CMJ 2015 Night 4: ATO Records Showcase w/ Thunderbitch + The Word

The ATO Records showcase announcement of Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard doing a show from her side project Thunderbitch was perhaps the biggest surprise of CMJ week. Almost every major music reporter, photographer, blogger or industry type was there. The immediate area around the stage was basically all photographers as this was one of the first shows from Howard (as Thunderbitch). And it rocked.

Jessica Lea Mayfield:

Taken from her Mayfield’s bio, “Jessica Lea Mayfield is a 24 year old guitarist, singer and songwriter who was born in Kent, Ohio. At age 15, she recorded her first album “White Lies” in her brother’s bedroom, printing only 100 copies. One of those copies fell into the hands of Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. After an introduction, Mayfield and Auerbach hit the studio, recording her debut album “With Blasphemy, So Heartfelt.” and later her sophomore album “Tell Me”. Mayfield will return to NYC for a show at the Living Room on November 14.

Joseph:

From their bio, “Joseph is a band of three sisters from the beautiful Pacific Northwest” and their band name is a tribute to their grandfather.

Thunderbitch:

What more can I say about Thunderbitch? Check out the photos and video below.

The Word:

The Word is a collaborative jam band whose gospel flavors come from the pedal steel of Robert Randolph, the organ of John Medeski (of Medeski Martin and Wood) and the guitars and drums from North Mississippi All Stars, Luther and Cody Dickinson and Chris Chew. They are rarely around which made their CMJ show one I had to check out. The crowd enjoyed the soulful jams at Webster Hall (there were some couches on the floor!) as the band pulled from their new album, Soul Food and their out of print self-titled debut that is over a decade old.