Sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic somewhere in Michigan amid a 60-date nationwide tour, Benjamin Miller (better known as Wrekonize) is feeling philosophical. The rapper is one-sixth of Miami’s underground hip-hop group ¡Mayday!, and his band is days away from the September 18 release date of its new album, Future Vintage. “It’s…

While our local public radio station WLRN (91.3 FM) is now mostly talk, it still provides listeners one daily dose of music. Every weeknight, from 9:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., Tracy Fields helps Miami unwind from the long day with Evenin’ Jazz. The show started 13 years ago but Fields took…

It isn’t just hall of fame football players like Michael Irvin and Jim Kelly or action movie stars like The Rock and Sylvester Stallone that have walked across The University of Miami’s campus. There are also a boatload of renowned and acclaimed musicians who attended class in Coral Gables. And…

“You know how a lot of people are always walking around taking pictures? I’ve always been that way with sound,” Emile Milgrim says. In her new project, Archival Feedback, the Miami native is collecting everyday sounds she captures around Miami and mixing it into a surreal electronic groove. “The way…

Before he knew a word of English, Arnie C found himself drawn to American and British rock and roll. Though he couldn’t understand what the singers were screaming about, the message came through to him clear as day. “When I was six-years-old Pink Floyd was my favorite.” he told us. “I…

“We’re bad at math. We really started in May 2013,” Chuck Livid, founder of TuffGnarl.com, says. You could say his music blog — which New Times declared 2015’s best — is running on Miami time. “Last year’s was in late summer too,” Livid says while trying to remember the foggy…

Quick — think of a drummer. No, that Muppet doesn’t count. It’s hard, ain’t it? Certainly not as easy as naming a guitarist or a lead singer. “Drummers don’t get a chance to stand out. I thought it would be cool to give drummers I respect 15 minutes to come…

Classical musicians have been trying for years to figure out how to hook younger generations. They might want to give Jackie Rodriguez a call. The clarinetist and cofounder of 8 Bit Wave had a full house of Miami Dade College students during one of the school’s orchestra shows. She even…

At 8:30 p.m. the parking lot for the Frost Museum of Science seemed exceptionally full. Walking towards the lobby a security guard warned passersby, “All the shows are sold out.” A sign scotch taped on the entrance reiterated the same message. It was Saturday night, the final night of the…

Richard Mason and Laz have come a long way together since the ninth grade Hialeah High School science class where they first met. “I was in a talent show and Richard saw me perform,” Laz remembers. “He convinced me to join the chorus and we’ve been singing together ever since.”…

If you drove around Miami in the 1990s, you probably remember the name DJ Ballistic Billy. At 7 and 9 on the dot every night on Power 96, he would play his mixes, mashing up rock with hip-hop and house. Though he found himself broadcasting on a major radio station…

Though the quirky name hasn’t changed, local soul outfit Ketchy Shuby’s appearance Thursday at Bardot will be the debut of an almost entirely new lineup. “Me and the bass player [Matt Pyatt] are the only original members,” Ketchy Shuby’s outspoken singer/guitarist Jason Hernandez-Rodriguez says. The band has added a new…

When he was seven-years-old, Michael Barksdale’s father gifted him a guitar. Ever since, he’s been tinkering with sounds. Now known as Culture Prophet, the electronic producer who grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia, decided when he made the move to South Beach last September that he wanted to change…

After having to reschedule an interview with local jazz singer Nicole Henry I texted her, “Thanks for being understanding.” She texted back, “I’m a singer that’s my job.” When we were able to talk she elaborated, explaining how empathy is a key component to what she does. “I tell stories…

Bands get together. Bands break up. From national arena acts to tiny garage bands, no musician is immune. Even when things are going well, you never know when a cymbal might fly across the recording studio, striking a lead singer in the forehead and forever ending your favorite group’s career…