Ghost Funk Orchestra: A Trip To The Moon [Album Review]

Ghost Funk OrchestraA Trip To The MoonColemine/Karma Chief Records [2024]   Album Overview: A Trip To The Moon is the fourth full-length album from Ghost Funk Orchestra, the brainchild of producer and multi-instrumentalist Seth Applebaum. An immersive and playful song-cycle inspired by moon missions past and present, fact and fiction, the album adds new elements … Read more

Ghost Funk Orchestra – “Again” [Video]

February 2024 sees Ghost Funk Orchestra blast off into new territory on their fifth album, A Trip To The Moon. The second single from the LP is “Again,” an emotionally charged example of a song which seems to be a record of a breakthrough moment. Romi Hanoch’s vocal performance climaxes in an arresting gut wrenching intensity and is matched throughout the song … Read more

Fire Track: Ghost Funk Orchestra – “To The Moon!”

February 2024 sees Ghost Funk Orchestra blast off into new territory on their fifth album, A Trip To The Moon. In just over a minute, Opening, the aptly titled first track, encapsulates a sense of what’s to come for those along for the adventure. Sci-fi synth waves build into the sophisticated sounds that saturated radios and hifi sets as … Read more

Kendra Morris: I Am What I’m Waiting For [Album Review]

Kendra MorrisI Am What I’m Waiting ForColemine/Karma Chief Records [2023] When Kendra Morris released Nine Lives at the beginning of 2022, it was the culmination of more than ten years of creative partnership with producer and songwriter Jeremy Page. The psych-soul opus, Morris’s first for Colemine imprint Karma Chief Records, was one of the best … Read more

Pale Jay: Bewilderment [Album Review]

Pale JayBewildermentColemine/Karma Chief Records [2023] Who is Pale Jay? The artist, one of Karma Chief Records’ latest signings, is something of an enigma, although we do know a few things about him: he’s trained as a jazz vocalist and pianist, calls southern California home, and always wears a red ski mask and white bucket hat … Read more

Pale Jay – “Bewilderment” [Video]

Bewilderment – the feeling of being perplexed and confused – is the inspiration behind Pale Jay’s new album. It’s a soulful exploration of a family’s gradual disintegration due to years of avoidance and miscommunication. During this difficult time, Pale Jay began to question the stories he had always lived with and re-examined his identity. The … Read more

Andrew Gabbard: Cedar City Sweetheart [Album Review]

Andrew GabbardCedar City SweetheartColemine/Karma Chief Records [2023] He’s finally gone and done it: Andrew Gabbard made a country album. For those who jumped on board with 2021’s Homemade, this might be a slight surprise. That album was full of hazy folk-rock and psych-pop gems that may have had some twang here or there, but were mostly … Read more

Ghost Funk Orchestra: A New Kind Of Love [Album Review]

Ghost Funk OrchestraA New Kind Of LoveColemine/Karma Chief Records [2022] When Ghost Funk Orchestra’s debut LP for Karma Chief, Song For Paul, made its way onto turntables back in 2019, it felt like it was created in some alternate version of the early 1970s. Helmed by sonic mastermind Seth Applebaum, the band’s jazz-funk rhythms, psychedelic … Read more

GA-20: Crackdown [Album Review]

GA-20CrackdownColemine/Karma Chief Records [2022] Crackdown is the third LP from blues, roots-rock, and country revival trio GA-20. The album expands on their previous sound and blows out your speakers with a modern electric blues that honors the past but feels imaginably modern. What GA-20 are good at is making the blues spread across other genres. … Read more

Ghost Funk Orchestra: Night Walker / Death Waltz [Album Review]

Ghost Funk OrchestraNight Walker/Death WaltzColemine/Karma Chief Records [2022] Before they became firm Fire Note favorites with their first two full-length albums (2019’s Song For Paul and 2020’s Ode to Escapism), and before they became a real-life 10-piece outfit blowing audiences out of the water with their live performances, Ghost Funk Orchestra wasn’t really a band. … Read more

The Gabbard Brothers: The Gabbard Brothers [Album Review]

The Gabbard BrothersThe Gabbard BrothersColemine/Karma Chief Records [2022] If you have been around The Fire Note for any type of time, you are probably familiar with brothers Zachary and Andrew Gabbard. Not only did Andrew release an excellent solo record at the end of last year but the duo made up two thirds of the … Read more

M Ross Perkins: E Pluribus M Ross [Album Review]

M Ross PerkinsE Pluribus M RossColemine/Karma Chief Records [2022] Colemine Records is best known for their soul and funk acts like Durand Jones & The Indications, Monophonics, and Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, but lately they’ve been putting out a lot of great records on their Karma Chief imprint. Whether it’s the psychedelic soul sounds of … Read more

Kendra Morris: Nine Lives [Album Review]

Kendra MorrisNine LivesColemine/Karma Chief Records [2022] Kendra Morris has been releasing music for over a decade, putting out several albums, EPs, and singles since 2011 while collaborating with the likes of Czarface and Chico Mann along the way. She joined the ever-expanding roster of Colemine Records imprint Karma Chief in 2021 with her excellent single … Read more

Andrew Gabbard: Homemade [Album Review]

Andrew GabbardHomemadeKarma Chief/Colemine Records [2021] If you’ve paid any attention to the Dayton/Cincinnati music scene over the last two decades, you’ve probably encountered the music of Andrew Gabbard at some point. He’s played garage rock in Thee Shams, explored cosmic American psych with Buffalo Killers, and released several solo projects under various guises throughout the … Read more

Fire Track: Andrew Gabbard – “Getting High”

Andrew Gabbard’s (Gabbard Brothers, Buffalo Killers) new studio album Homemade drops December 3rd via Colemine Records imprint Karma Chief Records. A musician whose influences span hard rock, psych, garage rock, and energetic pop, Andrew Gabbard has long been a force on the Southwestern Ohio music scene. Working with Thee Shams, Buffalo Killers, and currently as … Read more

GA-20: Try It…You Might Like It! [Album Review]

GA-20Try It…You Might Like It!Karma Chief/Alligator Records [2021] Boston’s GA-20 proved on their 2019 release, Lonely Soul, that the blues can be for everyone. The group crossed genres with their pristine technique, electric style, and funky groove. The band now returns with a smoldering tribute record to the legendary Chicago bluesman Theodore Roosevelt “Hound Dog” … Read more

Artists Of The Week: Discover, Support, Share

Today at AOW, Chicago’s Neal Francis brings a funky groove your way, Kneeling In Piss showcase why they are a hidden gem in Columbus, Ohio and the indie Australian group Skegss make their US debut with a record that covers all areas of rock that should stick in your head. Neal FrancisChicago, Illinois If you … Read more

Fire Track: Andrew Gabbard – “Wake Up, Brother”

Andrew Gabbard (Buffalo Killers, Gabbard Brothers) keeps 2021 rolling with his new infectious single “Wake, Up, Brother.” The track is off his forthcoming LP Homemade Album from Karma Chief/Colemine Records. “I wrote the first verse of this song on a plane about a year ago (can’t believe it’s been that long) when I was on … Read more

Neal Francis: Demos EP (Black Wax | 2000 Copies)

Here are the initial demos that eventually became Neal Francis’ debut album, Changes. Since releasing his debut album, Neal has toured the country headlining and supporting acts such as Black Pumas, Lee Fields & The Expressions, and The Revivalists. As he prepares for his sophomore LP, here is a peek into the initial sketches at … Read more

Ghost Funk Orchestra: An Ode To Escapism [Album Review]

Ghost Funk OrchestraAn Ode To EscapismKarma Chief/Colemine Records [2020] Sometimes you come across an album that feels like it’s tailor-made for you. Maybe the songs perfectly fit what’s going on in your life at the time. Maybe they hit just the right mix of genres and styles, to the point that it feels like it … Read more

Rudy De Anda – “Espume” [Video]

Conceived in the 1980s in Mexico and brought to California through the border inside of his 6-month-pregnant mother, Rudy de Anda is releasing his debut solo record, a love letter to the long historical lineage of rock ’n’ roll music as interpreted through his multicultural lens. “I write my own story, I don’t want to be defined by any scene” De … Read more

GA-20: Lonely Soul [Album Review]

GA-20 Lonely Soul Karma Chief/Colemine Records [2019] TFN Album Review: I know if you are into indie music you might not be searching the blues charts for new tunes but on occasion bands cross over and become a must listen with their style and groove. Boston’s GA-20 is one of those bands. Pat Faherty and … Read more