If you want to go to the beach, but a) it's fall now, and Lake Michigan is Very Cold; or b) you live far away from sunny climes, then I suggest listening to Colbie Caillat's new Malibu Sessions album. It was recorded over 2 months - get this: at a beach house, on the ocean in California. Yes, I love that, too. 

You have to love a band that starts one of their songs with Spongebob lyrics...

Indeed, we loved the band of brothers, AJR, before we saw them perform live this weekend. But after seeing them in concert? Well, they blew us away with their energy, creative songs, personality, and musicianship. 

Florida Culture for the Week of October 2, 2016 by Josh Garrick
 
October 4 to 9 – The Illusionists - Live From Broadway – at Dr. Phillips Center
This mind-blowing spectacular showcases the talents of nine incredible Illusionists. ‘The Illusionists – Live From Broadway’ has shattered box office records around the globe while dazzling audiences with some of the most outrageous acts ever seen. Packed with sophisticated magic, this show truly must be seen to be believed.  Call 844.513.2014 or visit drphillipscenter.org

Florida Culture for the Week of September 11, 2016 by Josh Garrick

Kyle Carey has lived in Alaska, New England, Cape Breton, Ireland, Scotland, and New York. From these experiences, she is forging music she calls Gaelic Americana, a mix that draws on music of the Appalachian south and wider American folk story as much as it does on musical traditions of Ireland and, especially, Scotland. 

Just up the block from Moo Moo's Ice Cream in downtown St. John's, Newfoundland is Bannerman Park (trust me to base directions on ice cream). A wide, expansive park, with a playground, lush grassy areas, and plenty of trees, a visit earlier in the week showed me just that - a park. But once a year in early August, this park transforms into a world-class music venue, as it hosts the Newfoundland & Labrador Folk Festival. 

So, you think you had a busy day? Consider what a typical working day might be like for composer Megan Cavallari. Start with the fact that Cavallari is one of only a very small handful of women who have established themselves as major creative artists in the professional music industry. But not even most of the men can point to a resume as diverse, eclectic, and impressive as this diminutive Jewish-Italian Philadelphia native: more than a 100 film scores as performer, arranger, conductor, or composer; the official composer of the L.A.

Our friend, Boston-based Shannon Heaton, specializes in Irish wooden flute and traditional Irish singing. She performs with Matt & Shannon Heaton, with her string quartet project and as a solist. Her instructional books, podcasts and videos and free audio tracks serve trad music aficionados. Her engaging performance style and her concert compositions for winds, strings, voice and piano make her a multi-faceted ambassador of traditional music for music lovers across genre lines.

Have you seen Once? It's a musical that touches the heart of anyone who loves music. ONCE is the celebrated new musical based on the Academy Award-winning film. It tells the story of an Irish musician and a Czech immigrant drawn together by their shared love of music. Over the course of one fateful week, their unexpected friendship and collaboration evolves into a powerful but complicated romance, heightened by the raw emotion of the songs they create together.

You're in the car listening to the SAME cloying, made-for-children CD aGAIN (oh, and your toddler insists on track 3 on repeat).

But wait! There's an escape! Help Matt Heaton fund his new album, Toddlerbilly Riot! in exchange for an infusion of clever songs that kids love... and adults do, too: