News Update: Since the last time Kings featured The Strange Familiar the band has signed to Krian Music Group based in NYC, released a full length album “Chasing Shadows” and have had songs placed in The Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars. The band was featured in Billboard Mag’s Chart Beat last week and will perform CMJ in NYC as well as Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles this Tuesday Sep 18th at 7pm.

Contact: jeff@thestrangefamiliar.com

Buzz Track: Uh Oh

Kings favorite Super Water Sympathy just self released the new pop/rock single “Uh Oh” from their upcoming album. The album was recorded in London with Cam Blackwood (Florence + The Machine, Coldplay, Morrissey). The band will hit the road this fall and you can view the following dates here.

Contact: superwatersympathy@gmail.com

Buzz Track: Oh You’re The One

Sonnet Simmons has become a Kings favorite after listening too Oh You’re The One. The track was recorded with Producer Doug Grean (Stone Temple Pilots, Sheryl Crow, Scott Weiland).  Sonnet began making a mark when her track “You’re So Good for Me,” was utilized in first a regional, then national, ad campaign for Coca-Cola, hitting the Top 100 downloads list for Amazon, appearing on iTunes, and garnering over 40K downloads in its first month. She subsequently performed with artists from Justin Timberlake’s label (Tennman Records/Interscope) and hit the road for Europe, Iraq and Kuwait. She will perform at The Viper Room on Oct. 9th with Daniel Powter. For fans of Adele and Amy Winehouse.

Contact: thomhazaert@gmail.com

The MTV VMA’s just saw it’s ratings plunge and The X Factor has joined the party. “The singing show on Fox premiered its second season on Wednesday to shockingly low numbers compared with last year — which was itself considered a ratings disappointment. The two-hour extravaganza averaged 8.5-million total viewers, swooning 32% compared with last fall’s series premiere.” (LA Times)

Bob Dylan has  responded to charges he plagiarized some of his lyrics, calling critics “wussies” and saying musical appropriation is “part of the folk tradition.”

The singer-songwriter made his first public comments on the accusations, saying that in folk and jazz music “quotation is a rich and enriching tradition.”

“Everyone else can do it but not me,” he complained. “There are different rules for me.”

“I’m working within my art form,” the 71 year-old singer told Rolling Stone. “It’s that simple. … It’s called songwriting. It has to do with melody and rhythm, and then after that, anything goes. You make everything yours. We all do it.”

“These are the same people that tried to pin the name Judas on me,” Dylan added, referring to bitter 1960s folk fans who decried his move into electric guitar blues and famously compared the singer to the Biblical apostle who betrayed Jesus.

“Judas – the most hated name in human history!” he exclaimed. “If you think you’ve been called a bad name, try to work your way out from under that. Yeah, and for what? For playing an electric guitar? As if that is in some kind of way equitable to betraying our Lord and delivering him up to be crucified. All those evil … can rot in hell,” he said. (Reuters)