Music
25+ Artists “Band Together” For Benefit Christmas Album Release
The Skyliners, Donnie Iris, Joe Grushecky and more are included on “A Very Yinzer Christmas” out November 18th. The album benefits Band Together Pittsburgh for Autism Awareness and music programs.
The first-ever, “A Very Yinzer Christmas,” featuring tracks by more than 25 Pittsburgh music icons will be released worldwide on November 18th, 2022 on Pittsburgh-based MTS Records. The album includes legendary Pittsburgh artists who have reached national prominence, as well as the best musicians that the ‘Burgh has to offer. The collection will benefit kids and adults from Band Together Pittsburgh – all who live on the autism spectrum. Several Band Together members are also featured on the album.
Artists include The Skyliners, Donnie Iris, Joe Grushecky, Pete Hewlett, Scott Blasey of The Clarks, Jeff Jimerson (Penguins’ National Anthem Singer), Joe Wodarek (The Stickers), Miss Freddye, Nied’s Hotel Band, and many more! A complete artist listing is available at https://yinzerchristmas.com/download/.
“The talent in the Pittsburgh area is incredible and spans generations. I want to celebrate all the talent we have in the city while doing something meaningful for some great people from Band Together Pittsburgh,” said organizer and Executive Producer, Joe Wodarek.
“A Very Yinzer Christmas” benefit concert event will also take place at the Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall, 510 E. 10th Ave., Munhall, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 6:30 p.m. Download cards for the new album and tickets to the live show are available for purchase beginning via www.yinzerchristmas.com.
Band Together Pittsburgh is a non-profit 501(c3) with a mission is to enrich the lives of individuals on the autism spectrum, through participation, education and mentorship, using the power of music. Learn more about Band Together Pittsburgh and its autism-friendly music programs at www.bandtogetherpgh.org.
Album Review
Cognitive Constellation Corps blurs humanity and technology on “Thank You for Your Feedback (I)” album
In a world of notifications and automated responses, algorithms, and feedback requests, Cognitive Constellation Corps finds something unexpectedly human inside the machinery. “Thank You for Your Feedback (I)” is an alt-pop exploration of connection, isolation, communication, and the increasingly complicated relationship between people and technology, transforming familiar procedural language into something else.
Created by Brooke Tamsin Clevenger, a Belfast-based artist, the project’s principal composer, lyricist, producer, and conceptual director, the album is deliberately constructed around what happens to human emotion when our lives are increasingly structured by systems that process information rather than necessarily understand feelings. The album opens with “Opening Loop (i),” which introduces that world through the idea of repetition, linking software loops to the habits we humans learn in modern life.
Followed by “Signal Received (i),” the track becomes more fragile, a mix of bubbling electronic movement and the promise of waiting for a response. It picks up the strange emotional weight that can be behind something as simple as a digital signal. “Thank You For Your Feedback (i)” examines the pressure to be constantly evaluated, and “Echo Chamber (i)” reflects on how digital interaction creates intimacy and amplifies alienation. “The Curve of Clarity (i)” is a road toward understanding where data and human realization begin to converge.
On the production side, the project explores electronic textures without allowing its technological concept to overwhelm its emotional core. “Threadbare, Threadshare (i)” turns the fatigue of constant communication into an interesting concept. “The Response Loop (You’re Still Talking)” injects a sense of urgency with a faster, more club-friendly beat that mixes early-80s electronic music with state-of-the-art sounds.
“Harmonic Distortion (i)” continues the album’s obsession with emotion that has been filtered, and “Always (i) [Sevahem]” is an appropriate closer, reflecting on organic feeling and ancient human knowledge through the prism of digital sound. “Thank you for Your Feedback” is a tech-driven concept that is always aware of the person behind the screen. Cognitive Constellation Corps is cerebral and electronic and conceptually ambitious while remaining emotionally accessible.
Artist Spotlight
Shawn Brown raises the volume on love, loss, and survival in “What a Way to Go”
Shawn Brown’s new single, “What a Way to Go,” is a guitar-heavy rock-pop anthem that makes doomed young love, instability, and survival something ferociously cathartic. The single, produced by celebrated musician and producer Grecco Buratto, fully embraces the scope of its story. Brown doesn’t turn heartbreak into a quiet, inward experience, but he energizes it, giving it drive and urgency.
“What a Way to Go” is a relationship against impossible odds, and the emotional tension is the clash between a world that feels like it’s falling apart and the stubbornness of two people who won’t let go of each other. That tension is what makes the song dramatic, but it also allows Brown to aim for a bigger, more explosive sound.
Recorded at The Trench in Portland with engineer Gregg Williams and the full Shawn Brown Band and trusted creative team, including Ben Landsverk, Jeff Langston, Ned Failing, Tiago Becker, and Juan Garcia Petri. Their combined presence adds to the muscular, expansive character of the single that one would expect from an anthem of this magnitude.
Brown handles the emotional commitment with confidence, true to its survivalist spirit, and pairs the guitars with a performance that feels immediate rather than remote. “What a Way to Go” is one of Shawn Brown’s most electrifying releases, blending raw rock power with the emotional openness of a love story that won’t go quietly. It’s raw, loud, passionate, and unapologetically alive.
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