Finding New Artists Through Random but Strategic Clicking

There's (not) a science to it.

Do you remember how your favorite artist became your favorite artist? Do you remember the first song you heard from them?

If you love music like me - you do.

But what about the people you just happened to stumble upon? How did you find them?

Chances are you’re familiar with the NPR Tiny Desk series. Despite what we’ve seen from the [insert any derogatory term here] running our country, this specific aspect of their platform fortunately is not leaving. And I’m glad about it. I’ve seen several of my favorite artists on here and also been put on to artists simply by clicking on the thumbnail out of curiosity or because their name sounded cool.

Walk with me.

Lianne LaHavas

Let’s keep it real. I clicked on the thumbnail because I thought Lianne was pretty and I wanted to see what this pretty black lady had to say with her acoustic guitar.

What followed was a voice that felt like a warm blanket on a chilly day. There was a certain purity to her voice that still sounded like she had been through some things. Her sophomore album Blood quickly became one of my favorites as the soulful adult contemporary pop (that’s a thing right?) that ran across it brought joy to my ears. I loved how she had slower tempoed songs too where her songwriting shined just as bright. Her third album, which was self titled, is a go-to fall favorite. She just dropped a song this week too and I look forward to hearing that and seeing her become the soundtrack of the fall for me again.

Another excellent platform for live performances is Audiotree. To the joy of many, this platform actually uploads the audio from their live performances to Spotify, something Tiny Desk should also do. I’ve found several groups through them doing this, with the same technique as Tiny Desk: Cool name? The people look cool? I press play.

The Juju Exchange

You know when you envision how an artist might sound just based on how they look? I figured this group would have some psychedelic elements based on the eclectic shirts, purple hat and circular glasses.

I was right.

And that was a great thing! I loved how these guys blended jazz and soul with psychedelic elements with the latter coming from the instrument drummer Everret Reid literally created himself. So far I’ve only listened to their debut album from 2017 and unsurprisingly I saved practically every song. The melodies are very hypnotizing with the drumming being quite unique and familiar across the whole project.

As music lovers everywhere know, there’s a specific joy that comes from listening to multiple genres. You have something to look forward to monthly (or practically weekly) because someone is always dropping from whatever genre lane you’re into. The same joy comes from seeing a variety of artists on live performance platforms from a variety of lanes. Here are a few of my personal favorites. You’re bound to know a few but I know you’ll see something new too.

I hope you got put on to something here or saw something that made you nod approvingly and/or clap with your fingers.