by Shawn Alexander
shawn@happens.vip
Wednesday Alternative Artist Discovery #Happens
Happy Wednesday! This week’s #HAPPENS Alternative Artist Discovery is Ava Maybee. She says, “I had been trying to write Call It What You Want for a really long time about a friendship breakup I went through a couple years back but nothing ever clicked and it wasn’t right. I just had to wait for the song to come to me and that’s how Call It What You Want came to be.” Maybe you saw her on American Idol. She is homies with Cameron Whitcomb from American Idol from season 20. Her father is Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. Ava Maybee’s new EP is out this Friday, May 16th and she is playing at BottleRock next Saturday, May 24th. Big thanks to Wendy Higgs at DRESSCODE for VIP Access. Get to know Ava Maybee on Artist Discovery Of The Week.
Royel Otis “moody” is #1 Most Added this week on the Mediabase Alternative Add Board. Congrats to Interscope/Capitol’s Robbie Lloyd & The Royel Otis team! Co-written by Royel Otis (Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic) and GRAMMY winning songwriter Amy Allen, “moody” was produced by Blake Slatkin (Gracie Abrams, Omar Apollo, Charli XCX). Royel Otis simply shared: “It’s a song about a girl.” It’s from the duo’s upcoming sophomore album. Royel Otis is playing Governor’s Ball, Lollapalooza, and Outside Lands. Find the band’s upcoming tour dates HERE.
The Ataris “Car Song” is featured on this week’s #HAPPENS Alternative Video Spotlight. Check out the Breaking Bad inspired video below.
New Music available today from Arrows In Action and Robert DeLong. Listen & Download the latest #HAPPENS Alternative Downloads HERE.
Gary Gorman from RCA checks to report a new Wolf Alice single “Bloom Baby Bloom” is coming tomorrow.
New Music Friday Albums out this week from Arrows In Action, Arrows In Action, Domiano David, EKKSTACY, Linkin Park, Sleep Theory, Slow Joy, Tune-Yards, and Windser.
KPNT (105.7 The Point)/St. Louis has PointFest happening this Saturday, May 17th with 311, The Urge, Toadies, Finger Eleven, Ludo, Sick Puppies, Alien Ant Farm, Post Sex Nachos, and Oxymorrons at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre. More details on PointFest HERE.
Mumford & Sons And Friends announce a four dates for 2025 Railroad Revival Tour. Find out more on Alternative Music Info.
John Allers from Audacy was at KVIL/Dallas’ ALTERIUM last Saturday (5/10) and shares a photo with The Beaches. Check out the smiles on Alternative Photos.
| ARTIST | The Ataris |
|---|---|
| SONG | “Car Song” |
| LABEL | Double Helix/Regime |
An iconic vehicle inspired the band’s video for “Car Song.”. Lead singer Kristopher Roe, a longtime fan of Breaking Bad, was given the opportunity to purchase the Volvo driven by Bryan Cranston’s character, Walter White, in the series finale. “I like to say that Walter White’s Volvo was the key to recording ‘Car Song’ and starting this album,” Roe says with a laugh. “A friend who worked on the show wanted to sell the Volvo to a fan. Since Breaking Bad is one of my favorites, I bought it. There was even a receipt left in the glovebox signed by Bryan Cranston as Walter White!”
The Ataris will play at Riot Fest and KNDD (107.7 The End)/Seattle’s End Of Summer show in September.
ALTERNATIVE BIRTHDAYS
ALT Happy Birthday wishes this week to tbd Records/Red Light Management’s Phil Costello (5/12), Custom Channels-96X/Memphis Of Music John Michael (5/12), Jake Kaplan VO & Sound Design’s Jake Kaplan (5/12), Ex-The Orchard SVP/Promotion Danny Buch (5/15), Break Records’ Chris Brown (5/16), NPM PR & Marketing’s Ed Bunker (5/17).
