8 CT musicians to watch in 2023
“Over the past few years, ’00s Hot Topic bands defined by earnest melodrama have caught a second wind and influenced a new crop of stars. For every reappraisal, though, there’s a dozen acts from that era whose musical maximalism and kitschy aesthetics still feel cold to the touch—at least, to most everyone but Cheem,” the Pitchfork review for the band’s album reads.
However, Cheem is much more than the “6.9” rating that Pitchfork gave it.
Cheem has been cutting its teeth in the local scene for the past decade, earning a number of fans who clamor for the nostalgia of the band’s post-pop punk vibes. The band has just played shows in New Haven at the State House and Cafe Nine, and promises “a lot to share with you this year.”
To borrow the band’s own hashtag, 2023 is truly the #yearofthecheem.
Kaeli Roselle
Singer/songwriter Kaeli Roselle of Bridgeport used her love for church and gospel to become the R&B and soul musician she is today.
She has opened up for artists like rapper Future, Remy Ma, Jeremih, Miguel, Cardi B and recently Mario at Foxwoods Resort Casino. She also sang the National Anthem for the Westchester Knicks game at the Webster Bank Arena in January 2022.
Roselle graduated from Platt Technical High School and received her cosmetology license, which allowed her to open a hair salon and do hair for people on Black Ink Crew in New York. She used that income to fund her music career.
She has created her own record label, “Rose Gang Entertainment” and is planning to go on tour this year making stops in Connecticut, New York, Georgia and California.
Brittany Caine also known as Novabigsteppa will be opening for her. “I am so excited to meet my fans and sing the songs they love and see their reaction to the new ones,” she said.
Roselle has been working closely with engineer and producer, Eli and HD, and her “Rose Gang” team to release new singles this year. She said her new singles represent love, strength and power. She hopes her music can continue making an impact on her fans.
“My new music represents letting go. It will help all genders to feel empowered in the decisions they make moving forward in whatever situation they may be in,” she said. “Music is a universal language.”
Lake Kyle
Kyle Lary, known by the stage name of Lake Kyle, took his freestyling skills he developed in high school and turned them into a career in rap.
Lary left Southern Connecticut State University during his junior year in 2016 to pursue music. He bought the equipment he needed to create music from home and started recording and meeting with producers; he released his first official song, “Cutting Up,” on SoundCloud in 2016.
“I got to perform at Southern before I left, which gave me the boost to want to pursue music because I saw the crowds interaction,” he said. “I remember posting my first song on SoundCloud and it got 30,000 listeners.”
Lary said he is a rapper but a song writer first. He has been traveling around the country, meeting with producers and others in the industry to feel inspired and spark new ideas for his music. Even though Lary records music at home, he will “cook it up” wherever, whenever he has something on his mind, he said.
“I love being able to create different types of music. I do not like to limit myself,” he said. “Meeting people in the industry is also important to me. I will get out of the plane and go straight to the studio and stay focused on the prize, which is learning and creating.”
He is currently working on an EP, “The Journey.” The EP will also feature a short film, showing his journey, the ups and downs and what he has gone through to be where he is today.
“My music represents me. I am all about, ‘You can do whatever you want to do, you just have to put the work,’ ” he said. “With the short film, I want to be able to tell a story rather than in a short music video. The film will show the every day person and how important their journey is.”
Michael Minelli
After going viral on TikTok for singing his McDonald’s order and recently going on tour, Michael Minelli has released new music but said, “there is more to come.”
Minelli started as a dancer with the E3 Dance Crew, which performed at Showtime at the Apollo Theater in New York in 2009. He realized that his passion was not with dancing but singing. The dance crew broke up and he joined a band in which he found his love for singing. He said he enjoyed the crowd presence, the interactions and the impact music can make.
“I got a sense of what it was like to perform on a stage and how people react to certain things,” he said. “Dance was not my love, just something I was good at.”
One thing Minelli focuses on is making sure his music sounds like it would in person. He said as a pop and R&B artist, he wants to give his fans and listeners a live experience even when they put on their headphones.
“Their reactions when they hear me live is insane. They look surprised but so happy,” he said.
Minelli recently released a new album, “Long Way From Home,” explaining his journey over the last year in a half. He went on two tours last year with major artist, Anees, making stops on the East coast in July and across the U.S. from September to October. Minelli also recently signed with a booking agency and is planning on going on tour, one of those stops being in Connecticut.
“I really put myself out there in 2022. I made videos of me singing which showed my personality, singing in public in front of people and being me,” he said. “My job is to make sure people know I am and still live in Connecticut. I will represent this state everywhere I go.”
Nick Vig
Nicholas Vig, 30, found a way to cope after finding out his mother had cancer in 2013 — and that was through making music. When he was 18, he created his first album, “Promises,” in which he said he let out all of his emotions while taking care of his mother.
“I wrote music before her diagnosis,” he said. “Being her caregiver and being home gave me the opportunity to put everything I was feeling into music and that’s when I realized, not only was I good, but it was what I wanted to do full-time.”
When starting his hip-hop and rap career, Vig was inspired by rapper J. Cole who is known for his storytelling. Vig said he wants people to connect with his music and hopes it touches people the way J. Cole has done for him.
“I was infatuated with him, his story and his album, ‘The Warm Up,’ ” Vig said. “I learned his flow pattern and his lyrics because I really wanted to impact others the way he impacted me through a hard time.
Vig is an independent artist who writes, mixes, masters and distributes his music himself. This year he is focusing on releasing new singles throughout the year and recently released three songs. Vig also collaborated with rapper Sammy Adams back in 2021, which he said was a pretty big deal for him.
“The only thing I do not do is create the beat. What I do is what four people in the studio would,” he said. “It is a long journey but it has made me self efficient.”
Even though Vig has not gone on tour, that is the goal. Vig said he is trying to push his music out on TikTok and hopes to keep growing his fan base.
“That has been my dream. I want to meet and interact with my fans,” he said.
Residual Groove
Unofficially, Norwalk has cemented itself as an epicenter for jam bands in Connecticut. Where the city lacks in venues, it certainly makes up in the wealth of talent it has produced lately in the community.
Though the first name mentioned in that Norwalk conversation will most likely be Goose, whose stock has risen to astronomical levels in recent years, many in the scene will also be quick to mention Residual Groove. The quintet, which is comprised of Previn Edwards (guitar/vocals), Kiran Edwards (keys/vocals), Miles Livolsi (bass), Henry Thomas (drums) and Garrett Halstead (percussion), has amassed a following due to its weekly concerts at Dunvilles in Westport.
The group reaches into the proverbial bag of covers during its shows, which range from Phish to the Bee Gees, but the band truly hits its stride with original songs like “Cabana Beach” and “Goodbye Face.” Recently, the band opened up for shows with the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio and Karina Rykman.
The band continues to perform its weekly residency at Dunvilles in Westport but be warned, catch them soon before they’re headlining larger venues just like their avian-themed, Norwalk counterpart.
Robot Monster
During the pandemic, many musicians turned to social media in the hopes of delivering the energy and passion of their music to fans at a time when they couldn’t be in the same room.
Enter Robot Monster, a metal duo (guitarist Will Brennan and drummer Logan Sidle) out of New Haven that has racked up hundreds of thousands of followers between Instagram and TikTok. The band, whose TikTok account blew up over the pandemic, has 4.6 million likes on its videos and more than 271,000 followers.
Robot Monster’s original material, which sounds like the child of Black Sabbath, Ghost and Alice in Chains, earned the band recognition from producer Jacquire King (Tom Waits, Kings of Leon), who produced the duo’s first album in 2022.
The band’s upcoming touring schedule is pending, but the Robot Monster teased some new tour dates for 2023 in a recent Facebook post.
Wreckage
Hardcore band Wreckage started the year off with a bang by releasing its “Our Time” EP on Jan. 1.
It marked the first EP for the band in almost three years. It also provides a proper introduction for listeners looking to break into the band’s discography and the blossoming Connecticut hardcore scene as a whole.
“Everyone in Wreckage has been around to experience some lows around Connecticut, and a lot of the songs on this record are just about appreciating the highs and not taking that for granted. Keeping the scene together takes work, and if you’re not going to contribute in some way, whether it’s starting bands, booking shows, or just dancing and singing at shows or whatever,” the band told the No Echo music blog earlier this month.
Wreckage is signed with Scheme Records, which specialize in producing hardcore music in the state. The band will also be performing shows throughout Connecticut this year, including a much-anticipated, sold-out show at Hamden’s Space Ballroom opening for Gorilla Biscuits in April.