Tag: Grand Rapids

As a Milwaukee-based music website, it is our obligation to not only bring Milwaukee to the world, but bring the world to Milwaukee, as well. Five To Watch submissions are handled exclusively through ReverbNation. Click here to submit music to be one of our Five To Watch Presented by JBL Professional.

With the weather cooling down, we’re thinking less summer jams and more chilled out fall tracks. However, that didn’t stop over 1,800 submissions from coming in this month. With the always difficult task of narrowing it down, we picked just five artists worthy of adding to your fall playlists. Check out our Five To Watch Presented by JBL Professional for October:

Paid Vacation (Franklin, TN)

Paid Vacation as a band are very young, but their sound could make them an emerging talent out of the saturated Nashville-area market. While there is definitely some southern and country influences that manage to eek out in their sound, the band has a knack for writing catchy tunes with more of an indie rock feel to them. Their single “Black Cat” is one of their first releases, but already has the feel of an alternative rock radio-friendly track. The band is releasing more material soon, and we’ll be eager to see where they take things from here.

Cassidy Bisher (Grand Rapids, MI)

Cassidy Bisher’s single, “Underneath The Stars”, is nothing short of hypnotizing. With a blend of influences, Bisher comes to us as the byproduct of both classic rock and folk, as well as contemporary indie, putting an interesting twist on an otherwise conventional sound. Bisher was a semi-finalist in the 2016 International Songwriting Contest, and that shows on his single. Harmonies bridged with a calming beat create a dreamy atmosphere, which is then skewed by digital production. There’s incredible potential here, and hopefully Bisher becomes an indie rock mainstay in the near future.

Salio (Tbilisi, Georgia)

As soon as you hear Salio sing, you’ll understand why she was a quick pick for our Five to Watch. With a matured vocal presence, she manages to convey both vulnerability and power in her range when a song calls for it, and that delivery alone sells her as an artist. Add in some ability to craft a song, as well as the right production, and you have an individual that could easily become an international star. Things look bright for the pop singer who now resides in London, and you can hear that here on the stripped down “Lonesome Tales”.

Jess Weimer (Los Angeles, CA) 

Certain songs hit and you can just tell where they would best be suited. Jess Weimer’s single, “Won’t Follow You Down”, easily sounds placement ready, not only on the radio, but in the soundtrack of an action movie. The hard hitting track is enhanced by Weimer’s powerful voice, which has just the right amount of feisty delivery to really sell the song. That perfected delivery no doubt formed somewhere in Weimer’s past, appearing in musical theater from a young age on. That carries over to her songwriting today, and could benefit her very well in the near future.

Piper (Wichita, KS)

You might not think pop stardom and Wichita, Kansas in the same sentence, but that’s exactly what Piper is trying to accomplish. Vocally, she conveys the emotion necessary to delivers a solid performance. With a debut single recently coming out, and appearances on America’s Got Talent behind her, Piper is choosing to make a break for it on her own. We’ll see where she heads from here, but she’s off to a tremendous start.