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…

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…

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…

It’s no secret that I’m kinda (ok, totally) crushing on the electro-rockers Five Knives. But really, can you blame me? If you haven’t discovered the wonders of Five Knives yet, check out why I named them the artist to watch for 2013 and grab their EP free for a limited time. The EP’s first single dropped last week with the release of the compilation and today the band premiered their ultra-hip video for the track on purevolume.com. In the video, Anna Worstell and her boys do their thing in an abandoned warehouse while the coolest fucking roller derby goes on around them. I have plans to check out the Nashville Rollergirls this weekend and I…

When Rihanna dropped her sixth studio record Unapologetic, Nashville rejoiced to see its own indie-rocker Mikky Ekko featured on the record’s standout ballad “Stay.” The excitement continued when the R&B songstress invited the rocker to join her on stage at Sunday’s Grammy Awards’s to perform the new single, which Ekko penned. The performance kickstarted quite a buzz about the new Rihanna track and the mysterious new talent that joined her. Now, accompanied with a steamy new video, “Stay” is on track to be one of the biggest songs of the year and Ekko music’s next “it” kid. Watch the video “Stay” below and pick up Mikky Ekko’s newly released tracks EP…

It’s a post-Grammy’s Justin-palooza today on Tragic Kingdom, with new music from two of music’s biggest stars sharing the same name. Last night the original Justin (Justin Timberlake) returned to the Grammy’s stage with a performance (over-hyped in my opinion) of his new single “Suit & Tie” and closed with a preview of his new track “Pusher Love Girl.” Today, his highly anticipated third record The 20/20 Experience is available for pre-order on iTunes. The pre-paid download comes with an instant new track from the record, 8-minutes long, called “Mirrors.” Give it a listen and share your thoughts in the comment box below. The Justin of another name – the one…

Last year when Five Knives emerged on the Nashville scene with their electro-inspired punk rock, it was an instant connection for the wannabe club kid inside me. The pounding synth beats and attitude-dripping lyrics – delivered effortlessly by frontwoman Anna Worstell – had me hooked. A year of free music, introducing their fresh sound, on the band’s website filled my car, iPod and home speakers. It wasn’t long before the four (not five) rockers were playing all over town and one of the buzziest new bands to hit the music scene. Their energetic live show takes the whole package to the next level with Worstell fearlessly leading the pack, which includes Nathan Barlowe…

To accompany singer Jewel‘s upcoming Greatest Hits compilation, she enlisted the power house none other than Kelly Clarkson to record a revamped version of her ’97 hit single “Foolish Games.” Alright, raise your hand if you loved the single the first time around (in case you can’t see, I have both hands raised; one for each version then). Now, seven years later, with the addition of the America’s first Idol the song is better than I could have ever imagined. Listen to Jewel & Kelly Clarkson slay “Foolish Games” below now, but beware you might need a change of pants. I’m just saying … I did.

It’s coming! The Rising is the first EP from electro-punk rockers Five Knives, the band that I named the top ‘Artist to Watch’ for 2013. The re-mixed (for those of you who have their early stuff), re-packaged EP will be released digitally February 4, 2013 on Red Bull Records. In the coming months, as the new “it” band journey towards the release of their first full length this summer, I will continue to follow and introduce you to Five Knives. In the meantime, you can hear -and follow along with – their first single “All Fall Down” by watching the lyric video below. Google Plus: +Five Knives

It’s already one of the hottest songs of the year, but now will.i.am & Britney Spears‘ single “Scream & Shout” has gotten a hip-hop facelift. The new swaggy version includes cameos by Diddy, Lil’ Wayne, Hit-Boy and Waka Flocka Flame. What’s even better? Britney tweeted from the set of the new updated video today! Looking forward to seeing what this powerhouse group come up with next. If you haven’t heard the original version of the song, first of all please crawl out from the hole you’ve been living in, and then listen to it here. Then once you’ve worked up a sweat dancing around to that version, push play below to…