music community Archives

April 29, 2026 Melinoe Macaria Mourningstar

Artist Spotlight on Dolly Cash

I grew up in Abingdon, VA. It was a small historic town in South-Western Virginia, in the Appalachians. But after graduating High School, I bounced around the US in the army. Maryland, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Afghanistan. It was in North Carolina, more specifically Fayetteville, that I began to hone my music skills. The community within the city was very rooted in the arts. I’d crash on my friend’s couch and cut songs with like 5 or 6 different people. They would put on cool local shows and really push each other to create. I got out of the Army in 2016 and moved back to Abingdon. After a year of couch surfing and job hopping, I applied to go to The University of Tennessee. That’s how I ended up in Knoxville. While here, I met my wife, and realized Tennessee was now home. While here, I got back to my mountain roots, fell in love with mountain music, as well as the Goth culture. I believe traveling to the US and war-torn countries has given me an appreciation of where I live.

FEATURED LIVE REVIEWS

April 25, 2026 Jason Shrum

A Night at the Popera

An evening of beautiful music happened as The Vinyl Lounge played host to what was dubbed “A Night at the Popera”. Four classically trained opera singers gathered for a genre-bending, theatrical live show. Powerful women with formidable voices brought pop, folk, synth-pop, hyperpop, and pop-punk to the stage and mashed it up with definitive sounds that you don’t normally hear together. What happened was a gorgeous moment in time. Meghan Pulles, Arily Michelle, Sunshine Scott and Cassandra Pinataro electrified the space with a magnificent showcase of unbridled force. Armed with their voices and the will to be heard these women grasped the attention of their onlookers to deliver messages of courage, femineity and individuality. A Night at the Popera grew out of music but created and curated a likeminded community that thrived in the mantras of these fabulous musicians.

ALBUM REVIEWS FEATURED INTERVIEWS

April 20, 2026 Melinoe Macaria Mourningstar

Garrett Hendricks: Northwest & SouthBound

Throughout the Album I wanted to do nothing more than dance with aloud and proud group of friends. To be lost in my own world. I felt passion. Wielding emotion within a rhythm. You could say there was a hypnotic Siren call within Garrett’s voice. At the very least, he has a message to share, and initiation to bestow. Puppeteer-ing us all into various states of flow, freedom and serenity. Regardless of the theme within the songs, there was a peace that was encouraged to be felt. A steadiness to life and the approach to emotion, inspiration and human connection. I thoroughly enjoyed the works that Garrett Hendricks has created. He is the real deal. Not only is he sweet on the eyes, but he is sweet on the ears.

ALBUM REVIEWS FEATURED

April 7, 2026 Melinoe Macaria Mourningstar

Maria Magdalena’s New Single ‘Smell Me I’m Running’ Is A Mystical Journey

In this modern era, in some small realms of the world, a woman is mostly able to ponder these questions. She is able to act out what it may mean to be a free woman of this world. A woman free from the biased lens of our inherited patriarchal mold. What if we were written without the venom that is the Male Gaze? Not the Masculine gaze that Worships the Goddess, but the Male Gaze that imprisons us all, even themselves. As the song concluded, I had to replay immediately. I wasn’t too sure how I could label the song. There were components of a more Gothic and/or Vampiric Undertone. A scene that could express various moments in time, however particularly, the 40’s-60’s came to mind. We have the melody cloaked in an essence of Femme Fatale, with a subtle bop that reminds one of Marina. Giving the song a connection to the Pop Femme Frequency. There is a darkness and lightness to the song. A duality that only an integrated soul could express. There is a sound in alignment with those who enjoy workings from artists such as, Alexa Dark, Luvcat and Portishead. An eclectic tuning that embodies the complexity of what it means to be a woman and feel as a woman feels.

B Sides FEATURED LIVE REVIEWS

March 31, 2026 Jason Shrum

House of the Setting Sun

The night was curated to flawlessness. As I exited, I hugged people that I had only met a few hours before. We need more interactions like these. Stop with all the divisive behavior and come together over commonality. We have limited time on this floating space orb, and we should be sharing in its beauty, rather than fighting for control. Find your community. Find your space. It is then that you will find your peace.

ALBUM REVIEWS FEATURED MUSIC NEWS

March 30, 2026 Melinoe Macaria Mourningstar

The Debut Album From Lauren Morse Is Here

A beautiful quote. One that I couldn’t have expressed better myself. I find it necessary to more artists to share their bleeding heart of change for the world. Nowadays, too many mindless, mediocre, arrogant and soulless folks are creating art. Whether with quick gimmicks, trendy quotas or AI thievery (I am Looking
at you Spotify), we are missing the Soul of the Muse. Everyone wants to get rich, get famous and get laid. In fact, most male musicians will admit to only learning an instrument in order to find their way into the skirts of females. Fucking PATHETIC! What happened to the passion? How can we reverse the Social Media bandwagon of quantity over quality? We can start by supporting Artists, Musicians and Creatives alike who have no other purpose in their art outside of living a Life of their Dreams and Being the Change they Wish to See in the World. Artists/Musicians like Lauren Morse.

ALBUM REVIEWS FEATURED

March 20, 2026 Jason Shrum

Moon Mother Drops Sophomore Record with “Meadowlands”

The record is a gorgeous jaunt through a woodland of feverish sentiment. There is some absolve from hurt that happens with the recognition of trauma. The message is quite clear that lessons can be learned, and that growth is possible if you choose to accept that things can get better. “Meadowlands is without a doubt the most powerful thing we have ever created. It is a world for itself and we have undergone a kind of inner revolution in the making of this record. A death and a rebirth, I think it can be felt throughout the journey of listening to this album. Meadowlands – the place outside, the place within.” says Mehner.