by Shawn Alexander
shawn@happens.vip
Wednesday Alternative Artist Discovery #Happens
Happy Wednesday! This week’s #Happens Alternative Artist Discovery is Jesse James Pariah, who says a ukulele “saved my life.” The Hawaiian born L.A.-based artist has a new single called, “Horns Under Halo.” Jesse says, “Inspiration for Horns Under Halo basically came from my life story. Like many people, I was misunderstood most of my life, and people didn’t see my true, pure intentions. I guess I just came off as in skateboarding surfing drug addict punk, which I probably was most times, but I swear I wasn’t trying to be. Life is a trip, and if you’re lucky enough he’ll come full circle, like I did.” Thanks to Michael Parrish from Regime Music Group for VIP Access Get to know Jesse James Pariah on Artist Discovery Of The Week.
Sleep Token “Emergence” is #1 Most Added this week on the Mediabase Alternative Add Board. It’s #1 Most Added at Active Rock too. That doesn’t happen very often for a song to be #1 Most Added at both formats. Congrats to RCA’s Gary Gorman & the Sleep Token team!
Kudos to Hozier, Green Day, twenty one pilots, and Fontaines D.C. on winning Alternative Awards at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards on Monday (3/17).
Here are the Alternative Awards:
Alternative Song of the Year: “Too Sweet”- Hozier
Alternative Artist of the Year: Green Day
Alternative Album of the Year: “Clancy” – twenty one pilots
Best New Artist (Alt and Rock): Fontaines D.C.
Lollapalooza 2025 lineup is in for July 31st-August 3rd. Djo, The Marías, Cage The Elephant, Clairo, Dominic Fike, Bleachers, Wallows, Mk.gee, Foster The People, FINNEAS, Remy Wolf, Royel Otis, Flipturn, Magdalena Bay, Artemas, and Gigi Perez are part of the massive 4-day festival.
The Church announces “The Single Tour” spanning the band’s five decades. Hard to believe “Under The Milky Way” was released 37 years ago. That was from the band’s fifth album, Starfish. How crazy is that!
The lineup for Lollapalooza and The Church tour dates is loaded up for you on Alternative Music Info.
AWOLNATION “Barbarian” is now trending Top 20 on the Alternative Chart with tour dates beginning next Thursday 3/27. As we get set for spring, Aaron Bruno takes you to the beach on this week’s #HAPPENS Alternative Video Spotlight.
Balu Brigada “So Cold” is now trending #1 on the Alternative Chart. Last week, they played KTCL/Denver’s “Keggs & Eggs.” Nerf shares a cool fun fact on the band’s bassist. Check out the smiles and fun fact on Alternative Photos.
| ARTIST | AWOLNATION |
|---|---|
| SONG | “Barbarian” |
| LABEL | Two Twenty Five/The Orchard |
Lead singer Aaron Bruno says, “When I wrote ‘Barbarian’ I was going through an evolution as an artist and adult while simultaneously reading Franz Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis.’ The concept of transformation is what really inspired this song.” AWOLNATION’s The Phantom Five Tour begins March 27th in San Diego.
ALTERNATIVE BIRTHDAYS
ALT Happy Birthday wishes this week to WKQX (Q101)/Chicago PD & Cumulus VP/Modern/Classic Rock James Kurdziel (3/25), KROQ/Los Angeles SVP/Programming Kevin Weatherly (3/26), GotGame’s Steve Masters (3/26), Shelter Music Group SVP/Promotion & Artist Strategy Tyson Haller (3/27), Infirst Promotion’s Jordan Zucker (3/30).
