We’ve made it pretty clear that we’re big supporters of all indie artists. It’s one of our primary focuses here at the Quiet Room. These people work very hard to provide great entertainment, and we appreciate that very much.
We also love the holiday season. Frankly, we don’t give the tiniest crap about the controversies concerning which words you use and we’re fine letting other people fight about it. We’ll be over here, enjoying the season. This is a fun time, with awesome looking decorations, corny music, good food, and a focus on kindness and love. Screw the nonsense, we say. Accentuate the positive, we say. Turkeys are evil, we say.
Giving gifts is a big part of the holiday season, and we totally get that many people find the insane levels of consumerism unpleasant. Well, here at QRE, we think the best solution to that is to give gifts that also support independent artists. In the few weeks since our relaunch, we’ve crossed paths with several great local artists, and we think supporting those local artists is a great way to honor the gift-giving traditions while still doing something good for people (namely, independent artists).
With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of the indie artists we’ve done articles about, along with links that allow you to buy their works. This is definitely a two birds, one stone kind of deal. You’re supporting the arts, supporting hard working artists, and your friends and family are getting exposed to some great entertainment.
We’ll start with the artists we have on staff here at the Quiet Room.
The Deadbeat – by Jeremy Massie
Jeremy is QRE’s main comics guy. You can find the first article he wrote for us here. Jeremy is a genuine renaissance man. He’s a writer, an artist, a musician, and he has sarcasm down to an art form. He’s also the author and illustrator of ‘The Deadbeat’, available from Amazon. You can find his current work, ‘All My Ghosts…’ here.
If you know someone who likes comics, The Deadbeat is a great gift. Here’s a snippet of one of the reviews on Amazon: “The Deadbeat is one of the best books I have read in a long time. It is a refreshing take on a ‘Superhero’ story without actually being a ‘superhero’ story.”
Day Soldiers – by Brandon Hale
Brandon is one of the co-founders of the Quiet Room, but his first love is writing. He’s currently got three full-length novels available on Amazon (with the fourth coming soon), and a fun collection of short stories.
If you know someone who likes high adventure or classic horror, they would undoubtedly love Day Soldiers. Day Soldiers is what you’d get if you mixed Star Wars with the Lost Boys. The first two books of the Day Soldiers Trilogy are already out, and the third book is coming very soon. You can get Day Soldiers for the kindle or in paperback at Amazon. You can also find copies at most online book retailers, such as Barnes and Noble or iTunes.
Here’s a snippet of one of the Amazon reviews for Day Soldiers: “With all the ‘cookie cutter’ vampire and werewolf series out there, Day Soldiers is a breath of fresh air in a jaded genre. Right from the beginning, you are drawn into author Hale’s world, and what a world he has created for the reader! I found the characters to be well developed, and the storyline keeps you engaged. I enjoyed this book immensely, and look forward to more from this author.”
Now, we move on to some great local musicians we’ve covered…
Folk Soul Revival
Here’s how FSR describes itself: “Folk Soul Revival is a harmony drenched, boot stomping, rowdy, rootsy Americana band from the Appalachian mountain region of Virginia/Tennessee.” We think they’re that and more. These guys are extremely talented and their music is just… well… it’s fun. You can get Folk Soul Revival’s latest album Prompting The Dapperness, along with the rest of their catalog, from the iTunes store and anywhere fine music is sold. We highly recommend them.
Here’s part of Brandon Hale’s review of one FSR’s shows: “Their music is country, but it’s more. It has a swagger you just don’t see in modern country. It has the same swagger Elvis had in 1956. Their music feels like a celebration. When these guys play, you feel like you’re doing something wrong if you’re not dancing.”
If Birds Could Fly
Garv’s recent review of this band says it best: “If you’re into the recent Americana craze – and let’s be honest here, people are into it because it’s good stuff – then we highly recommend you check out If Birds Could Fly. Buy their music, watch their videos, see them live – you’ll definitely enjoy it.” You can pick up their album “Ghosts” at the iTunes store. When you give this to someone as a gift, you’re not just giving them some great music… you’re giving them the thrill of discovering something new.
We Killed Vegas
Again, Garv’s review says it best: “With Davie Smith on vocals and guitar, Aaron Lee on bass, and Dwayne Hall on drums, WKV definitely show their bluesy rock and roll roots, and they definitely have fun doing it… If you like your rock and roll stripped down, bluesy and raw, We Killed Vegas is a band you’ll definitely want to check out.” And once again, you can find their music on the iTunes store.
So there you have it, folks…
Five great gifts that also happen to support the arts. (We won’t bring up the fact that all of these are less than $10!) The recipients will love the gifts and you’ll feel like you’re contributing to something important.
That’s a win/win if we’ve ever seen one.
–The Quiet Room Staff
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