New Music Mix: Diamond Rings Video, Ellie Goulding at the Royal Wedding and More!

With the royal wedding finally over, I found it especially neat that the talented U.K. singer Ellie Goulding was the only artist requested by Kate and Prince William to perform at their wedding reception. Goulding is still relatively unknown in the U.S. but has been garnering critical praise for her album debut Lights and has just come off a sold out U.S. tour this spring, to which I had the privilege of attending. It was her cover of Elton John’s “Your Song” that Goulding performed at the royal wedding, and the same song with which she ended her Chicago concert.

Ellie Goulding

Watching Goulding perform was such a treat, and even though she admitted to feeling slightly ill, I would have never known, as she put on a top-notch performance, beautifully singing a capella to what became my favorite song of the night “Wish I Stayed.” Ellie has so many great songs, “Lights” and “The Writer” are just a few of my favorites, and I found myself enjoying the show start to finish. If you missed the chance to catch her spring tour, there will be another opportunity soon to see the artist in the U.S., she’s performing at Lollapalooza.

TOUR NEWS

How many of you guys are already familiar with transsexual multi-instrumentalist performance artist Baby Dee? Her life story is super interesting and I highly encourage you to check out this NPR write-up on the talented artist who got her start performing harp on Antyony Hegarty’s debut album Antony & the Johnsons. In promotion for Baby Dee’s latest LP Regifted Light Baby Dee will be embarking on a string of North American tour dates during the month of May, if she’s coming to your city be sure to hit up a show.

Baby Dee - 2011 Tour Dates


05/04/11 The Strutt Kalamazoo MI


05/05/11 Hideout Chicago IL Loto Ball


05/06/11 Andy Warhol Museum Pittsburgh PA


05/07/11 The Music Gallery Toronto ON


05/08/11 Casa Del Popolo Montreal QC


05/10/11 Joe's Pub New York NY


05/11/11 First Unitarian Church - Side Chapel Philadelphia PA


05/13/11 Cliff Bells Detroit MI w/ Raw Truth Ensemble


05/14/11 Nelsonville Music Festival Nelsonville OH

Jessie and The Toy Boys
 

Britney Spears announced that Jessie and The Toy Boys, Nicki Minaj, and Nervo will be joining her on her highly anticipated Femme Fatale tour hitting North America this summer. Tickets go on sale starting April 30th at Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com. Don't miss the touring event of the summer!

Check out the Britney Tour Dates below.

6/16 Power Balance Pavilion – Sacramento, CA
6/18 HP Pavillion – San Jose, CA
6/20 Staples Center – Los Angeles, CA
6/24 Honda Center – Anaheim, CA
6/25 MGM Grand – Las Vegas, NV
6/28 Rose Garden Arena – Portland, OR
6/29 Tacoma Dome – Tacoma, WA
7/1 Rogers Arena – Vancouver, BC
7/4 MTS Centre – Winnepeg, MB
7/6 Xcel Center – St. Paul, MN
7/8 United Center – Chicago, IL
7/12 American Airlines Center – Dallas, TX
7/13 Toyota Center – Houston, TX
7/15 New Orleans Arena – New Orleans, LA
7/17 Phillips Arena – Atlanta, GA
7/20 Amway Center – Orlando, FL
7/22 American Airlines Arena – Miami, FL
7/26 Quicken Loans Arena – Cleveland, OH
7/28 The Palace – Detroit, MI
7/30 Wells Fargo Center – Philadelphia, PA
7/31 Verizon Center – Washington, DC
8/2 Nassau Coliseum – Uniondale, NY
8/5 Izod Center – East Rutherford, NJ
8/8 TD Garden – Boston, MA
8/11 Belle Centre – Montreal, QC
8/13 Air Canada Centre – Toronto, ON

If you’re not already familiar with Jessie and the Toy Boys or the Australian twin-sister producer duo Nervo then get yourself ready for the show by taking a listen to Jessie’s new single “Push It” and Nervo’s “Irresistible” featuring Ollie James.

Hanni El Khatib with Florence and the Machine

Just this past week it was announced that Florence + the Machine will embark on her North American tour with Hanni El Khatib, and if you’re like me I’m sure you’re wondering who this El Khatib character is? Hanni, the son of Palestinian and Filipino immigrants, is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and producer whose sound has best described as classic Americana of the 1950s and 60s mixed with a blend of blues, soul, garage rock and doo-wop with heavy Elvis Presley influences. Check out Hanni’s “Dead Wrong” here to get a feel for this sound.

Florence (left) and Hanni El Khatib