Andrew Marks
Andrew Marks is a singer-songwriter
originally from Upstate NY transplanted in Los Angeles, CA. His unique voice, playing style and poetic lyrics create the captivating and intimate performance that have earned him a solid and growing fan base. Hear Say national magazine describes Andrew as a “singer-songwriter who creates heartfelt lyrics that really make you stop and listen.”
Andrew has recently been performing at colleges, coffeehouses and clubs across the country. He has made appearances on college television stations, local radio stations and his song Feeling Better was featured in the independent film The White Year.
In January of 2014, Andrew released his debut
album To The Water. The first full-length album was produced, written, recorded, mixed and mastered by Andrew himself.
Valley Shine
Valley Shine was distilled from a love of whiskey, cats and bluegrass music. In early 2014, Jenna Blake was in search of a writing partner with an appreciation for folk music who shared her passion for songwriting. Hailing from Louisville, KY, Jenna was influenced by traditional bluegrass music and roots rock like CCR, CSNY and Joni Mitchell. By a shear stroke of luck, Jenna discovered Sam Sobelman and the two met up to see if there was any musical chemistry. After a couple of writing sessions influenced by whisky, laughs and some banjo pluckin', they quickly discovered their songwriting styles were a perfect match.
Commuting between Orange County and Los Angeles, Sam and Jenna began to develop their unique folk-pop sound. They wanted to be more than an acoustic duo, so they sought other members to complete the band's sound and enhance their artistic energy. The pair enlisted veteran bassist Robert Felsted Jr and drummer Troy Lawton. Once the lineup was solidified, the chemistry was undeniable. After a few months of rehearsals, they began playing shows in and around Los Angeles and found themselves in front of crowds of new fans hand clapping and foot stomping along with them. Valley Shine is currently recording their first EP LOCA which is set to be released in Spring 2015.
WALLA formed out of different times, places, and hardships. By random chance, we found each other through digital means and a common love for inventing new wavelengths. After forming a strong friendship and working tirelessly on different prototypes of songs, we finally decided to begin the project, now officially called, WALLA. The name is a reference to the sound and murmur resulting from a large crowd of people. The sound also reflected our confusion and hopelessness during a time of tough life decisions and rough financial circumstances. But through sheer perseverance and the culmination of different influences (everything from pop, funk, samba, rock, metal, folk, disco, and psychedelia) we were able to fuse them all together to create a NEW promising sound... and so it began... We quickly made an indestructible pact to always maintain strong melodies and lyrics, putting above and beyond care and effort into each decibel of sound we produce (almost to the point of neuroticism), and allowing each song to breathe its own life and soul. We loved the idea of not knowing what type of song we would come up with next...
Listeners have described us as a indie pop, synth-based, retro-influenced, indie rock, or something along those lines. But we welcome you to call us whatever you feel, because there are no lines to a feeling, it just has to be genuinely felt. Our credentials range from 2 of our members being graduates from the prestigious Berklee College of Music, while each one have a unique list of experiences as touring in Europe, scoring big band arrangements, and playing sold out concerts and festivals. All members have a background from a different part of the globe (Mexico/El Salvador, Italy, Indonesia, Brazil, Korea) which is advantageous in influencing our songs, but also disadvantageous because we have only a limited time to prove our ground until student visas expire. Nevertheless we press on, in only a couple month, we were graciously invited to share the stage with one of the members of Depeche mode, worked with a Grammy winning producer (Andrew Weiss), and "zoned" out to a collaborative sound through multiple mediums from radio to the more obscure. But still our goal since conception has never changed: to keep doing music out of a passion and pure love for it. The longer we can do it, the better, and the more people who can help and support our journey, the more we keep going..