Floyd Elliot Wray (born August 22, 1960) is an American country music singer, known professionally asCollin Raye, and previously as Bubba Wray. Under the latter name, he recorded as a member of the band The Wrays between 1983 and 1987. He made his solo debut in 1991 as Collin Raye with the album All I Can Be, which produced his first Number One hit in "Love, Me". All I Can Be was the first of four consecutive albums released by Raye to achieve platinum certification in the United States for sales of one million copies each. Raye maintained several Top Ten hits throughout the rest of the decade and into 2000. 2001's Can't Back Down was his first album that did not produce a Top 40 country hit, and he was dropped by his record label soon afterward. He did not record another studio album until 2005's Twenty Years and Change, released on an independent label.
Between 1991 and 2007, Raye charted 30 singles on the U.S. country charts; he has also charted twice on the Adult Contemporary format as a duet partner on two Jim Brickman songs. Four of Raye's singles have reached Number One on the Billboard country music charts: 1992's "Love, Me" and "In This Life", 1995's "My Kind of Girl", and 1998's "I Can Still Feel You". He has also recorded a total of 11 studio albums, counting a Christmas album and a compilation of lullabies, in addition to releasing a Greatest Hits compilation, a live album, and a live CD/DVD package. In April 2009, Raye released Never Going Back via Saguaro Road Records.
Dirk Darmstaedter (nacido el 22 de febrero de 1965 en Hamburgo) es un músico y compositor alemán. Nació en Hamburgo, pero vivió con su familia en Teaneck, Nueva Jersey, desde los cinco hasta los once años porque su padre trabajaba en Nueva York durante ese tiempo. Cuando regresó a Hamburgo con su familia en 1976, se interesó más en la música y luego comenzó a tocar la guitarra y cantar. La primera banda de Darmstaedter, fundada en 1977, se llamó Jay Bee and his Jupitors. La banda dio conciertos y ganó dos concursos de talentos en Hamburgo. De adolescente viajó por Europa con un billete de Interrail y ganó dinero como músico callejero, bajo el nombre artístico de Kirk Novak, lanzó el sencillo Send Her A Dream en 1984.
En 1985 comenzó a escribir canciones junto con Christoph M. Kaiser. Con el tiempo, a los dos se les unieron Louis C. Oberlander, Jörn-Christof Heilbut y Stefan Rager. En 1987 formaron la banda The Jeremy Days. Al año siguiente, su primer sencillo Are You Inventive? y el álbum debut, que vendió más de 150.000 copias. La pista Brand New Toy contenida en este álbum alcanzó el número 11 en las listas de sencillos alemanas. La banda lanzó otros cuatro álbumes de estudio, un álbum en vivo, realizó una gira por Europa y finalmente se separó en 1996.
En 2002, Darmstaedter fundó el sello discográfico Wallpaper Records junto con Gunther Buskies. Darmstaedter lanzó cuatro álbumes entre 2002 y 2012 bajo el nombre de Me and Cassity, y en 2003 también grabó un álbum country con Bernd Begemann. Darmstaedter ha estado lanzando música bajo su propio nombre desde 2005. El 1 de octubre de 2010, él y Begemann participaron en el Federal Vision Song Contest 2010 en Berlín para Baja Sajonia con el clásico de Freddy Quinn So geht das Jeder Nacht, pero solo quedaron en último lugar allí. Dirk Darmstaedter tiene su propio sello Beg Steal & Borrow desde 2009, que ha lanzado sus álbumes Twenty Twenty - 20 Years, 20 Songs A Collection y Strange Companions, entre otros. En el verano de 2014 fundó el sello Teaneck Records, que lanzó su álbum Before We Leave en septiembre de 2014. Darmstaedter ha estado moderando el programa Sounds like Dirk en el programa de radio de Bremen Zwei una vez al mes desde 2017.
Sidney Matthew Sweet (Lincoln, Nebraska, 6 de octubre de 1964) es un músico estadounidense de pop rock. Formó parte de la floreciente escena musical de Athens, Georgia a principios y mediados de los años 1980, antes de obtener éxito comercial durante la década de 1990. En la actualidad, continúa publicando álbumes y realizando giras. Durante su adolescencia en Lincoln, en el estado de Nebraska, Sweet escribió varias canciones y las registró con ayuda de una grabadora de cuatro pistas. A finales de los años 70 se incorporó a un grupo local, The Specs, con el que publicó sus primeros temas, en un disco recopilatorio publicado con el patrocinio de una emisora de la localidad. Cuando en 1983 se graduó en la Lincoln Southeast High School, se trasladó a Athens, localidad del estado de Georgia en la que había por entonces una intensa actividad musical, con grupos destacados como R.E.M. y The B-52's. Sweet colaboró con uno de los miembros de R.E.M, Michael Stipe, en el grupo Community Trolls, y formó parte de la banda Oh-OK, liderada por Lynda Stipe, hermana de Michael, participando en el segundo EP del grupo, Furthermore What (1983), producido por Mitch Easter. Más tarde, junto con el batería de Oh-OK, David Pierce, Sweet creó su propia banda, Buzz of Delight, que publicaría el LP Sound Castles a finales de 1983. En 1985 firmó un contrato con Columbia Records. Se marchó a vivir a Nueva York, y allí grabó su primer disco en solitario, Inside, que apareció en 1986. Obtuvo buenas críticas pero un éxito limitado, lo que puso fin a su contrato con Columbia. En 1988 firmó un nuevo contrato, esta vez con A&M Records, que publicó el segundo álbum en solitario del artista, Earth (1989), para el que Sweet contó con la colaboración de músicos como Robert Quine, antiguo colaborador de Lou Reed, y Richard Lloyd, guitarrista de la célebre banda Television. Tampoco este disco llegó a convertirse en un éxito, por lo que la casa discográfica A&M rescindió el contrato de Sweet cuando éste se encontraba embarcado en la producción de su tercer disco. Durante el año 1991, Sweet actuó como guitarrista de Lloyd Cole en sus giras por Estados Unidos, al tiempo que intentaba encontrar una discográfica que publicase su tercer LP. Finalmente lo logró con Zoo Entertainment, que publicó Girlfriend, un álbum en gran medida inspirado en su reciente divorcio, a finales de 1991. A lo largo del año siguiente, el álbum, y especialmente el tema del mismo nombre, la canción "Girlfriend", obtuvieron un éxito considerable. El vídeo "Girlfriend", inspirado en el anime japonés, fue emitido por los canales musicales MTV y MuchMusic. A finales de 1992, el álbum era ya disco de oro El nuevo álbum de Matthew Sweet, Altered Beast (1993), no logró emular el éxito de su predecesor. No fue recibido con entusiasmo por la crítica, aunque algunos de sus temas lograron cierta difusión en emisoras universitarias. En la primavera de 1994, Sweet editó un EP, Son of Altered Beast, y en 1995 un nuevo LP, 100% Fun, producido por Brendan O'Brien, que había trabajado con exitosos grupos grunge como Pearl Jam y Stone Temple Pilots. 100% Fun obtuvo excelentes críticas, y el tema "Sick Of Myself" fue un éxito. Blue Sky on Mars, aparecido en 1997, fue recibido con más frialdad por la crítica. En 1999 apareció In Reverse, y al año siguiente un recopilatorio de lo mejor de la carrera de Sweet, titulado Time Capsule. En 2002 vio la luz un disco con sus primeras grabaciones: To Understand: The Early Recordings of Matthew Sweet.
Susanna Lee Hoffs (Los Ángeles, 17 de enero de 1959) es la vocalista y guitarra rítmica del grupo de rock The Bangles y actriz por su participación en la película The Allnighter (1987). En 1981, lanzó su primer sencillo con The Bangs, titulado Getting out of hand, tras lo que siguieron el EP Bangles (1982), LP s All Over the Place (1984), Different Light (1986), Everything (1988) y Greatest Hits (1991).
En 1991, Hoffs lanzó su primer álbum como solista, titulado When You're a Boy, cuyo dulce y romántico sencillo «My side of the bed» se colocó en las zonas medias de los éxitos musicales. En 1996, grabó su segundo disco en solitario, llamado sencillamente con su nombre: Susanna Hoffs.
Tras sacar otro disco en solitario, The Bangles se reunieron en 1995 para grabar September Gurls tras lo que vendrían Greatest Hits (2000), la canción «Get the Girl» (incluida en la banda sonora original de la película Austin Powers:la espía que me achuchó), Eternal Flame (2001) y Doll Revolution (2003). La bajista Michael Steele abandonó la banda en 2005 sin ser sustituida.
Susanna está casada con el director de cine Jay Roach, realizador de películas como Austin Power y Los padres de ella, y tienen dos hijos. Su última grabación fue Under the Covers, Vol. 1, una colaboración con el cantante y guitarrista de rock alternativo Matthew Sweet, con quince temas que versionan éxitos de los años 1960 y 1970 que fue publicada en 2006. En la actualidad, sigue tocando en directo con The Bangles.
En julio de 2012, editó bajo el sello Baroque Folk un nuevo álbum solista, titulado Someday, producido por Mitchell Froom, con 10 canciones electrofolks.
Undressd (styled as UNDRESSD) is a Swedish musical duo, comprising Elina Mayskär and Erik Pettersson. Their cover of Alphaville song "Forever Young", peaked at No. 40 on the official Swedish Singles Chart.
Undressd was formed in 2018 by producer Erik Pettersson (co-founder, label owner and manager of RadioAddict Music Group, together with Elina Mayskär, a vocalist from Karlskrona, with an ambition to bring the old times back to life. Their first single "Forever Young" (originally by Alphaville) were released in May 2019, which peaked at No. 40 on the Sverigetopplistan. It remained in the top 100 for a total of fifteen weeks. In May 2020 they released a second single, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", (originally by Cyndi Lauper). They also release Swedish songs, under the stage name, Under.
Caleb Hyles (born: October 14, 1991 [age 30]) is an American YouTuber who resides in Fort Worth, Texas. He is well known for his covers, or specifically his male cover of "Let it Go" from Disney's "Frozen". His YouTube channel consists of covers, usually derived from Disney songs, Broadway musicals, Anime, Metal and Steven Universe. He is known to appear in collaborations with other music-related channels, often with creators like Jonathan Young, Malinda Kathleen Reese, Will Ryan (DAGames), Fandroid Music and Brian Hull.
Christoffer Kläfford (born 10 April 1989) is a Swedish singer, born in Ramsberg, Sweden Kläfford began his music career performing for 10 years in small bars. In 2017, however, Kläfford won the thirteenth seasonof theSwedish Idol series]Kläfford has a total of three top five singles on national radio in a year and more than 35 million streams, platinum sales and sold out concerts. He’s the only winner having both the #1 and #7 most streaming sings at the same time. In the summer of 2018, he embarked on a tour consisting of 50 shows in Sweden.In 2019, Kläfford toured in Sweden together with the bandGyllene Tideron their farewell tour. Kläfford participated in the 14th series of America's Got Talent, broadcast in 2019, where his first song choice was John Lennon's "Imagine", which he also sang in the Idol finale. His performance of "Imagine" is one of the most viewed videos on his YouTube channel. He was eliminated in the semifinals
Zito started singing at the age of five and by his late teens he had begun his career in the St Louis area music scene. In 2008, Zito made his international debut on the Eclecto Groove label, released records on his own label and toured regionally and even performed some national dates until signing with Eclecto Groove Records in 2008. The same year, Eclecto Groove released Today. Today was produced by David Z. The musicians on the CD were a line-up of studio musicians that included bassist James "Hutch" Hutchinson, (Bonnie Raitt, Boz Scaggs, Joe Cocker); Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch keyboardist Benmont Tench; co-producer/drummer Tony Braunagel (Taj Mahal, B.B. King) and percussionist Michito Sanchez (Nelly Furtado, Steve Winwood). Also appearing on the CD are Joe Sublett (saxophone), Darrell Leonard (trumpet), Mitch Kashmar (harmonica) with Teresa James and Ce Ce Bullard (background vocals).
In 2009, Eclecto Groove released his second CD Pearl River. Zito and Cyril Neville collaborated on the title track. At the 2010 Blues Music Awards, "Pearl River" won "Song of the Year". Pearl River was recorded in New Orleans, Louisiana at Piety Street Studios. It featured Cyril Neville, Anders Osborne, Reese Wynans, Susan Cowsill, Lynwood Slim and Johnny Sansone, with the rhythm section of Lonnie 'Popcorn' Trevino Jr. (bass) and Eric Bolivar (drums).[5]
In 2011, Zito fulfilled his recording contract with Delta Groove/Eclecto Groove with the release of Greyhound.Greyhound was nominated for "Best Rock Blues Album" at the 2011 Blues Music Awards in Memphis, Tennessee.
In 2013, Mike Zito signed with Ruf Records and released Gone to Texas, a deep and personal CD dedicated to the state that he says saved his life. On Gone to Texas Mike assembled his band, The Wheel, which features Zito – guitars and vocals, Scot Sutherland – bass, Jimmy Carpenter – guitars/sax, and Rob Lee on drums.Mike Zito was in Royal Southern Brotherhood from 2010 to 2014.
Zito met Devon Allman while working together at the Guitar Center in St. Louis. The two would be reunited again through manager Rueben Williams, who managed Neville and Zito prior to signing Allman.
Zito, Cyril Neville, and Devon Allman became Royal Southern Brotherhood. The three invited rhythm section Charlie Wooton on bass, and drummer Yonrico Scott, to do a short tour. The band's first official show was at the “Rock n’ Bowl” in New Orleans. A year slipped by and the supergroup released their debut album to rave reviews.
With Jim Gaines as producer (Carlos Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Steve Miller Band), Royal Southern Brotherhood recorded the band's debut album at Dockside recording Studio in Maurice, Louisiana. Allman, Neville and Zito shared lead vocals for the new album and Zito and Allman play twin guitar leads, a reminder of the band's related sound to the dual guitar leads played by Allman's uncle, Duane, and Dickey Betts in the Allman Brothers Band.
In May 2014, Royal Southern Brotherhood won the Blues Music Award for "Best DVD" for the band's Ruf Records release Songs From The Road – Live In Germany.
In June 2014, Royal Southern Brotherhood released their second studio CD Heartsoulblood on Ruf Records. Making the Scene described the CD as " Combining blues and soul the way they do down in N’awlins, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." It was produced by Jim Gaines and engineered by David Z.
In early October 2014, Mike Zito left Royal Southern Brotherhood in order to focus on his own career.
In 2012, Zito debuted his new band, 'The Wheel'. The Wheel features drummer Rob Lee, Scot Sutherland on bass, Lewis Stephens on keyboards, and Jimmy Carpenter on saxophone. In 2014, Mike Zito and the Wheel's album, Gone To Texas, was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the 'Rock Blues Album of the Year' category.
In May 2018, Zito's most recent album, First Class Life, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard's Top Blues Albums Chart.
In November 2019 Zito released the tribute album Rock 'N' Roll – A Tribute To Chuck Berry on Ruf Records. The album contains 20 tunes featuring 21 guest guitarists: Joe Bonamassa, Walter Trout, Robben Ford, Sonny Landreth, Richard Fortus, Alex Skolnick, Joanna Connor, Anders Osborne, Ryan Perry, Ally Venable, Albert Castiglia, Luther Dickinson, Jeremiah Johnson, Tommy Castro, Tinsley Ellis, Josh Smith, Kirk Fletcher, Jimmy Vivino, Kid Andersen, and introducing Charlie Berry the 3rd.
In 2020, his European tour being cancelled, Zito flew to his home in Texas and started recording his album entitled Quarantine Blues, which was released as a "free-to-download" album. It was composed, recorded and mixed in 14 days with musicians in different cities, including a featured appearance from guitarist Tracii Guns, a founding member of L.A. Guns, collaborating from quarantine in Denmark.
Robben Lee Ford (born December 16, 1951) is an American blues, jazz, and rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Larry Carlton, Rick Springfield, Little Feat and Kiss. He was named one of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of the 20th Century" by Musician magazine. At age 18, Ford's band was hired to play with Charlie Musselwhite, and recorded two albums The Charles Ford Band and Discovering the Blues. He recorded two albums with Jimmy Witherspoon called Live and Spoonful. In the 1970s, Ford joined the jazz fusion band, L.A. Express, led by saxophonist Tom Scott. In 1974, the band supported George Harrison on his American tour and played on the Joni Mitchell albums The Hissing of Summer Lawns and Miles of Aisles. After leaving the L.A. Express in 1976, Robben Ford recorded his first solo album, The Inside Story with a band that later became the Yellowjackets- In 1977, Ford was one of half a dozen or so session players asked to play the guitar solo for theSteely Dansong "Peg." In the end, the group went with the version byJay Graydoninstead. In 2006, a tribute album to Steely Dan –The Royal Dan– was released, with Ford covering "Peg" in his own style.
In 1982, Ford was one of several guitarists who appeared on the KISS album Creatures of the Night, playing lead guitar on the songs "Rock And Roll Hell" and "I Still Love You".
Ford worked briefly with Miles Davis in 1986; and can be heard on Davis' Montreux box set. Ford released his second solo album Talk to Your Daughter in 1988. He joined Philippe Saisse, Marcus Miller and J.T. Lewis in the cast of The Sunday Night Band for the second and final season of the late-night NBC television program Sunday Night in 1989. In the 1990s, he released the albums Robben Ford and the Blue Line, Mystic Mile, Handful of Blues, Tiger Walk and Supernatural- Robben Ford has received five Grammy Award nominations and was named one of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of the 20th Century" by Musician magazine. He credited pianist and arranger Roger Kellaway and saxophonist and arranger Tom Scott, whom he met while playing for Joni Mitchell, as a major influence on his musical development.
