Lee MacDougall in-tune with Music City

Photography by Jennifer Holcomb

by: Kiva Johns-Adkins for www.butterfliesradio.com
(originally posted on Carol's Butterflies Blog March 18, 2011)
NASHVILLE (March 9, 2011)– Despite the fact that Lee MacDougall and company had driven from North Carolina to Nashville in “non-stop rain”, their excitement over MacDougall’s first United States tour was evident.
“The rain is not dampening our spirits,” MacDougall said as he relaxed on a bar stool in the corner of his dressing room at 3rd and Lindsley – a bar and grill that has hosted the likes of Train, Jason Mraz and KT Tunstall, along with fellow Brit Sam Bradley. “I just want to soak up all the music and get to experience all the local cultures.”
Although only in Nashville for 24 hours, the trio made the most of their time in the Music City. “We went to Tootsies,” MacDougall said. “That place is crazy. It was great.” He added that every bar they visited had a really good band.

British rocker Lee MacDougall finds fans in the Twilight fandom

by: Kiva Johns-Adkins
(originally posted on Dreaming of Edward's blog in November, 2010)

For me, Twilight and Robert Pattinson have introduced me to a whole world of music I might not have ever listened to. I now find myself searching for the Indie musicians and the up and comers. I developed a friendship with Australian musician Lee Safar, who was considered for the New Moon soundtrack. Now her career is sky-rocketing. I went to my first concert since high school, when I went to see Kings of Leon last year. Since then I have gone to see Bobby Long and this weekend, Sam Bradley. And in the midst of all of this discovery another musician with ties to Robert Pattinson hit my radar – British musician Lee MacDougall.
Lee took the time to speak to me over the phone from his parent’s palce in Grimsby, England where he was visiting for the weekend. What a sweetie for giving us that kind of time.

In Orbit with Opposite the Satellite

by: Kiva Johns-Adkins for http://www.butterfliesradio.com/
(originally posted on Carol's Butterflies Blog on March 1, 2011)

LEXINGTON, KY - Opposite the Satellite, an indie band out of Virginia, has a style that mixes the sounds of southern rockers Lynard Skynard and the nu metal sound of the band KORN. Music doesn’t drive who OTS are. Who they are drives the music.
Brothers Andrew and Joe Bloomquest are joined by Todd Burton and James Rock in the striking quartet.
“We eat, sleep, drink and breathe Opposite the Satellite,” Andrew said. “It is an entity unto itself. It is an abstract being that speaks to us and through us.”
The band, which is currently in the middle of recording their first LP, “The Science of Falling,” (available November 2011) got its early beginnings when brothers Andrew and Joe Bloomquest got early encouragement from their father, who bought Joe his first guitar in fourth grade.

The Firm Indonesia talks to Butterflies Radio

by: Kiva Johns-Adkins for www.butterfliesradio.com

(originally posted on Carol's Butterflies Blog on February 13, 2011)
“I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music.”
Billy Joel
LEXINGTON, Kentucky -  It’s midnight on a Friday night in Kentucky, USA, and it is cold outside; one of the harshest winters in years. At that same moment, it’s also noon on Saturday in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the guys who make up TheFirmIndonesia have gathered together on a lovely summer day to enjoy coffee and comradery while they talk with me about their music. Thanks to MySpace and the Internet, 10,127 miles and a 12- hour time distance don’t matter. Summer and winter, English and Indonesian don’t matter because, at this moment, music has allowed us to co-exist.

Aussie musician Lee Safar spreads her wings

Karem Nunez Photography

by: Kiva Johns-Adkins(original interview posted on Dreaming of Edward's blog, December, 2010)It’s not fair to call Lee Safar a musician. She is so much more than that. Lee is a musician, philosopher, entrepreneur, friend and very soon she will become an author.
“I read it yesterday,” Safar said. “I’d written the book I’d always wanted to buy but could never find out there.”
I met Lee on Twitter about a year ago after I saw many of my Aussie friends raving about her music and accessibility to her fans. Since then, I have tried to share Lee with the world because she is gift everyone should get to open. Her life has changed dramatically since that time last year, when she still lived in her native Sydney, Australia and worked hard to self-promote her music and vision. As Lee says, she is now “A citizen of the world. I will go where the music takes me.”
“The most important change for me, in the twelve months is the fact that I feel less of a sense of urgency and I am calmer in my approach to things,” Safar said. “I say ‘no’ more often now and things are more on my terms. I am determined to set the pace of my life.”

Lee Safar takes flight

by: Kiva Johns-Adkins (originally posted on the former blog Team Twi Perv in February, 2010)
Australian musician (and fellow Twi-girl) Lee Safar is about as independent as they come. She writes, merchandises and markets her own brand of music and her inspirational brand known as ‘Dream Angel’.
“My songs are about who I am,” Safar said. “I write them as they are happening. The tough part is saying what is going on with you.”
A former Barista in her native OZ, Safar has an obsession with coffee. “The only decent coffee in Los Angeles is Intelligencia,” Safar said from her temporary home on the West Coast.
Safar is in the U.S. for the next few months, focusing on her music full time. Last week she opened for the band MuteMath before the New Orleans Vampire Baseball game to benefit Haiti.
Her three best friends made the trip to the states with Safar in the beginning of March but returned to Australia after the New Orleans gig. She said she will miss them terribly but is completely focused on her music.