he says. “He’s a lovely fella and an exceptional musician who will add so much with his guitar skills, he can play in so many styles. Andrew Hubbard, who’s a concert pianist and an amazing violin player, is joining us too. He plays keyboard too and is a wonderful string arranger, he’s also a musical director/producer who loves my songs. I’m guessing Andrew will play a few different roles in the band, oh and he also owns a brilliant recording studio called Pinetree in Bedford, U.K. So as soon as we’re rehearsed we’ll be recording all the new songs in there/ I love a recording studio, it’s a place where magic happens.
“Right now, I’m working on a bunch of new songs too. I have so many songs bouncing around inside my head, some are almost finished, some need a little more work on the arrangements. Others need a few tweaks lyrically, but I pretty much know where they are all heading, and they’re all full of melody, so I’m delighted that the songs just keep coming, I hope they never stop.”
Now, on with the ReverbNation countdown …
Oct. 28, 2016
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Goodnight Tonight (Kent, Ohio, alt-rock quartet) | “Parasites” (five-song EP; Hear here)  |
(Goodnight Tonight, Oct. 30) |
| Raggs Gustaffe (Seattle hip-hop artist) | “I Want a Love I Can Feel” (Hear here) |
(100 Proof Inc., Oct. 30) |
Nov. 11, 2016
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Venya Pak | “When Everything Is Falling Apart” (five-song EP; Hear here) |
(Venya Pak Music, Nov. 9) |
Nov. 18, 2016
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Tyler Colt (pop-rock singer from Redondo Beach, Calif.) | “A New Day” (Hear here) |
(Tyler Colt) |
Dec. 2, 2016
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Dave Jeanes (Bristol, U.K., singer-songwriter) | “A Six and Two Threes” (Hear here) |
(Dave Jeanes) |
More Recent Releases
Oct. 14, 2016
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Kendra Erika (Boca Raton indie-pop singer-songwriter) | “After Hours” (Hear here) |
(Kendra Erika) |
| The Refusers (Seattle alt-rock group) | “Wake Up America” (Hear here) |
(The Refusers) |
| Steve Ryan (Atlanta pop-soul singer-songwriter) | “Smooth Melodies” (Hear here) |
(Tate Music Group, Oct. 18) |
| Shinobi Ninja (Brooklyn alt-hip-hop/metal band) | “Drift” (feat. Dinco D; Hear here) |
(Shinobi Ninja, Oct. 18) |
| Kim Tibbs (Huntsville, Ala., singer-songwriter) | “I Need You for Your Love!” (Hear here) |
(Black Orchid) |
| Tony Tornado (novelty artist from Portland, Ore.) | “The Tony Tornado EP” (five-song EP; Hear here) | (Tony Tornado) |
Oct. 7, 2016
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Dario BianKi (Spanish DJ) | “Blond Hair into the Space,” “Liquid Room on My Plane” (Hear here) |
(WasteMusicBusters s.r.l., Oct. 10) |
| Fluid Foundation (Oceanside, Calif., reggae band) | “Fluid Foundation” (guests: Pato Banton, Micah Brown, Marion Asher, Kevin Offitzer; Hear here) | (Fluid Foundation, Oct. 8) |
| Fly By Midnight (NYC retro-pop duo) | “This Town” (Hear here) |
(Fly By Midnight, Oct. 10) |
| Kaptain Krook (Concord, Calif., hip-hop artist) | “We Goin’ In” (feat. Escobestdro; Hear here) |
(Gumbohouse Entertainment, Oct. 11) |
| Aashish Kaushik (Delhi singer-songwriter) | “One Piece” (Hear here) | (A Records, Oct. 3) |
| Kreefer (EDM group based in Basking Ridge, N.J.) | “EDM” (Hear here) |
(P.A.W.N. Recordings, Oct. 10) |
| Lakotah (L.A. EDM artist) | “Hold Me Near” (Hear here) |
(BooBoo) |
| Nisha Nandez (L.A. dance-rock singer) | “I’m Not Ready” (Hear here) |
(FVYDID) |
| Reality Serum | “Sic It!” (Hear here) |
(Supple, Oct. 4) |
| Nelson Samuels (Hazlehurst, Ga.-based electronic/rock producer) | “Lucid” (Hear here) |
(Nelson Samuels) |