Queer Artist Kyle Motsinger releases "Bad Years"
In “Bad Years”, singer/songwriter Kyle Motsinger reflects on the long, arduous, road he has travelled in the pursuit of his rock star dreams. “It’s been challenging with daily obstacles like waking up to find my bank account overdrawn and having to call mom and dad for grocery money,” he admits. “Or promoting a show at the venue I always dreamed of playing to only have one friend show up. It can be pretty humiliating and soul-crushing. You start to wonder if anyone cares or if you are even talented.” Produced by Motsinger and engineered, mixed, and mastered by MP Kuo, the alternative rock anthem is a theatrical song that features talents from the New York theatre stage including Broadway pit musicians Janey Choi, Conrad Harris, Mark Kosmala, and Joel Lambdin. Broadway’s Trisha Jeffrey (Rent, Little Shop of Horrors, All Shook Up, and Motown the Musical) and NYC actor Jason Pintar provide the background vocals. NY Drama Desk nominee Mark Hartman plays piano.
“The message of ‘Bad Years’ is a hopeful and encouraging one,” Motsinger continues from his Manhattan home. “It is about how things can and will get better if you hold on. One day, you will look back from a better place.”
Kyle Motsinger was born and raised in a small, conservative town of five hundred people near Peoria, Illinois. “I grew up singing Broadway tunes in the middle of cornfields,” he remembers.
He participated in school productions and community theatre as a youth and in college, he earned a BFA in musical theatre at Western Illinois University. He then moved to NYC where he performed in several Off-Broadway productions including Fancy Nancy The Musical, a show based off the popular children’s books. Motsinger originated the rapping shark role and can be heard on the show’s cast album. “I am the OG baby shark,” he laughs.
While performing, he continued writing his own music and it eventually took the focus of his creativity. Kyle Motsinger has released two full-length albums, Far Away and Any Way I Want It To. He’s also released six singles including “Dark Shadows”, based on the gothic sixties’ series and film by Tim Burton. The music video for the song starred Kathryn Leigh Scott from the series and it premiered to much fan acclaim at the Dark Shadows convention in Los Angeles.
As Kyle Motsinger approached his mid-thirties’, he began to feel that he wasn’t where he wanted to be in life. He channeled that frustration into a batch of new songs that appear on his upcoming album. Like “Bad Years”, much of the material muses on life’s struggles and finding joy in conflict.
“The life I have chosen hasn’t been an easy one but I wouldn’t change it,” Kyle Motsinger explains. He says he has matured through trial, both as a person and an artist, and believes that it shows in his music. “I think ‘Bad Years’ is the best piece I’ve written so far. I’m proud of it and I really believe in it.”
He credits the engineering wizardry of MP Kuo, best known for her work on Trixie Mattel’s first two EPs, with the quality of the recording. Also, the incredible artistry of Zachary Eldridge on drums, Chris Bonner on bass, and Adam Stoler on guitars.
“The song is inspirational and the first of several stories I will be sharing that will hopefully encourage people to battle through and persevere. I, for one, am ever the dreamer!”
Kyle Motsinger’s “Bad Years” will be available on Apple Music, Spotify and all digital platforms on Friday, February 3. Its lyric video is on Youtube.
Visit www.kylemotsinger.com. Follow on Instagram @ kylemotsinger
Ash Gordon Releases New Single “Cosmic Colors” feat. Trixie Mattel
June 3, 2022 – LGBTQIA+ music maven Ash Gordon is making her long-anticipated debut as a solo artist with her new single “Cosmic Colors” featuring world-renowned drag queen Trixie Mattel. A feel good track complete with acid-trippy lyrics, “Cosmic Colors” brings a taste of early 2000’s girl bands and modernizes it for 2022 and is Ash’s self-proclaimed “favorite piece of ear candy ever.”
“Cosmic Colors” is available to stream now at https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/ashgordon/cosmic-colors-feat-trixie-mattel
On the new release, Ash shares: “If Scott Pilgrim vs. The World had a female lead, this would be the song you hear when she beats the bonus level and makes out with her manic pixie dreamboat.”
“My favorite songwriter in the world has teamed up with my favorite drag queen in the world,” adds Trixie.
Alongside the release, Ash Gordon has announced that her debut solo double albums, Ash Gordon and Ash Gordon II, will be available on July 15. Complete with collaborations from Trixie Mattel, Alaska Thunderfuck, BONAVEGA, Earl St. Clair, Bob the Drag Queen, and many others, the albums provide sixteen psychedelic songs that perfectly encompass Ash’s lipstick garage-rock vision.
Ash Gordon Tracklist
1. Alright Alright Alright
2. Good On Ya
3. I Wanna Be A DJ
4. Cosmic Colors (feat. Trixie Mattel)
5. Nice Personality
6. Feel Like This (feat. Marty James)
7. YES
8. Come and Get It (feat. Earl St. Clair)
Ash Gordon II Tracklist
1. Everyone Is A Little Bit Gay (feat. Alaska Thunderfuck)
2. WIN/WIN
3. Viva Electric (feat. Bob The Drag Queen)
4. Chicka Boom Boom
5. Hit Different
6. All I See Is Gold (feat. BONAVEGA)
7. Connection
8. I Want It
Ash Gordon is a guitar slingin' New Yorker residing in LA. As founder of The Blah Blah Blahs, she's been styling songs for music artists, film, and TV over 10 years and will be making her debut as a solo artist with an upcoming lipstick garage-pop double album featuring the likes of Trixie Mattel, Alaska, BONAVEGA, and many more.
