Major props to James and the Ultrasounds for winning this poll while out on the road. In addition to having one figurative arm tied behind their back, the band also has the distinction of being our first Artist of the Month from Memphis (a criminally underepresented neighboring city in the Deli’s eyes.) The band is comprised of a few good men hand-picked by frontman and scene vet James Godwin, who lends his voice and hardscrabble attitude to the lo-fi rock and roll of this project. The band takes cues from the J. Roddy Walston school of Letting the Good Times Rolll, while taking off into flights of loud and fast punk rock with occasional scews into other dimensions. They followed up their debut full length "Bad to be Here" (out December of 2014 via Madjack Records) with the deliciously throwback single "Robot Love" on Misspent Records (coupled with a cover of The Cramp’s "TV Set." Love.) Keep up with your new favorite band’s hijinks and developments HERE. -Terra James-Jura

Brandy Zdan has an impressive resume thus far: she’s been half of Canadian/Americana duo Twighlight Hotel, and was guitarist/utility player for all-girl Americana group The Trishas in addition to releasing a handful of solo EPs under her own name. So it goes without saying that her first full-length album is long overdue. Zdan teamed up with producer Teddy Morgan and cherry-picked pals Carl Broemal and Tom Plankenship from My Morning Jacket as her backup band for her self-titled LP. Her first single, "More of a Man" shares the same sunny disposition as some of Sheryl Crow’s poppier numbers, but, like the album, has a streak of rebellion running through it. Zdan moved to Nashville from Austin to record the album, and immediately tweaked her creative style to run contrary to the traditional spirit of the city. Keep up with Brandy Zdan for tour dates and developments on the release date at www.brandyzdan.com. -Terra James-Jura

Okay, so if you’re a Blank Range fan, you might already have a cassette of "Phase II" kicking around in your car. The band recorded the 6-track tape back in April of 2013, an ambling testament to true garage grit that sparked enough momentum to won them a Bonnaroo set, sent them to SXSW, and lead them to record the 7" "Scrapin/Before I Go To Sleep" with a real engineer in a legitimate (read: non-basement) studio the following fall. The tape also wraps up with "Last Crash Landing," one of the most enduring gut-punchers of a song that we’ve come across thus far. Now the band is preparing to release a 10" pressing of "Phase II," lest there be an empty 10" space on their merch table on their upcoming 28-date tour supporting Two Gallants and Mountain Goats. Blank Range will be marking the occasion with a show at The Basement on April 10th with local bros Music Band and Joey Plunket. The show kicks off at 8pm and tickets are $5, so come on out and pick up the new format! -Terra James-Jura

This is a great show to catch if you find yourself at the end of Broadway tomorrow night or are just jonesing to see some talented bands for $0.

We’ve been tickled by Dustin Sellers and his reformed alt-rocker with an old-school soul visage ever since he won our Artist of the Month poll last fall. We’re excited for his upcoming album “Mint Market,” and are looking forward to hearing some cuts off of it tomorrow night when he and his Rat Pack play No Country for New Nashville’s weekly showcase at Acme Feed and Seed. We’re especially digging the driving, Western vibe of "Mind at All" (check out the Shaker Steps video below.) Joining the lineup are Whoa Dakota, whose blues rock machine has been gaining steady momentum since their self-titled debut EP last year, and has been propelled in no small part to front woman Jessica Ott’s steamy dynamics. Rounding out the evening’s new traditional theme is Amanda Broadway, who is taking a quick step away from being part of Acme’s Funky-Tonk house band to belt out a set of solo material.

Catch Dustin Sellers, Whoa Dakota and Amanda Broadway at Acme Feed & Seed on Tuesday, March 24^th.  The show starts a 7pm, and cover is free!

All your buds down in Austin right now? Well, enjoy a night out with your extra funds not spent on gas and tacos at The 5 Spot this Saturday. Our buddies and Artist of the Month winners Creature Comfort are returning from a brief hiatus with a few friends to make you thankful you stayed in Tennessee. The quartet put out the amazing "Fox Tales" last year, an intelliegent mashup of dream pop and Modest Mouse-level prosiacism (check out the beautifully shot and NSFW video for "All My Friends" below.) They are being joined by darkly catchy Cincinnati crew of Injecting Strangers and more hometown sounds from female-fronted party rockers The Saturday Night Specials. The show starts at 8pm and is a measly $5. Come on out! -Terra James-Jura

Our post on BASECAMP earlier this week must have whet our ears for moody, slightly off-kilter soundscapes, because they were totally primed when we listened to “Monolith” by Realms. There’s a similar bass-heavy tension to the album, and tracks like “Progress” have kindred slow, unnerving builds that resonate like a frozen lake cracking underfoot. Realms is a trio consisting of Josh Pantana, David Gross and Graham Blecher, who built their startling chemistry over five years of acting as studio band for several Nashville acts (including Andrew Bell and Neulore.) “Monolith” is the first stand-alone effort as Realms, recorded over the course of a year in their home studio and officially released March 10th. Check out opening track "Dinosaurs" to see if it hits you in a sweet spot. If you’re a fan of Sigur Ros, Radiohead, or strikingly pretty atmospheric experimentation, then this album is worth checking out. –Terra James-Jura

www.realmsmusic.com

Growing up Amarillo style is a far cry from nascent. Just Texas sun, oil riggers, and firebrand folk tunes.

Ryan Culwell’s debut release, Flatlands, packs rootsy grit and redemptive rest stops. Opening track "Amarillo" rings with a sweet melody. "You Won’t Come Home" tender lyrics demand listening ears. Dusty anthem "I Think I’ll Be Their God" and true-blues "Piss Down In My Bones" offer gusty backbeats and steel guitar. His depictions hold a certain yearning of a man finding his Americana on folky fretboards. You can feel the embittered pride in "Red River" and Culwell’s own sacred rest in "Horses." And if ominous feels overdone, porch-strummers "I Will Come For You" and "Flatlands" provide windows-down nostalgia. Flatlands is a melodic fortitude that loves memories and loathes realities. Through the thirsty panhandle, distressed as Culwell’s raspy range, you feel what he feels: his journey of story and relationship; an honest man on his way. Flatlands was released March 3rd, 2015 via Lightning Rod Records. -Ben Neumann

Ryan Culwell has two upcoming Nasville shows: March 25th at Loveless Cafe and April 2nd at Exit/In with Whiskey Meyers (tickets here.)

 For the few of you that don’t check in with our Artist of the Month poll as frequently as your Instagram and Facebook feeds, rest assured that this recent poll was a doozie. Both HR_Lexy and Foster McGinty turned out with a ridiculous number of votes, but ultimately McGinty would come out on top with 571 fans showing favor for the songwriter. 

This win comes hot on the heels of McGinty’s second album, "The Lucy Stone" (released February 19th). While songs are penned with a pop mindset, getting the job done in under 4 minutes with an appropriate chorus-to-verse ratio and the "oh" and "la" quota filled, the music resonates as so purely American that were surprised each album doesn’t come with a pack of bottle rockets. Check out "The Lucy Stone" if your a fan of male/female vocals (the other half courtesy of the lovely Chelsea McGinty) and endearing songwriting. The next hometown show is April 24th at The End, so come out and buy him a beer (if our calculations are correct, he has about 571 coming.) -Terra James-Jura

http://www.fostermcginty.com/  

BASECAMP got plenty of love from our jury and readers when we ran our Best of 2014 poll last month, for obvious reasons. The trio of producers experiment with tempo, samples and boundaries  to create moody, restrained R&B. Their intelligent music and inherent cool have won a scad of fans in Nashville; there’s probably the only group that can title a single "N2Deep" and not get an eyeroll from us. The track utilizes quiet as much as it does resonating bass, and it moves a little faster and reaches a sharper crescendo than their previous 2013 release. "N2Deep" is the first single off BASECAMP’s upcoming album "Greater Than." -Terra James-Jura

True to their name, Bully seems pretty adept at delivering a suprise gut punch that leaves ya doubled over and stunned. They did that to the blogosphere last fall with their self-titled EP, and they’re doing it again with this brand-new single "I Remember." Viciously cathartic, it is just under two minutes of Alicia Bognanno unloading painful little details of a past relationship amid gut-thumping bass and blown out guitar. Bully is about to give a good portion of the United States a round of sonic wedgies on their spring tour with JEFF the Brotherhood (full rundown of dates here.) Make it easy on yourself, and just go limp when it happens. -Terra James-Jura

The post-Joy of Painting effort of front man Garreth Spinn, SAINTHOOD tags itself as "pop salvation." Debut single "L.I.V.I.N.G." dropped just this Tuesday. Synth-driven and highly danceable, this tune has a little bit of Killers flavor and skirts the edge of camp (never a bad thing.) SAINTHOOD joins a packed lineup of other musical amalgamations and resurrections at The East Room tonight: supergroup Friendship (with members of Chalaxy, Creature Comfort, Subnovas, Girls and Money, and Mesmer Tea,) dream-pop Iowans Annalibera, Organ Stills (a revision of Shy Guy,) chilled-out California psych from Suntundra Moon, and last-minute opener Mr. Nasti (Children of Spy, Zombie Bazooka Patrol.) That is a metric ton of music for $5. This is a much better application of your cash than buying a gnarly footlong at the Subway next door. Tonight’s show is 18+ and kicks off at 8pm. -Terra James-Jura 

OJR (aka Oliver John-Rodgers) promised from the stage at Blackbird Tattoo and Gallery last Sunday that anyone signed up to the band’s mailing list would be sent a copy of their new recording "Nashville Demos" at least two weeks prior to its release date. He may have shed his ridiculous kimono at that point, but his cowboy had was still firmly in place. His bassist was in white high heels in honor of it it being National Woman’s Day. They would be the perfect example of insufferable hipster punks if the raw, bluesy jams they were dishing out weren’t so soul-scratchingly good. Hearing something fuzzed-out and psychedelic is nothing new in Nashville, but sometimes it takes some swagger in the delivery to make it click. Adding insult to injury, the band looked like they were having fun. Consider us fans. We’re looking forward to this first release since OJR made the move to Music City from New York. Until you can catch a live show or "Nashville Demos" comes out, listen to this bit of awesome from their last EP.