NFV Song Spotlight: Alice Sandahl's Walk It Off

I first came across Alice Sandahl at the Sage Brews stage at Echo Park Rising last year. I only caught a song or two. For those who don't know, I rush around Echo Park Rising like a wild man, shooting as many bands and artists as possible. I don't particularly remember a whole lot about her singing, but I do remember one thing specifically. There were three children hanging out next to the outdoor stage. Prior to her set, they had their hands and ears pressed against the stage monitors, feeling the vibrations of the DJ music. I almost went over to them and told them that putting their ears next to the monitors would damage their hearing, but then I didn't want to be the old person who basically was lecturing kids when their parents were only a few feet away. 

Alice Sandahl at Permanent Records Roadhouse

NFV Song Spotlight: The Morning Yells' These Days

BIG NOTE: The band announced a farewell show for April 5th at the Cinema Bar. See additional details here.

Phil Stancil of The Morning Yells recently played a set at Harvard & Stone. Though he was playing a solo set, he was still playing songs from The Morning Yells catalog. The set started off with "Hummingbird." That song hasn't been officially released, but there is a Youtube video that you can view here that was filmed in Mount Washington last year. It is a song not about a living hummingbird, but a Gibson Hummingbird guitar. It caught my attention at the Americana West Fest that I covered for US Rocker Music that you can read about here. "Oh sweet Hummingbird where are you now . . . once I held you safe in my arms . . . searched every pawn shop . . . Oh sweet Hummingbird, wherever you go, you know . . . your songs will stay with me forever and never grow old."

Phil Stancil of The Morning Yells at Harvard & Stone

NFV Song Spotlight: Meels' Falcon and the Loon

Take a teaspoon of Arrow De Wilde and give it an Americana twist and Meels emerges. Meels is the moniker for Amelia Einhorn who recently played a WFNM night at Bar Lubitsch. Einhorn is from Mill Valley and a recent graduate from NYU. Based on the Bar Lubitsch performance, I'd say that the Los Angeles Americana-country music scene is lucky that she decided to unpack her bags in the city and nto Nashville. 

Meels at Bar Lubitsch

NFV Song Spotlight: John Errol's Unbelievable

Heading to Zebulon for a Super Bowl after party has become my three year tradition: a time to see singers again for who-knows-how-many-times-this-particular-night makes it. In 2023, Ryan Pollie played the after party. I first came across Ryan Pollie in 2017 via a band called Los Angeles Police Department. In 2024, it was Sally Spitz. I first came across Sally Spitz in 2016 via a band called French Vanilla. Come 2025, it was Mercedes Kilmer playing the after party. I first came across her in 2023. Now this blog post isn't focused on Mercedes Kilmer. If interested, you can read my recent review of her set at El Cid with Gold Star here.

John Errol at Zebulon

Notes from Vivace Show Alerts (Los Angeles): Mar 30th - Apr 5th

A Handful of Show Alerts

Sunday, Mar 30th: Emily Rose & the Rounders, Eugene Edwards, Los Rock Angeles, and Tone Slingers at The Regent Theater. Doors at 3:30 p.m.
This is a fundraiser for those impacted by the fires. I've covered all these bands to some degree or other.

Sunday, Mar 30th: Mirror of Venue at Genghis Cohen. Doors at 7 p.m.

One of my favorite new bands of 2023.

Wednesday, Apr 2nd: Lower Merion (a Ryan Pollie project) at The Goldfish. Doors at 7:30 p.m.

I covered a 2022 Ryan Pollie set for Buzzbands, which you can read here.

Thursday, Apr 3rd: Disco Shrine and Revenge Wife at El Cid. Doors at 10 p.m.

Been following these two for years.

Friday, Apr 4th: Milly at Zebulon. Doors at 7 p.m.

I covered the band in 2024 for US Rocker. You can read my post here.

Friday, Apr 4th: talker at The Echo. Doors at 7 p.m.

One of my long time favorites.

Saturday, Apr 5th: Adriana McCassim at Gold-Diggers. Doors at 7 p.m.

One of my favorite new artists of 2023.

Saturday, Apr 5th: Sarah Julia at Scribble. Doors at 8 p.m.

One of my favorite new bands of 2023.

Saturday, Apr 5th: The Morning Yells at the Cinema Bar. Doors at 9 p.m.

The band is calling it a day. I fell in love with their song "Hummingbird" when I first saw them. You can catch the Youtube video here.

NFV Song Spotlight: Devon Williams' Futility

It was off to Permanent Records Roadhouse to see a Shannon Lay set for the first time since 2021. Of course, I made sure I saw the full line-up. The headliner was someone named Devon Williams. I figured this was the first time I'd ever seen Devon Williams perform live on stage. As I was getting ready to write up this blog post, I decided on a whim to see if that was true or not. Since I'm writing about this whim, the answer is that I obviously saw a prior set. One has to dial back the clock all the way to Dec 27th, 2010 when I hung out at The Smell. Back then (unless my camera time stamps were seriously off), The Smell had bands going on past the midnight hour. 

Devon Williams at Permanent Records Roadhouse

NFV Song Spotlight: Shannon Lay's All This Life Going Down

I've been following Shannon Lay since 2011 when she was in a band fronted by Laena Myers called Raw Geronimo (name later changed to Feels). She started to do solo gigs and I saw my first set at the Bootleg Theater (since closed) in 2017. I wrote the following about it:

"Shannon Lay from Feels started the night off. It reminded me of my first night during my New Zealand vacation. I was walking around and came across this music venue where folks were in a circle, singing. Her set was such a unique difference from Feels."

Shannon Lay at Permanent Records Roadhouse