Ali Youssefi has been surrounded by music his entire life. Growing up in Chile and traveling around South America and the Caribbean, he has been exposed to many different musical expressions, many of which find a place in his own music. Ali studied classical guitar in Chile before moving to Argentina to pursue a degree in music therapy. His musical curiosity and love for diversity combine to make him a versatile and original composer and performer, blending genres, instruments and cultures into a unique sound.

Gustaff Besungu is a multi-talented performer who hails from a lineage of drum players. Born and raised in Cameroon-West Africa, he brings to life a unique blend of traditional rhythms with music from around the world. He has performed with many groups in Africa, Israel and the United States. In his travels, he shares aspects of his culture through drum playing, story telling, music and dance.

Pam Hill has been a professional violinist since 1978, performing in twelve symphony orchestras, several commercials, a National Geographic Special and at Carnegie Hall as an orchestra member with a five hundred person chorus. She has taught strings and music in seven music schools and eleven public schools since 1984. Pam loves teaching violin, viola and cello students of all ages and playing levels.

Together they form a unique and diverse trio that has just released an album of Inspirational music that warms hearts, uplifts spirits, and inspire souls.
Pro Soul is assisting them set up a small tour in the summer, and launch a new website with integrated social networking tools that will allow them to connect with their new fans they will meet on that tour, as well as their existing ones.
Welcome to the Pro Soul family!

Hear their unique sound here

“My name’s Jamie one half of Biljanaires. The other half belongs to Eddie Biljan. People pass through, but the two of us are the core. A band, song writing collective, and friends, we are all of these. This started one day on my way to work, making music was the farthest thing from my mind. As I went to cross the street a car I recognized drove past and Eddie pulled over and got out. It was like dropping the needle back on the record. I say that because I hadn’t seen him in a long time and we have a history tied up in a band that was called Crush Groove. A fitting name for what it was and will remain. Good times.

So groove to the music. It was written for you, wherever you are.”

The Biljanaires (pronounced billionaires) is an extension of vocalist Jamie’s account of their inception. The songs are about where they live, in a city beside the Pacific Ocean. Some are about the people that have passed through their lives and how they get remembered. Stories told with words and rhythm. Good clean rock.

This is the band Biljanaires.
Welcome to the family guys.
You deserve to be heard!

Until the site is ready: www.myspace.com/biljanaires

We now have our two winners in the recent Pro Soul Alliance next great Indie artist contest!

There was some great talent that entered so it was a tough decision to make…

Congratulations goes to Antoine C. Smith indie composer/artist and aspiring producer, that “loves to write everyday” – This gifted, now 17-year-old first rate drummer and pianist composes and plays contemporary jazz and other genres. Antoine is actively pursuing his music career receiving rave reviews as a very popular young artist on the air in rotation of many wonderful hosts on Blog Talk Radio, Black Talk Radio (e.g. Black Teen Enpowerment Radio). Along with composing his music in the tradition of the original jazz masters, his future plans include to enter an excellent music college, and continue his studies in composition and performance. His winning track “Emotional Explosion” blew the team at Pro Soul away – there is no doubt this talented young man is an up and coming music sensation for his generation. Already compared to Jazz greats like Coltrane, Miles, Blake, and Byrd, Antoine Smith is just getting started!

The Return of the Magnificent HPhenomenon also known as Hassahn Phenomenon, shares Pro Soul’s belief that music speaks to the Soul. An accomplished MC that understands that MC means, “Move The Crowd”, HP says “Whether I move the people to dance, sing, cry, think, make a change, stand up, or just listen, I truly understand that my music is only a catalyst for me to aid in changing the world for the better.” Rapping positive messages in tracks like “That Aint Me”, and a smooth R&B roll like “Down and Up” raised the bar, and HP clinched the winning spot. Writing his music with integrity in the lyrical rhyme, True Magazine stated, “HP breathes new life and energy into a somewhat asthmatic industry.” We’re proud to be a part of Hassahn’s journey – “if you are searching for someone that is ready to make a significant mark on the world, then I am definitely the Soulful entertainer you want.” Yes you are Hassahn!

This was an amazing contest. We received some very talented submissions. Special thanks to the Runners Up: Doc 00 Johnson and Jeanette Berry. Watch for Angela Predhomme, Marc Doiron, Michael Trapp, Claire Cameon and Katrina Colantoinio. You are all no doubt going places with your music, let us know if we can assist you make that happen.

Best of luck to everyone and once again thanks for entering our contest – from all of us at Pro Soul!

Tim Sweeney, one of the music industry’s most sought after experts and consultants, offers this advice….

A few weeks ago a new artist called me and asked how he can get more people to a new venue he wanted to play. The booker told him as the opener he had to bring 25 people. Not an overwhelming number by any stretch. The only problem was he was averaging 5-10 people per show.

I asked him what he had done to promote his previous shows. He sent me copies of his emails or should I say, “show announcements.” He discovered about 2 percent of his mailing list responded to his emails and he wasn’t sure if anyone was ever coming to a show. With that in mind, I told him let’s start with a basic idea, go through your mailing list and make a list of fans you feel you can count on to really support you. He came back with a list of 57 people who lived in the area of the new venue. I told him to start calling each one. For the people he didn’t have phone numbers for, simply email them a note asking them to call him, nothing else.

We talked in great length about what his conversations should be about and also we wrote a new email to go out to the rest of the list. While he first complained about the amount of time it would take to call everyone, I reminded him of the joy of playing to an empty venue.

To make a long story short, 39 people came because of the phone calls and another 16 came from the new email. Then as life goes, he learned some other important lessons that night at the show.

As the “opener” he brought 55. The person who played after him brought 10 and the “headliner” brought 4. Not only did the booker get mad at the other artists, he gave their money to my guy and told him he would pay him double if he played there next month as the headliner! The other artists asked him how he got so many people to come. They said they had sent out emails like they always did and didn’t know why people didn’t come.

The comical ending to the story is that the artist sold 21 CDs to the people including fans of the other artists and even one to the writer from the newspaper who always ignored him. The writer told him he was there to review the headliner but came early because he really liked my guy’s email about the show. Good thing he called all those people and connected with them more personally then an email!

The moral of the story? Most likely you got someone’s email address from talking to them in person. You had a connection with them for them to give it to you. Pick up the phone whenever possible and continue the relationship. You call the bookers to get a show, the press for a story, industry people to see if they reviewed your music, call your fans!

- Tim Sweeney (www.TimSweeney.com)

Founder of Pro Soul Alliance, Jarome Matthew,  just posted this on his own blog, a must read for any performer and artist.

An important part of my role as a music producer is to get the best possible performance from artists in the studio both technically and emotionally.

I find I often fall short in this area though because unless they are professionals who have done large live performances for many years, most vocalists are often unable to deliver to their full potential. This doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t give great performances, it just means they could have done even better.

This is usually because the vocalist is not in optimal physical shape. Your health and physical fitness level has a huge impact on your vocal performances in the studio, and of course live. Sure, how comfortable you are with letting go and giving your all emotionally in the studio is also very important.  But to get a great performance, you really need to have a lot of power to deliver strong, clean vocal phrases. Without this power and energy, your performances will sound weak and shaky, quivering, particularly on the ends of longer words or sustained melodies and this drastically reduces the quality and impact of the performance.

Studio tools and tricks can rarely correct these problems effectively, so that’s why it’s so important for singers to keep in top physical shape if they want to give the best performance they’re capable of live and in the studio. Eat healthy food that gives you lots of energy, and adopt a regular cardio exercise routine at least 4 times a week.

Another recommendation, in addition to warming up properly before a performance and singing regularly in a choir, is opera training, or a great vocal coach such as Brennan Barrett, to help you get as much power as you can without exerting yourself more than you have to, and to assisting with effective breathing techniques that will give you better phrasing and power in the right places.

A producer can only do so much, and in my case, I can work a lot of miracles to make you sound great no matter what, but ultimately, I can only use the best you give me! Make sure that really is your best, as you never know who will hear your finished performance, or how far it will spread.

“Moldover’s new CD, over 3 years in the making, not only delivers gorgeously diverse music with meaning and musical mastery, it completely redefines what it means to “play an album”… Moldover’s CD packaging itself IS a new musical instrument! The CD is mounted on a custom designed circuit board, intricately patterned and powering a “light-Theremin”. Yes! You play the artwork and it makes sound! Only the musical supervillain genius of Moldover could develop something so stunningly innovative.”

Moldover got a little grumble over at Hypebot though – When Marketing Overshadows the Music – the author states: “This YouTube video shows just how innovative and fun the packaging is, but fails to do almost anything to showcase the music that Moldover says took three years to record.” Hypebot readers’ comments didn’t quite agree with the author’s opinion: “Look, it’s totally awesome what he did and if you think it “doesn’t focus on the music” enough… I would ask you, has the conventional major label delivery system been focused on “the music” at any point in the last 25 years?” Another reader thought the album’s circuit board and video an “awesome tech artifact, a good viral video” – and two readers exchanged digs between themselves (virtually, of course).

Whether the “Marketing Overshadows the Music” or not – one reader summed it up “they pulled a viral stunt that will get people talking about them.” Indeed they did! These days, artists have to get people’s attention amidst countless other distractions however they can. When marketing is fun, it’s a win win situation – and fun is what Moldover appears to have had marketing his music.