Featured Artists

Mario

As a self-described old-soul, the wunderkind reflects on his journey introspectively, "I've always been that way, I'm just able to express myself more and I have time by myself instead of everybody always being in my ear. When you have time by yourself, you can see and analyze things for what you think they are." "As you grow, you learn more about yourself and come upon things that touch people," adding, "what makes me happy most is that I've changed lives.

Carefully weaving the fabric of his life over delicately orchestrated rhythms, Go utilizes its hip-hop influences, throwback soul sensibilities and lyrical honesty to demonstrate just what's been on Mario's mind. The result has been to overcome life's challenges in order to pursue his love for singing and turn that love into the stellar music career that he's experiencing today.

Back in January 2007 Mario caught a lead role as an at-risk student in Freedom Writers with Hilary Swank. He looks toward the distant future to reposition the spotlight off of himself and his personal accomplishments in order to develop and invest in other things - music, artists and a non-profit for underprivileged kids and those that grew up with parents with substance abuse problems like him.

Maturing and accepting who he is becoming is the greatest gift Mario could have ever given to himself, and thankfully, his fans get to come along for the ride.

KRS-One and Buckshot

These two legendary MCs have linked up for a collaborative album, Survival Skills after making their indelible marks on the game. On the surface the album is a testament to the resiliency of two lyrical titans, but at its root Survival Skills is a blueprint for life.

KRS-One and Buckshot are the epitome of rap longevity and relevancy. After making his 1987 debut with Boogie Down Productions on the seminal rap classic Criminal Minded, KRS-One instantly became an icon going on to release a gang of essential works including 1988's By All Means Necessary and 1993's Return of the Boom Bap. Similarly when Buckshot came into the game in 1993 with Enta Da Stage as Black Moon's front man, fans instantly took notice.

Throughout, both veterans sound as hungry and invigorated as any of their rap counterparts. "Projects like these are projects that motivate me," KRS says. "The idea to work with another MC that has his own persona and style and do a real collaboration in the studio, that's motivation."

What KRS-One and Buckshot have created is an album that is socially responsible, lyrically sharp and sonically banging. Buckshot sums it up best, "Hip-Hop was started as an option to not killing each other. We created Hip-Hop so we didn't have to do that anymore."

Clipse

With their third label release Til the Casket Drops set to impact this fall, the Clipse stand as the proverbial oasis on rap's arid landscape. So many artists within the past decade have come and gone; we're still here, still credible, still with the ability to be groundbreaking.

After "Grindin" catapulted the Clipse and their debut album Lord Willin' into the Top Ten on both the R&B/Hip-Hop and Billboard 200 charts, the duo's destiny seemed assured. High-profile collaborations Justin Timberlake's chart topper "Like I Love You," Birdman 's trunk-rattler "What Happened to that Boy", only quickened their pace.

Synergy and optimism materialize as "I'm Good" featuring Pharrell, the first official single off "Til the Casket Drops". "I'm Good" comes on the heels of scalding buzz record "Kinda Like a Big Deal," produced by DJ Khalil and featuring Kanye West.

So when people hear something like "I'm Good," they tend to think they got the best of both worlds: a catchy, radio-friendly song and substantial lyricism at the same time. And even though it's poppy and seems simple for us to do, it's not a place we'd have been able to go on the last album.

Mood is very much the Clipse' term du jour; Pusha summarizes the sonic spectrum on Til the Casket Drops as "hip-hop on steroids. Mood music. When pressed for further details, his song-by-song description is keen : "The album is lighthearted in some aspects , then we take you to the gutter on other tracks. But it's evident that we're in a much better place."

LeToya

Brand names are enduring. The blessing of a lifelong following is tempered by the curse of past accomplishments perpetually in tow. Many struggle when forced to step out from behind the name that's propelled them to tip-of-the-tongue currency. Only the rarest make those fledgling first steps count. LeToya Luckett is one such triumph. Part of the global groundswell known as Destiny's Child, LeToya counts two Grammy Awards and co-writing credits to the group's smashes "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Say My Name" as milestones in her rearview mirror.

By all appearances, LeToya's transitions have been both smooth and satisfying. But growth is never without struggle. "Having endured a lot of separations and divorces --and I don't mean just marital-- from people that you love takes its toll," she reveals, herself a veteran of the music business though still in her twenties. "These experiences left me stronger.

Now in 2009, on the verge of her second solo release Lady Love, LeToya is wiser and worldlier. Her subject matter, no longer restricted to the "safe" stuff of her first album, tackles real issues: love, fidelity, defiance, and ultimately, hope.

The Smithereens

From Carteret, New Jersey, The Smithereens was formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio (vocals & guitar), Jim Babjak (guitar & vocals), Mike Mesaros (bass guitar & vocals), and Dennis Diken (drums & percussion) . This lineup continued until 2006, when Mesaros left the band and Severo "The Thrilla" Jornacion took over on bass guitar.

The Smithereens are known for writing and playing catchy 1960s-influenced power pop. The group gained some publicity when a single from its first album, "Blood and Roses", was included on the soundtrack for, and as the theme song of the 1986 Albert Pyun movie, Dangerously Close, and the video was in rotation on MTV.

Along with a basic Eastern-coast roots-rock sound that owed much to the inspirations of DiNizio, including Buddy Holly, The Who, The Clash, Elvis Costello, and Nick Lowe, the Smithereens deployed a uniquely retro obsession with Mod, the late British Invasion pop and other artifacts of fifties and sixties culture that lent its music substance.

The Smithereens' album, 11, charted on the Billboard in 1990, the hit single from it, "A Girl Like You" was originally written to be the title track for the 1989 Cameron Crowe film. "Say Anything...". "Blood And Roses" is often credited as the bands most well known song to date.

The Smithereens have collaborated with numerous musicians, both in the studio (Suzanne Vega and Belinda Carlisle) and live (Graham Parker and The Kinks).

The name Smithereens comes from the famous cartoon character, Yosemite Sam quote, "Varmint, I'm a-gonna blow you to smithereens!"

The group actively tours. Their next studio album is expected to be released in fall 2009.

Diane Birch

Singer-songwriter Diane Birch took half her lifetime, and traveled across the globe, to get to America, where she literally found her voice and made her remarkable debut, Bible Belt. Though only in her mid-twenties, Birch likes to think of herself as an "old soul," and indeed there is a startling maturity in her singing and a veteran's self-assurance in her writing. Hook-driven songs like "Fools" and "Valentino" offer more than just instant gratification: they're like your new best friends - you'll want to get together with them as frequently as possible. Birch mixes piano-playing virtuosity with easy-going soul, and she can strike an uplifting groove on even the most melancholy tune. Her work bears hints of Laura Nyro (when she was hanging out with LaBelle) and early 70's Karen Carpenter (when she was ruling the charts), while effortlessly incorporating New Orleans second-line rhythms, gospel fervor, doo-wop harmonies, country-blues guitar and classic AM radio-style melodies.

Dick Dale and Jimmy Dale

J&R's heavily Fender stocked Musical Instruments Store will host guitar legend, Dick Dale and his fast-picking son, Jimmy Dale.

"King of Surf Guitar", Dick Dale will be forever remembered as the man behind the epic instrumental "Miserlou"; a pioneer with a highly percussive rhythmic style and penchant for dramatic bends and rapid-fire staccato picking using unusually heavy-gauge strings, Dale developed a unique guitar voice that launched an entire genre. Although Dale plays many instruments, he is known for a highly unusual self-taught style in which plays a right-handed Stratocaster® guitar upside down (Dale is left-handed) without restringing it accordingly (he continued to use this reverse stringing method even after acquiring a left-handed guitar).

Dale made a name for himself packing Southern California clubs and dance halls (most notably the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa, Calif.) in the late '50s with his band, the Del-Tones. He was intensely interested in achieving unheard-of guitar tones and volume that led him to push the limits of equipment available in the late 1950s. He adopted a very "wet" sounding reverb and experimented with Fender amplifiers; Dale is said to be the first guitarist to use a 100 watt guitar amp, and he was involved in the creation of the popular Fender Showman® amp.

A new generation of fans discovered Dale and his music when "Miserlou" was used as the theme for Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film Pulp Fiction. Fender introduced the sparkling Dick Dale Signature Stratocaster guitar in 1994.