• Entertainment

    What the GIF? Vol. 2

    The first time was so fun, I just couldn’t resist making ‘What The GIF?’ a regular Tragic Kingdom occurrence. So pop your lock, pull up a seat and let’s countdown this week’s music headlines in the latest installment of V for Vetrano’s ‘What the GIF?’ #10 – Taylor Swift kicks off her Red Tour, Still Shocked Fans Show Up #9 – Justin Bieber Reacts to Lindsay Lohan Comparisons in Instagram Rant  #8 – Austin Hosts SXSW, Millions Regret Their Actions the Next Morning   #7 – Nicki Minaj Late to American Idol Live Show, Mariah Carey Pissed She Was Out-Diva’d #6 – Lil’ Wayne Tweets ‘OK’ After Being Hospitalized Due to…

  • Entertainment

    First Listen: Justin Timberlake "The 20/20 Experience" Bonus Tracks

    Only March, but it’s already expected to be one of the biggest selling albums of the year. Justin Timberlake‘s The 20/20 Experience is worthy of its “perfect” title. If you missed my thoughts on the record, or haven’t yet streamed it in full, check it out here. When the record drops on March 19th, Target will exclusively release the deluxe version with 2 additional songs. But in true V for Vetrano style, I say why wait? Listen to “Dress On” and “Body Count” now below. Like what you hear? Pick up the deluxe edition of The 20/20 Experience exclusively at Target on March 19th or download the standard edition of…

  • Entertainment

    Giveaway: Tickets to Josiah Leming’s ‘Listen Close Tour’

    Last week I delivered my interview with the uber-talented indie-rocker Josiah Leming. The singer, who is no stranger to Tragic Kingdom, and I caught up while he was preparing to hit the road on his 75 city Listen Close Tour. If you didn’t get a chance to read the full interview, check it out here.  Now, yours truly is giving you the chance to see why Leming is one of the most promising acts in music today. If his infectious pop-rock tunes haven’t won you over, his live performance and engaging live show will. I have 10 pairs of tickets to giveaway to a show in the city of your choice…

  • Entertainment

    Justin Timberlake’s ‘The 20/20 Experience’

    It’s been half a decade since Justin Timberlake‘s futuristic, critically acclaimed record Future Sex/Love Sounds landed the singer a place in music history. Before the sophomore record from the one-time lead heartthrob of one of the biggest boybands in the world ‘N SYNC, Timberlake was working to shed his cheesy boyband days and striving to be seen as an artist who, with the combination of two words (“SexyBack“), could change the face of the music scene. It was no surprise that when Timberlake put music on hold to focus on other ventures – acting, managing his own record label and getting married to actress Jessica Biel – the music world…

  • Entertainment

    Listen! It’s Vetrano!: What the GIF?

    I have a confession. I’ve been a little behind with letting you in on some of my favorite new musical picks, but it’s for good reason (and I promise it’s not only because I recently became obsessed with Homeland and have been feverishly catching up). There’s been tons of new music hitting my ear drums, but unfortunately I am unable to share it with you quite yet. If you’ve been following my Instagram or Twitter feeds lately you may have seen that I’ve been hanging with some of the raddest people on the planet. Though the details of our late night expeditions are better kept under wraps – until my inevitable “tell all”…

  • Entertainment

    Interview with Josiah Leming

    He’s one of my favorite independent – and often one of the most underrated – artists in music today. I describe him as a musical prodigy when telling folks of his live performance. And now, for those that haven’t yet seen the wonders of Josiah Leming live, he’s hitting the road for the biggest tour – and first national headlining tour – of his career. Stopping in more than 75 cities, Leming will be surely be coming to a city near you in 2013 (see a full list of dates here). As he was gearing up for his trek, I got to chat it up with my talented friend to find…

  • Entertainment

    The X Factor Auditions Kicking Off This Week

    Do you have “The X Factor” (or think you do, rather)? The brand that delivered international superstars such as Leona Lewis, One Direction and Cher Lloyd are on the hunt for America’s next international superstar. The highly talked about second season gave us promising new acts like Emblem 3, Fifth Harmony and Carly Rose Sonenclar, but the U.S. version of the series has yet to deliver an act as big as the UK version of the show. If you think you have what it takes, then consider the gauntlet officially thrown. THE X FACTOR auditions will be held in the following cities:  LOS ANGELES, CADate: Wednesday, March 6Venue: Galen Center CHARLESTON, SCDate:…

  • Entertainment

    Take 5: Liz Davis

    She won the hearts of thousands last year on NBC’s The Voice, where she represented Nashville on Team Blake during the series’ third season. Since then, Liz Davis has been bringing her own brand of sass and kick-ass country to Music City. If you missed my two part interview with the singer with the big ole pipes from earlier this year, catch up now (part one / part two). And now, Davis is kicking off Tragic Kingdom’s newest segment: Take 5.  We all love to know what inspires our favorite stars and want to know what – or who – is behind the lyrics of our favorite songs, but you…

  • Entertainment

    Interview with The CO

    Photo by Sean Hagwell  Readers of Tragic Kingdom are no stranger to the Nashville based pop-rockers, The CO. In 2011, I introduced the trio as an Artist to Watch and later in the year premiered their single “Camo” first on the site. Then, earlier this year, Tragic Kingdom was the exclusive destination to listen to the band’s sophomore record Keep It Together in full before its January 8 release. Almost two months after the release of the record, I sat down with Troy, Nate and Collin of The CO to talk about the new tunes, what 2013 has in store for them and what all those tweets about ‘COhorts’ mean to them.Interview…

  • Entertainment

    Tragic Kingdom Presents: Andy Davis "Dashes"

    One of the coolest parts about the music industry is when two artists come together to create an epic collaboration. Sometimes they result in the form of a great radio single-paring like when R&B’s Rihanna enlisted Nashville indie-rocker Mikky Ekko for her chart-topping single “Stay,” or when two of music’s juggernauts collide to make the world ‘move like Jagger’, like Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera did last summer. Other times the best collaborations are the ones that aren’t as widely talked about, the collaboration of two artists coming together to write a great song. In this case, two of the coolest emerging talents coming together on Tyler Ward‘s first EP of original tunes. If you’re not yet…

  • Entertainment

    V is for Video

    Is today some kind of holiday that we should be observing? I’m single – not bitterly so – and I don’t tend to get all hyped about this traditionally lame holiday known to most as Valentine’s Day. I typically just refer to it simply as VD (insert sexually transmitted joke here). To a music connoisseur like myself, there’s one kind of valentine that makes me weak in the knees: a hot new video fresh from the editing bay. So you can imagine my excitement to find an inbox full of these types of valentines today. I figured, while in the “holiday” spirit, it’s only appropriate to pass these valentines on…