You can make a difference while watching by donating to the Women’s International Music Network on behalf of the performers and supporting the artist community amid the current pandemic. Get to know this week’s She Rocks Spotlight artists: With the release of her album twentytwenty in October of 2020, Sara Niemietz’s music landed on the Billboard Charts and into her fans’ homes with weekly live streams, online benefits, and countless videos. She’s starred on Broadway, at the Grand Ole Opry and the Radio City Music Hall, Chicago and Los Angeles stages, appeared in film and television shows, and she’s the voice you may have heard on a number of soundtracks and albums. Many music fans know her as one of the mainstays of Postmodern Jukebox, but she now performs even more concerts with her musical collaborator, W.G.Snuffy Walden. A Northern Virginia native, Lauren Calveis known for her strong, soulful vocal style and skillful playing. Seeing her perform, one thinks of Patty Griffin’s dynamic voice, Bonnie Raitt’s smoky aura, and Ben Harper’s unique slide style. She released her debut EP, Between the Creek and the Tracks in 2014, for which she earned a Washington Area Music Association nomination for Best Roots Rock Vocalist followed by Light Dark in 2018. She has become a mainstay at prominent local and regional venues and is honored to have opened for artists like Justin Townes Earle, Rhett Miller, Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek, Cruz Contreras of The Black Lillies, Charlie Worsham and Wade Bowen. With her latest EP, Wildfire, Calve enters into a further dimension with her songwriting. “What a righteous time to be alive / right here with one another,” sings Magnolia Boulevard’s Maggie Noelle roughly a minute into the joyous and jaunty “Ride.” The words are ostensibly about a budding relationship between two individuals, but Noelle could just as easily be referencing the singular and special connection that exists between her and her Magnolia Boulevard bandmates—guitarist Gregg Erwin, drummer Todd Copeland, keyboardist Ryan Allen and bassist John Roberts.Central to the Magnolia Boulevard experience is a sound that flows easily and seamlessly from a multitude of stylistic tributaries. There’s plenty of blues, soul and rock ‘n’ roll in the mix, but also elements of funk, jam band, folk, country, bluegrass and psychedelia. The band released their debut EP, New Illusion, in 2020 and performed as the opening act for the 2021 She Rocks Awards. To learn more, visit www.thewimn.com, or tune in at Facebook.com/parademag. Next, do people who are tone-deaf hear music differently?
