Check out the new video “Dance In The Reign” by GFM fave Phonte, directed by Kenneth Price. From the album Charity Starts At Home.

Download Phonte’s Charity Starts At Home on iTunes

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Hola my GFM fam!!

It’s your girl, WestStyle Chronicles back from another music adventure. Where did my travels lead me you ask? Well, to the front row of the Authenticity Tour with The Foreign Exchange. Always bringing their familiar flair of soul, they also brought their contagious concoction of comedy. Check out some of the pictorial and video highlights from their show at The Masquerade.

By the way, I’m gonna need a “Titties & Jesus Don’t Go Together” T-shirts for Sunday morning service, Phonte. If you give me a few more, I can give them to the “Mother Board # 2″ street team too! LOL!

Alright concertgoers and FE fans, it’s that anticipated time!!!

Time for the return of The Foreign Exchange, (Phonte + Nicolay) with Zo!, Sy Smith, Jeanne Jolly with the Authenticity Tour Wednesday, November 9th at 7pm in Atlanta at the Masquerade. If you unfortunately missed their last Masquerade appearance back in May 2010, here’s some footage to wet your whistle for November 9th. And if you’re not in the Atlanta area, here are the upcoming shows coming your way! Get your tickets NOW!!

Wed Nov 9, 2011:
Masquerade, Atlanta GA · TICKETS

Thu Nov 10, 2011:
The WorkPlay Theatre, Birmingham AL · TICKETS

Fri Nov 11, 2011:
B.B. King’s Blues Club, Nashville TN · TICKETS

Sun Nov 13, 2011:
Zanzabar, Louisville KY · TICKETS

Mon Nov 14, 2011:
2720 Cherokee, St. Louis MO · TICKETS

Tue Nov 15, 2011:
Rumba Room, Memphis TN · TICKETS

Thu Nov 17, 2011:
The Door, Dallas TX · TICKETS

Fri Nov 18, 2011:
ND Venue, Austin TX · TICKETS

Sat Nov 19, 2011:
Fitzgerald’s, Houston TX · TICKETS

Mon Nov 21, 2011:
One Eyed Jack’s, New Orleans LA · TICKETS

For the latest news and show information, please visit their website or follow them on Twitter.

Chrisette Michele

Ok, GFM family…

Last week we got a chance to party at the 2nd Annual ONE Music Fest! Hosted by DRES tha BEATnik and Phife of A Tribe Called Quest, special guests included Tortured Soul, The Cool Kids, The Foreign Exchange, Anthony David, The Pharcyde, Chrisette Michele and many others. Here is the video and pictorial experience from this musical family reunion! And a big shout out to Mr. Jay Carter for another great Music Fest! Check it out!

Hola GFM fam!!!

It’s that time again!!! Time to make way for the musical experience you’ve been waiting for all year!! The ONE Musicfest is back and better than ever. Here’s this year’s line up and great festivities!!

Per the official press release:

ONE Musicfest 2011 Announce Festival Headliner Grammy Award Winning songstress Chrisette Michele

to include performances by Tortured Soul,  The Cool Kids, Anoop Desai, The Pharcyde, Anthony David, Foreign Exchange, and more

Atlanta (Pitchengine.com) August 16, 2011 – Today ONE Musicfest organizers announced the complete 2011 performance roster to include: Tortured Soul, Anthony David, The Foreign Exchange, The Pharcyde and just added; Anoop Desai (American Idol), The Cool Kids and Chrisette Michele with a special performance by “Searching for The One” Winner – Kyron Leslie who was selected by the city of Atlanta residents. Recently catching the attention of true music fans across the nation with the theater documentary release of  “Beats, Rhymes, & Life”, legendary group A Tribe Called Quest‘s Phife Dawg will serve as this year’s festival host. As seen on CNN, Vibe Magazine, the Atlanta Journal Constitution and more,  the ONE Music Fest  indoor/ outdoor concert experience will take place in over 20,000 square feet of green space at the beautiful Park Tavern concert space. This year’s festival format and musical experience will also infuse Park Tavern’s nationally renowned “Crab & Shrimp Festival” spearheaded by the venue’s culinary artist, Chef Romero. Tickets for the ONE MusicFest taking place on Saturday, August 27, 2011, can be purchased at select retailers and online at http://www.onemusicfest.com/tickets/

Releasing her third studio album Let Freedom Ring – this year’s festival headliner, Chrisette Michele, will add her signature sultry style with a mature level of musicality in her anticipated stage performance infused with over twelve non-stop hours of music by a plethora of nationally acclaimed artists, local artist and food galore. Emerging as one of the Summer’s most anticipated festival concert series in the region, this years  “Crab & Shrimp Festival” will feature menu offerings including Crab Broils for Two, Shrimp dishes in a multitude of preference offerings, unique food pairing baskets with fresh crab, summer corn, potatoes & more. Aiming to stimulate all five senses, ONE Musicfest 2011 will unify spectators and fill a necessary void in the city’s experience options.

The 2010 inaugural ONE MUSICFEST was headlined by internationally acclaimed artists such as Common, De La Soul, Goapele, the Love Language, DJ Mick Boogie and a genre cornucopia of grassroot talent earning the festival organizers the city of Atlanta’s “Phoenix Award” for their efforts in captivaing the city’s music culture with over 3,000 people from all walks of life and mastering the mission of unity through music with performances ranging from alternative rock to hip hop all under one roof .With the diverse musical and cultural appetites within a city rich in a history of great musical tradition, ONE MusicFest pledges to provide an environment that truly caters to the genre bending palette. For more information visit www.OneMusicFest.com and join the conversation @ONEMusicFest  & facebook.com/OneMusicFest

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Also, if you’ve never been to the ONE Musicfest, here’s a taste of last year’s party to give you a clue of what to expect!!!

Zo! & Jodine during the Meet & Greet

Zo! was in the building at Moods Music on August 7 for the Music Addikts and Harmony In Life’s 1st Hit Listening Lounge. Host Jodine Dorce of Jodine’s Corner and Zo! chop it up in an intimate, “Inside the Actors Studio” fashion about his background and passion before music, how some of his hottest collaboration tracks came to fruition, who his musical inspirations are and even why he gives away some of his music for free! It was a great time as in-store fans and fans via Twitter alike got the chance to interact and vibe with Zo! Watch the videos and pics here:

GFM fam we wanted to present this great interview with Nicolay of The Foreign Exchange conducted a little over a week ago by Miss Special and Myk Blauuw.

Miss Special is the host and creator of Special Sundays Radio show which broadcasts from San Francisco State University, it’s live Sundays (starting again August 28th) from 2-4pm PST.

Live at
www.ksfs.sfsu.edu

and podcasted at

www.specialsundays.com

Make sure you checkout the archives of the show here. We are definitely looking forward to presenting more great interviews from Special Sundays Radio.

I would file this post under: “Come by the house and see what album jackets are on the coffee table… oddly enough they have something in common, like you know, in the old days where multiple titles from the same label would show up in the queue, when the collective seemingly mattered as much as the individual release.” To that last point in my long run on opening statement: Sure, there are all sorts of collectives, groups, crews, but currently there are few that are as consistent across the board in producing quality musical output (both live and recorded) as The Foreign Exchange and their associated musical kin. BTW, this is far more a post of recommendation than review.

Dear Friends: An Evening With The Foreign Exchange

The info:

Serving as a companion piece to their latest release “Authenticity” and as a glimpse into their acclaimed live show, “Dear Friends” is a double-disc CD/DVD digipak that features the full acoustic concert performed by the band’s current touring lineup of Zo!, Sy Smith, and singer/songwriter Jeanne Jolly. In addition to the live concert recordings, the release also features two new studio tracks; “Steal Away” featuring Jeanne Jolly and “All The Kisses” featuring Amber & Paris Strother of rising indie soul trio KING.

Often it can be very difficult for music that is created using electronic methods to translate to an acoustic setting. This is certainly not the case here, the music is as fresh and colorful using acoustic guitars, piano bass and drums as it is when it is in the realm of zeroes and ones. The vocals and frankly the entire production are mixed in such a way that there is very little distance between the ensemble and audience, intimate. Personalities are allowed to shine through on the entire set and this is one musical offering I believe is tailor-made for a gathering of friends and a glass or glasses of your favorite red, whether that red is merlot or kool-aid.

To purchase Dear Friends go here.

01. Black Cow feat. Phonte and Sy Smith
02. Let It Go feat. Nicholas Ryan Gant
03. Driving feat. Sy Smith
04. Marzipan feat. Eric Roberson and Phonte
05. Everything She Wants feat. Phonte
06. Same Ole Love feat. Jeanne Jolly
07. Playing Your Game, Baby feat. Anthony David

ZO! returns with another installment of his Just Visiting series of classic covers. What can I say about a set that features not one, not two, but three of my all time favorite tunes? I will say that as a listener this installment and entire series is just good ol’ fashioned musical fun. For me it’s fun when you have that perfect mix of nostalgia and forging new territory, that’s adventurous and isn’t that what music should be about: Paying homage to what has come before yet putting your personal signature on the music?

To download Just Visiting Three go here.

We also wanted to put you onto Foreign Exchange guitarist and band mate Chris Boerner. Boerner has been working with The Foreign Exchange since the Leave It All Behind album and a touring member of TFE live since November 2009, and he can also be found on Zo!’s SunStorm & Just Visiting 3 releases, heavily on TFE’s Authenticity album and most recently, he mixed and mastered the current live CD/DVD “Dear Friends: An Evening With The Foreign Exchange”. Chris his group, The Hot @ Nights, who has just released their first album Nice Talk; in this own group, Chris Boerner plays 8-string guitar (nice!) alongside Matt Douglas (who is also featured on Leave It All Behind) on woodwinds and Nick Baglio on drums. They play melodic instrumental jazz with a heavy groove.

To listen to a preview of Nice Talk go here.

So??? What are you waiting for? If you haven’t already added this trifecta to the collection there’s no better day than today(or any day for that matter) to support great music!

Ok all my Zo! fans!!!

If you couldn’t get enough of Just Visiting Too, I know you’re about to bust a church choir two step for the release of Just Visiting Three!!! Bringing his familiar brand of soul, Zo!’s long awaited release is out TODAY!!! But to sweeten the deal, he will also be making an appearance at the Music Addikts & Harmony In Life‘s 1st Hit Listening Lounge Sunday, August, 7th at 7:30.  This fun affair will be hosted by the lovely Jodine Dorce of Jodine’s Corner and located at the one and only Mood’s Music. Because seating will be limited, you may wanna give your late friends the deuces and get there early!!! Hey, ain’t no need in both of ya’ll being late and standing in the back! :)

GFM Fam you already know the recommendation on this one… a must have for the collection. In these parts The Foreign Exchange harkens back to the days when musical products were released under a certain heading, banner, or (gulp) label, where you just knew that the quality of the output was going to be a certain level.

From the press release

+FE Music proudly presents “Dear Friends: An Evening With The Foreign Exchange”, available now on CD/DVD, MP3 and special iTunes MP3/Video bundle.

Buy “Dear Friends” today at the following outlets:

CD/DVD Digipak: +FE Music Store * Amazon | MP3/Video Bundle: iTunes | MP3: iTunes * +FE Music Store * AmazonMP3