Here are just a few things I accomplished by my 14th birthday: watched the entire Short Circuit 2 from start to finish, stopped playing with my G.I. Joe action figures (and making them wrestle each other as if they were WWF Superstars), and collected the entire Desert Storm baseball card set. There are plenty more great "achievements" - even serious ones - that I can tell you about, but why bother? New York-based singer/songwriter Jordan JAE will crush anything I or anyone really has put out there. The 14 year old is becoming the latest pop star to break out on the Internet like a zit did back on the center of my nose back in seventh grade. The cutie patootie (as Rosie O'Donnell used to say very often and very irritatingly) has been making music for half her life already. She took vocal lessons at seven, and picked up piano shortly thereafter. A year ago, Jordan, who has a twin brother named Tyler, was invited to record and hone her skills at Brooklyn's SlumboLabs recording studio off of the success she found by covering popular songs on YouTube. She recently dropped the track "Said No One Ever," which was produced by heavyweights Kinetics & One Love, and A-Sides was fortunate to have her perform it exclusively for A-Sides at Slumbo a few weeks ago. Watch the performance and interview below, and wish you were as poised at 14 as she is now. Filmed for A-Sides by shootmepeter.com. Boom.
Beck had "two turntables and a microphone" - Aaron Crawford & The Badcards have, um, two Barnums and a Crawford. Terrible first sentence. Just terrible but true, and I promise it'll get better. This Washington, DC band is comprised of Aaron Crawford and brothers Ken and Jared Barnum, and have been gaining more momentum than an Andy Dwyer thrown skateboard down a famous San Fran hill. Since March 2012, the pop-heavy punkish, and grungish band has shared the stage with likes of Youngblood Hawke, Gavin Degraw, and Dropkick Murphys. On June 10, they'll release The Quest - a follow-up to their acclaimed LP The Wager on Lost Compass Recordings, which was produced by Simon Katz of Youngblood Hawke. The band recently performed the title track recently for A-Sides. Like to hear it? Here it go.
About A-Sides Music
Jon Chattman's "A-Sides Music" series was established in August 2011 and usually features artists (established or not) from all genres performing a track, and discussing what it means to them. This informal series focuses on the artist making art in a low-threatening, extremely informal (sometimes humorous) way. No bells, no whistles -- just the music performed in a random, low-key setting followed by an unrehearsed chat. In an industry where everything often gets overblown and over manufactured, I'm hoping this is refreshing. Artists have included: fun, Rob Zombie, Pharrell Williams, Courtney Love, American Authors, Imagine Dragons, Gary Clark Jr., Andrew W.K., and more! A-Sides theme written and performed by Blondfire.