Grace Potter at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia

The 12th Annual NON-COMMvention, hosted by Philly pubradio station WXPN, is well underway.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals kicked things off with a Wednesday night performance at World Cafe Live, adjacent to the XPN studios.

Attendance is strong, with radio station and music industry executives selling out both the main and overflow hotels. A full slate of meetings and performances continues through Saturday afternoon.

Updates will occur on TheTop22.com in the coming days.

Walk Up registration is still available. Learn more by navigating from our NON-COMMvention home page.

Polica

Poliça is the newbie with perhaps the most buzz — thanks not only to support from Twin Cities Non-Comm station The Current, but also thanks to a few shout outs from Justin Vernon of Bon Iver.

It’s good to have friends in high places. Keep up your stamina, because the band will close things out Friday night with a set that starts at 12:05 a.m.

JD McPherson

JD McPherson traveled from his hometown of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma to an all-analog studio in Chicago to record a throwback rock and roll album that sounds like it came directly from Memphis’ Sun Studios.

The first single, North Side Gal, is killer. And the Killer would agree. Thursday night upstairs.

While Rebecca Ferguson was schooled in music, a career in the field seemed remote after the birth of her second child.

Rebecca Ferguson

But a somewhat shaky audition on the U.K.’s X-Factor was deemed just good enough to bring her back. Subsequent performances solidified, and Ferguson ultimately placed second in the competition.

She wrote every song on Heaven, which debuted overseas last fall, and comes out May 29 domestically. She performs Friday Evening upstairs. Update: Rebecca Ferguson has canceled. She will be replaced on the schedule by Megan Reilly.

Strong buzz precedes Dry the River as they come to the NON-COMMvention in support of their debut album Shallow Bed.

Dry the River

Formed in 2009, the band started building that buzz by releasing low-fi videos that were passed and linked around the web. The BBC took notice of the band’s early EPs.

They then headed stateside to record with Peter Katis, the producer who’s indie rock credentials include The National and Interpol. Get back from dinner in time for their 8pm set on Friday.

Sons of Fathers

David Beck and Paul Cauthen lead Sons of Fathers, a band reviewers liken to The Byrds, The Eagles, The Everly Brothers, and Crosby Stills and Nash.

Okay, we get it — harmonies. But the comparisons end there.

The Austin Texas duo will be part of the Saturday event in Penn Park.

Rob Giles. Photo: Catie Laffoon

Rob Giles kind of does it all. Really.

The producer/writer/performer can perhaps add “workaholic” to his resume. Known primarily for his work with his L.A. based band The Rescues, Rob has also worked with Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer, Kina Grannis, and recently had one of his songs covered by Joe Cocker.

Rob is currently supporting his solo album, When We Were Happy, released earlier this year. The album is radio-ready, and should also ad to his numerous television and film placements.

While The Rescues recorded for Universal Republic, Rob’s solo album is self-released — and it’s not likely to be the only time we’ll come across his work in 2012.

The Rescues are putting the finishing touches on a new disc, and Rob is working on a project described as modern rock with Andy Summers of The Police.

Check out Keep Calm, Carry On, from When We Were Happy.

Rob Giles – Keep Calm, Carry On by TheTop22

And learn more about Rob on his site.

Artist Spotlight is sponsored content in association with A Taste of Triple A.

Any excuse to run a picture of Grace Potter. This from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest last week.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals will kick off the 12th Annual NON-COMMvention for early arrivals Wednesday night, May 16 at 10pm. The band last week hit Jazz and Heritage fest…

Willie Nelson will perform Friday at Noon, along with Norah Jones and Brandi Carlile. Here’s what looks like iPhone footage from backstage as he records with Kris Kristofferson…

Norah Jones hit Good Morning America to perform Happy Pills and the title track to her new CD Little Broken Hearts…

John Mayer is still in voice-rest mode, but he’ll speak with David Dye for World Cafe Friday afternoon. Here’s the clip for Shadow Days…

Nashville songwriter Melanie Rose Dyer has been penning songs for others, including Tom Rush, for more than 20 years.

But only now has she moved in front of the mic to record some of those songs herself. The debut Americana-styled album is called The Long Way Around.

When you spend as much time as Dyer has on the songwriting scene, you make some incredible connections — and she called in some of those friends to make the album.

They include Grammy award winning session leader Glen Duncan, Jack Pearson (Allman Brothers), Mike Durham (Dave Matthews Band), Jim Horn (The Beatles, Beach Boys), Marc Prentice (Hootie and the Blowfish), Charles Judge (Stevie Nicks, Keith Urban) and Shaun Murphy (the female voice of Little Feat, Eric Clapton, and Bob Seger), who lends back-up vocals on four songs.

It’s an amazing group that come together over the three years it took to record the set.

The album is not only worth a listen for radio programmers, but music supervisors should also take note.

The First Time in Forever is the first emphasis track from the album…

01 First Time In Forever by Melanie R Dyer

Learn more about Melanie on her site.

Artist Spotlight is sponsored content in association with A Taste of Triple A.

JD McPherson

JD McPherson’s throwback sound is gonna be a crowdpleaser. Check out North Side Gal…

Veterans Nada Surf shot a mini movie for the semi-autobiographical When I Was Young…

Nada Surf – When I Was Young (official video) from City Slang on Vimeo.

And Philadelphia’s The War on Drugs stopped by Letterman to perform a song that, to our ears, owes a lot to U2’s Bad…

With a smokey voice and inspired delivery, Rebecca Ferguson gives an immediate nod to the greats that she admires — soul greats like Sam Cooke and Ray Charles; and newcomers like Florence and the Machine and labelmate Adele.

The Liverpool native’s road to the making of her debut album was an unlikely one. She had vocal training as a teen, and went on to performing arts college. But by the age of 19 she was the mother of two, and the musical career took a back seat to an apparently more realistic path as a legal secretary.

She then took another shot – a long shot – by auditioning for the British television show The X Factor. A self-conscious performance (she looked at the floor while singing) was just good enough to be asked back.

Ultimately, she lasted 10 weeks and become runner-up to the winner.

Her debut album Heaven is led in the U.S. by the single Nothing’s Real But Love, of which she says,

“People used to say to me ‘Being rich doesn’t make you happy.’ And I’d think, I’ve got no electricity, nothing—tell that to my empty fridge. But now I’m doing okay, I realize, they were right. It doesn’t matter what you’ve got, as long as you’ve got love. I know that sounds cheesy, but that’s everything.”

Rebecca is currently in the States and will play the 12th Annual NON-COMMvention May 18.

Watch the video for Nothing’ Real But Love…

Ryan Adams covering Bob Mould, a Jack White liquid-filled 12″ disc, The Knack Live in Los Angeles 1978 — hell yeah, it’s Record Store Day once again!

This brilliant awareness stunt returns this Saturday, making those of us without a local record store incredibly jealous as the event continues to attract more and more participants from the artist and label world.

Let’s cut right to the chase, with the annual walk-through from Chris Brown of Bull Moose in Maine. BTW, this is just PART ONE…

Chris Brown Record Store Day 2012 Preview Pt.1 from Record Store Day on Vimeo.

And here’s a great related clip about how a record gets made — literally. The Band Preteen Zenith is made up of Tim DeLaughter of Polyphonic Spree and Philip E. Karnats of Secret Machines. They’ll make their debut with a Record Store Day limited release of 500 vinyl copies of Rubble Guts b/w BB Eye…

Download the complete list of offerings (not everything will be at all stores!) here.

Click the Record Store Day icon above to learn more about where you can shop.

TNT Commercial

We’ll start with the funny. Remember that VW spot with kid in the Darth Vader costume? In terms of going viral, “The Force” was the most shared commercial ever. Here’s the second. In less than a week, this commercial for the European version of TNT has become the second most-shared.

With good reason…

Joan Osborne – Shake Your Hips

Joan is back with a Slim Harpo cover that’s doing quite nicely at radio. She stopped by WXPK “The Peak” in White Plains to perform in a local recording studio. The video of the impressive performance is worth watching…

Bruce Springsteen – Death to My Hometown

Tom Morello joins Bruce in this live performance of Death to My Hometown…

Paul McCartney – My Valentine

Paul McCartney directs Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp in a couple of different versions of his My Valentine…

And here’s a version with Johnny…

We’ve mentioned before how much we love Kickstarter, the crowd-sourced funding engine that’s helping artists, writers, film-makers, designers, and others bring their projects to life through small donations.

Now, one of our long-time faves, Marshall Crenshaw, has listed a project.

Crenshaw wants to release on 10″ 45 RPM vinyl (and MP3), six EPs over the next two years. Each EP will contain a new song, a cover, and a re-imagining of a Crenshaw classic. He’s positioned it as a subscription series.

To raise the money, Crenshaw will give those who pledge goodies that range from signed versions of the EP to a private concert via Skype to an actual performance in your living room. Pledge levels run from $1 to $5000.

His ask is a rather significant $32,000. And he needs it by April 28. As of this writing, Crenshaw has raised $8348, or just better than 25%.

According to Kickstarters rules, it’s all or nothing. If he doesn’t hit the 32k goal, nobody pays and the project goes away.

As can be expected, more than half of the pledges are coming in between $25 and $100. If that keeps up, he’ll need anywhere from 300 to 500 more people to get on board.

For an artist like Crenshaw, that’s certainly achievable — if he can get the word out.

That’s really the key to Kickstarter — getting those superfans engaged. For a web-savvy, social media friendly digi-native, that might be easier than for an artist with a fanbase that might not exactly be full of early adopters.

Someone like Marshall Crenshaw is going to need some help from old friends — perhaps in AAA radio who can tell the story on the air and online. Kickstarter is a great story to begin with, and this project would make for a great morning show bit at the least.

New York area stations should consider getting on board in a bigger way — it’s a story they can talk about (and take credit for) literally for two years if the project comes through. Kickstarter-like projects will become more and more common, so here’s an opportunity to hip your audience to the concept with an artist they know.

Check out his pitch, which can be embedded on any site…

By the way, we’re in for $200.

The members of UK blues/psychedelic rockers Pearl Handled Revolver would often joke, “someday we might even do a gig.”

That has definitely changed. The band that self-produced three EPs, has finally taken the act out of the garage for a spin. And they’re winning over new fans, including nods from rockers such as Deep Purple’s Jon Lord, and BBC Cambridshire’s Sue Marchant.

Their new CD, and first full-length, Colossus, features more of the band’s signature sound – a very present Hammond organ that gives the guitar-driven blues rock a decidedly throwback sound.

That sound caught the ear of long-time Capricorn and Atlantic Records promo man turned indie label entrepreneur Dick Wooley to sign them to his King Mojo Records.

The track they’re chasing at radio is Maybe in Time…

Pearl Handled Revolver – Maybe In Time by TheTop22

And here’s a recently released clip for the very psychedelic Today was the Day:

Learn more about Pearl Handled Revolver on their site.

Artist Spotlight is sponsored content in association with A Taste of Triple A.

Justin Townes Earle says that album number five, Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now, is his most personal.

The son of Steve Earle started off the promotion for his last album, Harlem River Blues, in unfortunate fashion by getting arrested for a post-performance fight with a club promoter.  It wasn’t the first time Earle has found trouble, famously struggling with drugs since the age of twelve.

The good news is, the episodes are increasingly rare.

He finished up Harlem strong, nabbing song of the year honors for the title track at the Americana Music Awards. He immediately headed back into the studio to work on Nothing’s Gonna Change…

On writing, Earle told Australia’s Rolling Stone, “I’ve always been a very cocktail napkin kind of writer. I write in hotel rooms and airports and truck stops — end up with little pads full of shorthand that nobody can decipher if they wanted to.”

Get more of a feel for the making of the new album in this trailer…

And here’s the title track from Harlem River Blues as performed at last year’s NON-COMMvention…

Earle plays dates in Iowa and Illinois this weekend before heading to Australia. Details on his site.

Brandi Carlile. Photo courtesy of the artist.

The 12 Annual NON-COMMvention, ,which already appeared to be busting at the seams, has added additional music performers and announced the schedule of sessions.

Confirming are Brandi Carlile, Twin Cities newcomers Poliça, Rebecca Ferguson, and Jonathan Wilson, formerly of Eisley.

They join a star-studded lineup that includes veterans Willie Nelson, Sinead O’Connor, Norah Jones, Joe Jackson, and many more May 17 – 19 at World Cafe Live next to the WXPN studios in Philadelphia.

The schedule of events is taking shape, kicking off earlier than usual with a special Wednesday night performance for early arrivals featuring rock legend Paul Weller on May 16. Weller’s set will start at 10 p.m.

In addition to the musical performances, attendees will enjoy an array of sessions that kick off Thursday morning, including:

* The Digital State of the Union with Media Mechanics/TheTop22.com’s Paul Marszalek
* The NON-COMMversation with WXPN’s Dan Reed featuring pundit Bob Lefsetz
* A David Dye-hosted World Cafe taping with Joe Jackson
* Widening Your Circle of Influence — a guide on how to get the most for your station
* Competition, Partners, or Both
* Community Radio Roundtable
* Local, Local, Local, and
* The Music Meeting with Songlines’ Sean Coakley

Registration is now open, with early bird rates in effect until 5pm April 6.

The complete musical lineup can be found an the NON-COMMvention Artist Lineup Page and schedule details will be posted as they become available in the NON-COMMvention Schedule Page.

Complete details on the event, including hotel and registration can be found by navigating from the 12th Annual NON-COMMvention tab above.

Sharon Van Etten and WFUV's Rita Houston at SXSW, courtesy WFUV.org

There were some great strides in the reporting from SXSW this year, a festival so cool that the name has been shortened to just SX.

Gone are the days of the complete boondoggle that left listeners back home wondering why they were footing the bill for sending station employees to a party in Texas. But there is still a ways to go.

There was more reporting this year, but too little journalism.

Station management needs to realize that, without actual coaching and some journalism training, they’re very likely to get the kind of disconnected-from-the-audience, stream-of-consciousness, inside-baseball talk-a-thons we’ve become used to from music announcers given free reign to describe the party that is SX — the kind of reporting that WXPN discovered was actually driving down ratings during their coverage of the event a few years back.

Before sending the troops out next year, a good day-long session covering J-school 101 and a discussion of deliverables would go a long way.

KCRW's Jason Bentley working SX. Courtesy KCRW.org.

But let’s stop there, because this article is called Worth Watching. Improved station websites offer big opportunities for content of all stripes, and many are starting to exploit those opportunities. Here are some of the winning moments…

KCRW smartly tossed up an off-the-shelf Tumblr page (read: Free!) to showcase its work, which consisted primarily of photos, picks, and previews via Soundcloud. But KCRW’s Avishay Artsy created one of the best pieces of music journalism we found — a well -produced radio piece covering Bruce Springsteen’s keynote.

WFUV had a strong performance this year, with some excellent video of JD McPherson and Alabama Shakes among others. And Rita Houston got her interview on and gets a lot out of Brendan Benson in a piece that works on-air and online as a two-camera shoot…

And here’s a clip from Alabama Shakes that really gives one a feel for the event — not slick — but a street party…

But the winners of the music journalism crown are the folks at hometown KUT. Music journalism is a discipline there, and it shows. Five full pages of videos and reports from their stage at the Four Seasons — a controlled environment that lent itself to strong, but basic shoots and good sound. Clips include James Mercer, Trampled by Turtles, Sons of Fathers, Justin Townes Earle, and many more.

Check out the Punch Brothers…

Lastly, in case you hadn’t yet thought that SXSW had jumped the shark, some douche thought that an Angry Birds flash mob dance was a good idea. Oy…

Wes Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites started playing music together in and around New York partly as a way to cope with the loss of Josh Fraites, Jeremiah’s brother and Wes’ best friend from childhood.

But they failed to break through. Time for a new plan: Pack up and move to Denver to start anew.

Once there, they placed an ad for a cellist on Craigslist, and the first to respond was Neyla Pekarek, who smoothed out their sound and added mandolin and piano as well.

Fast forward to 2011. With a self-recorded EP and self-booked tour, things started to fall into place for The Lumineers.

The first track from their self-titled debut (out April 3rd) is called Ho Hey and it’s finding its way onto Public Radio and an instrumental portion is featured in a commercial for Blue Moon Ale.

Check the video for Ho Hey…

Upcoming Tour Dates

Learn more on TheLumineers.com.

Purple-panted Yuna performing at S.O.B.'s in NYC

Things are looking up for the 25-year old Yunalis Zarai.

The multi-talented native of Malaysia has wrapped up her law studies and opened a clothing boutique.

Spotted outside New York’s Lincoln Center by fashion site Refinery29 , they gushed about her amazing look.

We agree. If all else fails, Yuna could make a fortune in fashion and design.

And then there’s her music career. After a rise to Malaysian pop stardom with an indie EP, an award nomination from MTV Iggy (the global channel), and now play on MTV’s 120 Minutes, Yuna’s stateside debut with the Fader label is a self-titled effort, which arrives April 24.

Just something she threw together, as photographed by Refinery29

This was the first time Yuna had the full attention of producers, after producing, recording and releasing singles on her own in Malaysia — something in our interview she sheepishly, and incorrectly, called “amateurish.”

For the debut album, she set up shop in Los Angeles and ultimately found herself lucky enough to collaborate with Pharrell Williams (The Neptunes, N.E.R.D.) for a song that would become the lead single, Live Your Life.

We caught up with Yuna after a performance at Manhattan’s S.O.B.’s and talked with her about her fast-rising career, working with Pharrell, and her impressions as a Muslim artist working in the United States.

Check out our exclusive videos from the evening…

Here’s a performance clip of a song called Decorate from S.O.B.’s in Manhattan…

And another for a song called Island…

And finally, the official clip for the Pharrell-produced Live Your Life…