Patrick O'Heffernan | Music Junkie Press

Juliette Ashby at the Hotel Café. The beginning of a love affair with America by Patrick O’Heffernan

August 24, 2014

Hollywood. Patrick O’Heffernan. Juliette Ashby was in constant motion. Her hands, her arms, her body all swayed and circled and pointed and touched as she sang, hypnotizing us, drawing us in, capturing us in the heart inside her bare chest. Tall, beautiful and confident, yet down-to-earth, Ashby took the stage Friday night at the Hotel Café in Hollywood and looked over the packed room with a smile of satisfaction and greeting. Statuesque in skin tight black toreador pants and a lime green silk sleeveless blouse open down to her silver belt buckle, seemingly without make up, she radiated not so much sensuality as openness and honesty. The songs she gave us were exactly that – open and honest, and they proved beyond a doubt that she is one of the most talented entertainers on either side of the Atlantic. Ashby is known as a neo-soul, R&B singer-songwriter, but she is so much more. With a high-pitched, almost Jamaican voice that ranges from reggae to soul and R&B, she is simply in a universe by herself. [Read More]

Eleanor Goldfield of Rooftop Revolutionaries: hard rock for a reason by Patrick O’Heffernan

August 22, 2014

Patrick O’Heffernan, Los Angeles. What do you do if you have a classically trained operatic voice, the beauty and the bearing of a top model and the visionary soul of an artist and a poet? You start a hard rock band with screaming guitars, pounding drums and in-your-face-political lyrics. That’s what our next guest did, and the rest is history. Eleanor Goldfield wants to change the world with art and music. So she co-founded Rooftop Revolutionaries, a hard rock/alternative metal band that has a very direct message: Do Something. Using socially conscious lyrics, haunting melodies, driving guitars and hammering drums to back her soaring and plunging voice, Eleanor entertains, educates and motivates. And it works. People listen and act, whether it is at an Occupy event, a march or a protest, Eleanor’s voice and Rooftop Revolutionaries music is a soundtrack for action. Eleanor also finds time to blog, host a radio show and produce music/art events. She calls herself a “creative activist”; I call her a multi-platform cultural provocateur. Eleanor sat down for an interview [Read More]

Jessie Payo comes home to LA a country star with Payote magic by Patrick O’Heffernan

August 19, 2014

Jessie Payo, the diminutive soul singer with a larger than life voice has come home to LA, but more important, she has arrived. After more than a decade of recording, training, touring and singing with superstars like Melissa Etheridge, Jessie has found her county sound, and she created country magic at the Hotel Café in Hollywood Friday night. It’s no wonder her twitter handle is @payoetemusic. She was booked to come on at 9 pm and while she was setting up the crowd poured in, They were here for her. And she did not disappoint them. For almost an hour, she rocked, seduced, mesmerized and united with a full house, demonstrating the maturity and the self confidence of an experienced entertainer. She brought us her own brand of gut-tightening, head bobbing very personal country. Frankly, I had more fun listening to her at Hotel Café than I did at the Wynonna & the Big Noise concert at Century City. Jessie opened with her heart rending “ I will Die Alone”, which sailed through the room [Read More]

Maggie Szabo rocks LA and then heads for New York (but she’ll be back) by Patrick O’Heffernan

August 14, 2014

Maggie Szabo left fans at the Silverlake Lounge with a lightning bolt of a parting shot before heading off to a recording session in New York Monday night. A high energy, beat-driven eight-song set, finished off with her hit single “Tidal Waves and Hurricanes” kept the packed club moving and dancing. Sparks and flames were practically flying out of Maggie and her band she was so on. I have seen Maggie live three times, most recently at the Hotel Café in February, and she has grown and improved orders of magnitude – and she was top rated to start with. Her band Monday night– regular drummer Sam Campbell, the kick-ass Kyle Calvillo on lead guitar, Steven Shook on rhythm guitar and Sonny Kennelly on bass – were so tight they moved with Maggie without a nanometer between them. They showed a Grammy-level of professionalism that was a joy to watch. Maggie was among friends at the Lounge – part of her huge and constantly growing fan base – as she shouted out to various [Read More]

Jessie Payo brings her high level blues talent to country and it works “arguably the best country EP by a woman available today”

August 9, 2014

Jessie Payo brings her high level blues talent to country and it works “arguably the best country EP by a woman available today” By Patrick O’Heffernan Jessie Payo has literally grown up before my ears. I first discovered her when she was fifteen through a blues site. She was playing in small venues and recording CD’s which her mom would ship out from their house. I have every one of her albums – I bought them by mail as they came out and even talked with her mom on the phone once to see if I could catch her act in Northern California (no such luck). In the years since then, Jessie has been a very busy lady, going to Berklee College of Music in Boston, acting in films and television, joining the Jupiter Rising band and then leaving it to strike out on her own as a country singer. She has been recording, touring and opening for or singing with artists like Melissa Ethridge, The Black Eyed Peas, Jason Mraz, Lauryn Hill and Etta [Read More]

Lena Fayre hushes the Hotel Café with an ethereal, mesmerizing performance by Patrick O’Heffernan

August 3, 2014

Wednesday night in Hollywood at the venerable Hotel Café, usually a slow night with no problem getting a table. Not this Wednesday night. Tables were gone early and the floor was packed as the warmup act, Justin Furstenfeld, wrapped up. The crowd sang with him and applauded enthusiastically, but they were really waiting for a brunet slip if a young woman with an old/young chiseled face and a sensual voice that perfectly matches her undulating body, Lena Fayre. There is a reason Rolling Stone tapped Fayre as one of the “10 new artists you need to know” in its February edition. Although she is only 17, the maturity of her command of lyrics, sound and audiences is that of a woman with a decade of stardom. That maturity was in full display at the Hotel Café, hushing an adorning audience. Onstage in a black sleeveless top, open midriff and muted electric blue tufted pants, Fayre’s voice and body writhed and swayed like a demonic serpent pushing the drugs of emotional, ethereal pop. And we happily [Read More]

Interview with Ívar Páll Jónsson, composer of Revolution In The Elbow Of Ragnar Agnarsson Furniture Painter

August 1, 2014

Interview with Ívar Páll Jónsson By Patrick O’Heffernan Ívar Páll Jónsson is the composer of the best musical soundtrack of the year. That is not an easy judgment for me to make, but after listening to the 18 songs on the soundtrack album Revolution in the Elbow of Ragnar Agnarsson Furniture Painter by Ívar Páll Jónsson, I think we have a winner. The concept of both the album and the play brilliantly takes on big ideas and puts them in a small space where they are easily understood, like an elbow. The music spans decades and genres, soaring to electric heights and getting down and dirty with energizing beats, all performed by The Revolutionary Cellular Orchestra and a stunning international all-star cast. Just listening to the music has me thinking about cashing in my miles and going to New York to see the play. The next best thing is listening to the album and talking with the composer, Ívar Páll Jónsson. Patrick. I understand you had your first preview performance last night. Did it go [Read More]