New Lady Daisey album: “In My Pocket”

I first met Lady Daisey at an open-mic in 1997. She was singing solo then, with acoustic guitar, and her voice struck me immediately as special. There was a parallel with Samantha Jones, whom I’d first heard as a freshman at UF in 1995. They worked in roughly the same range, more or less, with voices like hand-made bells, or really clean brass. Jones has a depth of serious blues in her–Joplin-esque, but that’s maybe too easy. Her vocals have always leaned toward the meditative, inward-looking and almost content. Daisey’s are the same, but in a slightly higher pitch.

It makes perfect sense, then, that Daisey’s voice would be the first to make an impact after I’d left that setting. Jones was then one-third of The Crustaceans, an exquisitely democratic unit who made an album’s worth of stellar stuff before splitting, while also playing in Vanbuilderass, in addition to a whole bunch of other groups I personally never got to see. She is now the leader of Cassette, wherein her voice borders on somnolescent amidst a comfy calming cushion of twang and tremolo. (Their self-titled debut was released in 2005 , on Bakery Outlet Records; their second, Shining Like A New Dime, was released last year.)

I wondered what Daisey’s voice would become, and now we know. She met and married Britt Traynham, aka Batsauce, whose work is probably an elemental force for anyone who’s actually reading this now. The instrumental albums he’s released on his own in the last few years (Spy Vs. Spy,) are basically perfect. As a producer, he’s shown a gift for bringing the most out of vocalists. His collaborations with Patrick Evan (Aerial Tribe, Spooney) helped cement the singer’s rep as an undisputed master, while also serving as the first explicit example of what Batsauce could do.

Daisey and Batsauce, together, have worked as Heavenly Noise since the early Bush years. Not long after, they began collaborating with Paten Locke, who almost needs no introduction but gets one anyway. As a member of the ABs crew (aka Alias Brothers, aka Asamov–I’ll never let Isaac Asimov’s estate slide on that aberrant bullshit), which worked like Voltron throughout the past decade, Locke helped carve a niche in hip-hop that runs deeper than the grooves in Abdullah the Butcher’s forehead. His official solo debut, Super Ramen Rocketship, was released by Tres Records last year, with the follow-up coming soon.

As The Smile Rays, the three of them have got industry ears ringing with the sound of steady sales. They’ve worked all over the US and Europe over the last three years, with the constituent elements covering even more ground. It’s a lot like the Black Kids, another regional act whose intelligence tireless hustle (not to mention expert delegation of responsibility) helped them transcend the usual geographic typecasting and establish themselves as viable talents in the global music market.

And now it’s Lady Daisey’s turn at bat, with a new album en route and a return to her native Florida in the works. Here (slightly edited) follows the press release for In My Pocket, due out May 24 on BBE Records. The lead single, “Magical”, is due out May 7; the five-song EP includes remixes by bandmates Batsauce (who produced the whole album) and Paten Locke, as well as DJ Vadim and De La Soul associate Supa Dave West.

As much as Lady Daisey travels the globe, she’s learned to keep life simple and travel light. The most important things are weightless - love, life, music, inspiration, peace - all of which she keeps in her pocket. Sharing her unique vision with an even more unique voice, Lady Daisey’s solo debut is filled with a sense of adventure, passionately singing about her experience as a woman, a traveler, a survivor, a dreamer, an optimist… all over hip-hop infused soul music.

After meeting the love of her life on stage (Batsauce - husband/producer) it seemed only natural to pack their bags and hit the road. With a studio small enough to fit in a backpack, they have written and recorded this album, all while bouncing around the States, Europe and Asia.

Both Lady Daisey and Batsauce are also part of the Smile Rays (Rawkus/6-Hole/Jakarta/Subcontact) along with Paten Locke (aka Therapy) After recording a track with George Clinton and being selected as Rawkus 50 artists, they quickly won the hearts of the indie hip hop scene. This raised the bar and now it’s time for Lady Daisey to share her songs with the world. She does just that with her debut solo album ”In My Pocket”

“Lyricist Hour” Season 2 Press Release‏

[Received this much-anticipated press release today from Mas Appeal, chief auteur of The Lyricist Hour, one of several fine, independently-produced internet radio shows bringing the culture of Northeast Florida to audiences worldwide. The web, in general, has been crucial to helping regional artists and musicians transcend the limits imposed by mass-media, which has been reluctant to allow them to function within a real free-market environment. Which is too bad, because the stuff is good enough to compete with anything happening anywhere; the MCs involved in this project each prove my point, in different ways. Rather than waste time paraphrasing for free, I'll let the artists speak here (slightly edited) for themselves. One thing you learn quick around here is how to sell your product, because no one's going to do it for you. (Well, maybe Triclops, but he's busy!)]

MAS APPEAL, MAL AND WILLIE EVANS JR. RETURN WITH SEASON 2 OF THE LYRICIST HOUR

The Lyricist Hour’s Season 2 is set to premiere, May 3^rd, 2010 at 7 pm EST on www.thenerdysouth.com

Jacksonville, FL – April 12, 2010 – The creators of The Lyricist Hour have once again teamed up with The Nerdy South.com to broadcast the Southeast’s groundbreaking Hip-Hop webcast, whose mission is to bring independent and underground Hip-Hop culture back to the forefront and to also provide a bridge that connects the Hip Hop communities in the Southeast and beyond.

As founder and host of the weekly webcast, veteran Duval emcee, Mas Appeal created The Lyricist Hour as an avenue to showcase Hip-Hop artists, regardless of whether they’re independent, underground or mainstream, the only prerequisite being that they had to make dope music. And Mas Appeal knows quite a bit about making dope music. As a solo artist and one half of Hip-Hop supergroup, Simple Complexity, the Miami native has been a fixture on the Duval County Hip-Hop scene since 2002 and is respected and revered for his talent and showmanship. He began The Lyricist Hour in 2006 with original co-host, Triclops I by distributing CD’s with a recorded show that highlighted local and national artists.  As the show grew in popularity, it was moved to podcast format, becoming the first Hip-Hop podcast in Jacksonville. 

At its peak, The Lyricist Hour was receiving more than 1000 downloads per week with listeners throughout the Southeast, the US and Europe and featured interviews with Evidence of Dilated Peoples fame, DJ Spinna, Kev Brown and Salt-n-Pepa’s DJ, Spindarella. After a brief hiatus, The Lyricist Hour returned in February of 2010 as a weekly webcast on www.thenerdysouth.com. Always on the cutting edge of technology and trends, Mas understood the need to adjust the medium in which The Lyricist Hour was broadcasted, so he teamed up with Rawkus recording artist, Willie Evans Jr. and his website, The Nerdy South.com, to make the show more widely available to fans of the show, old and new. 

A legendary emcee and member of The Alias Brothers (formerly known as Asamov), Willie Evans Jr, created The Nerdy South.com as a vehicle to not only showcase his own creative endeavors, but to also connect the various Hip-Hop communities in the Southeast to demonstrate a unified front in which everyone could reap the benefits of exposure and success. Willie Evans Jr serves as technician/co-host to The Lyricist Hour and is a welcome and entertaining addition. 

Also new to The Lyricist Hour is Mal aka Malecule, a native New Yorker who was raised in New Jersey, Jacksonville and is deeply rooted in the East coast and Southeast Hip Hop community. Mas’s onscreen co-host is a former member of the East Unit and is a Hip-Hop powerhouse, having been active on the Duval scene since 1992.  Mal has collaborated and worked with some of the Southeast most talented individuals like Tough Junkie, Dialectable Beats and DJ Therapy aka Paten Locke, and is currently working on his solo project. As a member of The Lyricist Hour cast, Mal has an all-inclusive attitude and aims to provide promotion for independent and underground artists, with the hopes that everyone can enjoy prosperity and affluence.

The first season on the new The Lyricist Hour was a success as Mas, Mal and Willie played videos, discussed Hip-Hop and communicated with the growing audience via the sites chat bar function, phone and email, while holding contests for prizes and giveaways. In addition to playing videos by independent and national artists, they showed footage of Duval Hip-Hop shows and acts, conducted interviews and did dedication shows to DJ Premier and the late J. Dilla. 

Season Two will see The Lyricist Hour expanded with shows that focus on everything from independent clothing designers and entrepreneurs, the four elements of Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop technology and more. The Lyricist Hour cast will still provide interviews, videos and commentary on underground, independent and mainstream artists, but aims to provide the viewer with a broader scope of the Hip-Hop community in hopes of educating and entertaining the audience with dope beats, dope lyrics and dope content. 

Tune into the all new The Lyricist Hour every Monday, starting May 3^rd, 2010 at 7 pm EST at www.thenerdysouth.com. For more information on The Lyricist Hour, or to schedule an interview with the cast, please contact Mas Appeal at 904/923-8230 or e-mail Mas at lyricisthour@gmail.com.