Good morning everyone today on JoJo Recommends I’m featuring the lovely Annie Bonsignore and her single Just You And Me.
Annie is a singer songwriter who I fist discovered on twitch after following a friend on to her stream. She is originally from South Africa but now lives in Canada with her husband Stu and their two children. Annie’s streams are always great fun to be a part of as she has this amazing energy and wonderful smile that helps make everyone feel at ease and welcome. She often does these cute dance moves between songs that always make me smile and helps lighten my mood after a hard day.
She’s sometimes joined on stream by her husband Stu, a concert pianist, and her cute three year old daughter Olivia who makes the audience’s hearts melt with her and Annie’s beautiful duet of Annie’s song Indigo. This is always quickly followed by a rendition of old McDonald has a farm which is super cute!
If you’d like to follow Annie on social media or watch her on twitch you can do so by clicking on the links below.
Annie’s originals cross a few genres from soaring ballads to up beat pop songs. The lyrics are all very beautiful and heartfelt as Annie tends to write about her own personal experiences. I have included the videos for Just You And Me and fan favourite Mr Blue below. My favourite original of Annie’s, a upbeat song called Romeo about how she met her husband Stu, is sadly not available yet but there are three albums worth of other beautiful music from Annie to enjoy as linked below.
Annie was featured on Island Vibing Presents a few weeks ago but due to life being hectic it hasn’t been featured on my blog yet. If you missed it and would like to watch you can do via the link below.
My feature on Island Vibing Presents might be on pause for a little while as sadly one of the duo, the lovely Island Adjacent has broken his collar bone which I hope will heal quickly for him! Though I know his wonderful community is helping him through it with lots of love, well wishes and of course joke presents.
Poe’s just hanging around on a Saturday afternoon…
Dangling from a hook in a meat packing plant isn’t how Detective Sergeant Washington Poe wants to spend his weekend. He’s been punched and kicked and threatened, and when a contract killer arrives it seems things are about to go from bad to worse. He goes by the name of the Pale Man and he and his straight-edged razor have been feared all over London for twenty years.
But Poe knows two things the Pale Man doesn’t. Although it might seem like a hopeless situation, Poe has planned to be here all along. More importantly, a nerdy, computer whizz-kid called Tilly Bradshaw is watching his back. And now things are about to get interesting . . .
The Cutting Season is available in ebook and paperback for the bargain price of £1! You can purchase your copy using the links below.
I’m a huge fan of this series, so you can imagine my excitement when I discovered there was going to be an new story from them in the form of a quick read. I’m also a huge fan of the amazing quick read initiative as I’m happy to support anything that encourages people to read.
It was great to be back with Tilly and Poe following them on another intriguing case. I’ve always enjoyed reading about their unique friendship and all the banter that goes with it. It’s hugely entertaining at times and often had me laughing out loud as I read. It helps lift a dark story line a bit so it’s easier to read.
The storyline was very gripping and I was soon absorbed into the story. I liked the way the story develops quickly but without it seeming rushed or forced. I thought this was very clever and felt that it had all the bits I normally love about a Tilly and Poe story. I loved the description of the gangs involved as I’ve always had a bit of a fascination with gang culture and how it works. The author’s descriptions of the aging gangsters made me chuckle and I thought was a great change from the normal, young gangs we see in books.
Overall, as you can probably tell, I really enjoyed this book which has made me even more excited for the next Tilly and Poe book out later this year. It can be read as a standalone I feel and would work really well for anyone wanting to see if this author’s books are for them.
About The Author:
M. W. Craven was born in Carlisle and grew up in Newcastle. He joined the army at sixteen, and left ten years later to gain a degree in social work. He worked for seventeen years as a probation officer in Cumbria before becoming a full-time author. The Puppet Show, the first book in his Washington Poe series, was published in 2018 and won the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger. The fourth in the series, Dead Ground, was published in June 2021 and became a Sunday Times bestseller.Website: mwcraven.comTwitter: @MWCravenUK
Good morning everyone today on JoJo Recommends I’m featuring These Animals by Marcus Arch.
Marcus Arch is an indie rock trio from Melbourne Australia. Their lead Singer Clara Bell streams on twitch and I always enjoy the relaxing atmosphere and chill music in her streams. If I’m feeling stressed or just want to unwind I always feel better when I visit her stream. Despite her streams being busy, Bell always has smile for everyone. She does a variety of beautiful covers and some fantastic originals music – I highly recommend her streams!
If you would like to follow Marcus Arch or Clara on twitch or social media you can do via the links below.
These Animals is available on many streaming platforms as linked below. Marcus Arch say, “It’s a song about ideas being stuck in your head and then being free to make something out of them. It’s about not holding in the creativity, voices and images inside. The things in your head takes on a life of their own bugging you until you want to create something”.
For me I think it sounds like a great summer song. When I listen to it I picture lazy summer days in the garden, listening to music in the sunshine.
JoJo Recommends is now a feature on the fabulous Island Vibing Presents stream on twitch which, as I might have mentioned before, I’m hugely excited about. I love being able to promote talented twitch streamers this way and the feature is also accompanied by an emote wall where viewers can spam emotes as they hear the song which is always great fun.
If you want to watch the vod from the stream you can do via the link below.
May 1940There are new residents at Goodwill House – WAAF drivers Camilla ‘Millie’ Cunningham and Diane Forsyth, both eager to do their bit for the war effort and excited to be helping the brave boys who fly.And when Millie meets dashing and heroic Spitfire pilot Ted Thorrington, they strike up an instant connection. But with Hitler gaining more ground in Europe, there is danger brewing across the Channel in Dunkirk and Ted is required to fly more and more dangerous sorties, risking his life every time.With their hearts and lives on the line, the courage of the girls in blue will be tested like never before…Don’t miss book two in the wonderful new Goodwill House series by bestselling author Fenella J. Miller!
New Recruits At Goodwill House is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the links below.
I’m a huge fan of the first book in this series, War Girls Of Goodwill House, so I was very excited to be invited onto the blog tour for this, the second book in the series.
I was immediately drawn into the story and back into the world of Goodwill House. It’s been really fascinating to learn more about how big houses, like Goodwill, were recommissioned for the war effort. In this book it has been transformed into an army base so I enjoyed learning more about the WAAF and the important role they played in the war. As an army kids I grew up on army bases and have fond memories of visiting the NAAFI for sweets so the references to it in this book made me smile.
The reader is introduced to some fabulous new characters in this book. Some of them I loved like the lovely Millie who I quickly warmed to especially due to her budding romance with her RAF boyfriend, and others I loved to hate like the opinionated mother in law who made my blood boil with some of her comments. It was great finding out more about them throughout the book and see the relationships between them developing.
Overall I really enjoyed this book which I thought was quite fast paced and action packed. There were some very funny moments which made me giggle and some tension filled moments which had me gripped to the page. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series now!
Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Boldwood for my copy of this book via netgalley.
About The Author:
Fenella J. Miller is the bestselling writer of over eighteen historical sagas. She also has apassion for Regency romantic adventures and has published over fifty to great acclaim. Her father was a Yorkshireman and her mother the daughter of a Rajah.She lives in a small village in Essex with her British Shorthair cat.
Good morning everyone today on JoJo Recommends I’m featuring When You Sleep by Jackson Harden.
Jackson is 25 and from Utah in the United States. He’s been playing guitar and writing music since he was just 8 years old. He recently completed a bachelor degree in music and is hoping to make a living from his music soon. I found out about Jackson for twitch when a twitch friend messaged me as she knew I would love him. He’s only been on twitch a few months but has already got a lot of fans!
If you would like to follow Jackson on twitch or social media you can do by clicking on the links below.
Jackson describes his music as folk music though he does dabble in other genres too. His voice is amazing and has a really raw, emotional quality to it which really adds to his songs I feel. He has a few songs on Spotify but is currently working on releasing an EP which I’m really looking forward to. I have linked the YouTube videos for “When You Sleep” and “Another Lonely Morn” for you below or you can listen to his music on Spotify via the link below.
My name is Jackson Harden. I am 25 years old and I was born and raised in Utah, USA. I’ve been playing guitar and writing songs since I was 8 years old. I’ve also picked up a few other instruments along the way including harmonica, piano, and lap steel guitar. I recently graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in music and now I’m trying to make an honest attempt at doing music for a living.
What first got you into music?
My earliest memories of getting into music were through my childhood friends who would burn me CD’s of stuff like Green Day, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Weezer, and Nirvana. A lot of pop punk and grunge.
Who inspired you to make music?
When I was about 7 years old I was a huge Green Day fan and wanted to be Billie Joe Armstrong which led to me begging my parents to get me a guitar and let me start taking lessons.
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
I guess you could categorize what I typically create as folk music, though I dabble in a variety of different genres, some of which I never even put out or put out under different aliases. I like to explore all kinds of music and experiment with what it would sound like if I made music like that.
What is your creative process like?
Almost all of my songs start out as just a riff or chord progression I come up with on the guitar. Then I’ll start to sing different melodies over it with some random words and gibberish until something starts to materialize. Then I try to establish a lyrical theme based on the imagery and feeling that the music invokes and take it from there.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Justin Vernon.
If you could go open a show for any artist who would it be?
Phoebe Bridgers.
What is the most useless talent you have?
Making a water drop sound with my mouth.
Do you sing in the shower? What songs?
I do. Usually just whatever the last thing I was listening to or whatever is stuck in my head.
Where have you performed? What are your favourite and least favourite venues? Do you have any upcoming shows?
I actually haven’t really done any performing yet. I have pretty bad stage fright and recently started doing Twitch as a means to get over my stage fright. I actually just played my first open mic night which was a pretty big step for me. I’m hoping to get to the point where I’m comfortable enough to play shows soon though and want to hit that pretty hard eventually.
How do you feel the Internet has impacted the music business?
I think it makes it easier to make music on your own and put it out to the point where most people can if they want to. The rise of streaming services has also made it very difficult to make enough money to actually make a living as an artist. I have a love-hate relationship with it.
Which famous musicians do you admire?
My favorite artist of all time is Bob Dylan. I’m also a big fan of anything that Alex Turner, Phoebe Bridgers, or Justin Vernon is a part of.
What is the most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?
I cheated on a math test in high school and got caught. I was a pretty good student in general but math has always been my weakness, but that’s not a good excuse though haha. They called my parents and everything.
If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
All I really want is for streaming services to pay artists what they deserve (a lot more than a third of a penny).
What’s next for you?
I’m going to continue to stream on Twitch and see where that goes. I’m also working on an EP at the moment that I hope to put out this year. I want to start playing shows in the near future as well and see what happens from there.
JoJo Recommends Playlist:
You can now listen to Jackson and all previously featured artists on a special playlist I’ve created on Spotify.
As mentioned previously JoJo Recommends is now featured on the fantastic Island Vibing Presents twitch stream which is on every Thursday night or Friday morning depending on time zones. If you would like to watch live or catch the vod please click on the link below.
Summer 1945. After victory in Europe, best friends Lily, Gladys and Beryl are looking to the future. But even with this happy news, their lives are far from simple…Despite Lily’s joyful summer wedding, she has doubts over what her heart wants now. As she adjusts to her role as young wife, could this signal the end of her position at Marlows?The return of Gladys’s husband Bill raises questions of their family life as he struggles to find work after the Navy, and for Beryl big changes at her bridal shop are afoot.As the girls start to move on with their lives, they have never needed to stick together more…
Wedding Bells For The Victory Girls is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the links below.
I’ve been a huge fan of this series and so I’m quite sad that this is the last book in the series. I feel like I’ve been on a real journey with these characters and am sorry to be saying goodbye to them.
It was great to be back with the girls, their partners and family members. Throughout the series I feel like I’ve really got to know these fabulous characters so they’ve started to feel like old friends. They’ve definitely been through some difficult times but also some uplifting and heartwarming moments too. It has been great to follow them through the war and to see how they’ve coped with everything that’s been thrown at them.
This book follows the characters after the war which I found fascinating as I haven’t read many books set in this period. It was very interesting to see what life was like after the war with the continued rationing and lack of housing. It was especially interesting to see how the men coped with being back from war and to see them re-adjusting to civilian life.
I thought this book was quite fast paced and there always seemed to be something happening to ensure I couldn’t stop reading. As expected there are some sad moments in the book but I felt that the overall feeling was one of hope for the future. The ending was beautiful and a great way to end the series. I’ll definitely be going back and re- reading these books soon.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Harper for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Joanna Toye joined the production team of The Archers after reading English at university, and became a scriptwriter for the programme for over twenty years. She has also written a number of spin-off books about the long-running radio drama. On television she has written for Crossroads, Family Affairs, Doctors and EastEnders.
Good evening everyone today on JoJo Recommends I’m featuring Falling Down by Uzi Walker.
Uzi, aka Daniel Walker, is a skateboarder from the San Francisco Bay area. He streams games (sometimes) on twitch and creates some amazing music on the side. His streams are normally very funny as he manages to find unusual clitches in the game or fun ways to win. He once won a fortnight game from pretending to hide in a crashed car while others fought around him which was very entertaining to watch.
If you’d like to follow Uzi on twitch or social media you can do so by clicking on the links below.
Uzi has a variety of songs available to listen to. The majority seem to be on SoundCloud though you can listen to Falling Down and some of his older songs on Spotify. He has experimented with a few genres of music which reflect his own music tastes and have done collabs with a few of his friends including Dyre and Dead Shot which are also great to listen to (including one he raps on which I think is brilliant!). His songs always have a great beat to them and some very emotional lyrics which have more meaning to them then you first realise which I really love. I’ve included the music video of Falling Down below as well as his most recent song with Dyre.
Jojo Recommends is now being featured on Island Vibing Presents twitch channel which is hugely exciting. I’m still getting used to filming myself but I think I’m getting more confident each time I do it. This week Island Vibing had two shows so I got to feature two amazing streamers.
If you missed it you can watch Uzi’s feature via the link below.
Molly lives a quiet, contained life in London. Naturally risk averse, she gains comfort from security and structure. Every day the same.Her identical twin Katie is her exact opposite: gregarious and spontaneous. They used to be inseparable, until Katie moved to New York a year ago. Molly still speaks to her daily without fail.But when Molly learns that Katie has died suddenly in New York, she is thrown into unfamiliar territory. Katie is part of her DNA. As terrifying as it is, she must go there and find out what happened. As she tracks her twin’s last movements, cracks begin to emerge. Nothing is what it seems. And a web of deceit is closing around her.Delivering the same intensity of pace and storytelling that made THE LAST THING TO BURN a word-of-mouth sensation, FIRST BORN will surprise, shock and enthral.
First Born is out in ebook and hardback on the 14th April 2022. You can pre-order your copy using the links below.
I’m a huge fan of this author’s books so a new book from him is always cause for great excitement. First Born is another fantastic twisty page turner that I really enjoyed.
Firstly I have a fascination with twins so this book instantly appealed to me . It was interesting learning more about them and the relationship they had. New York City is also one of my favourite cities, I actually got engaged there, so I loved exploring the city alongside Molly. The author’s descriptions are so vivid that I often felt like I was walking alongside her getting to know the places and people she did.
Overall I really enjoyed this book which I rate as one of his best yet! The book drew me in from the start and the many twists and turns kept me guessing until the end which I always enjoy. The plot was very clever and I enjoyed trying to piece everything together. There is a sinister edge to the story which helps create a lot of atmosphere and tension throughout the book which helped ensure I kept reading as I wanted to find out what was going on.
Huge thanks to Jenny Platt from Hodder for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands and had lived in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. After studying Law at the LSE and working in London, he settled in rural Sweden where he built a house in a boggy clearing at the centre of a vast elk forest, and it’s from this base that he compulsively reads and writes. His debut novel, Dark Pines, was selected for Zoe Ball’s Book Club, shortlisted for the GuardianNot the Booker prize and named a Daily Telegraph Book of the Year. The second Tuva Moodyson mystery, Red Snow, was published in January 2019 and won Best Independent Voice at the Amazon Publishing Readers’ Awards, 2019. The Last Thing to Burn was his first standalone novel and his first book with Hodder and First Born is his second.
When struggling journalist Cecily Wong is invited to join an expedition to climb one of the world’s tallest mountains, it seems like the chance of a lifetime.
She doesn’t realise how deadly the climb will be.
As their small team starts to climb, things start to go wrong. There’s a theft. Then an accident. Then a mysterious note, pinned to her tent: there’s a murderer on the mountain.
The higher they get, the more dangerous the climb becomes, and the more they need to trust one another.
And that’s when Cecily finds the first body . . .
Breathless is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the links below.
Breathless is a tension filled, adventure that I won’t be forgetting for a long time.
Firstly I love books set in cold, extreme places so this book instantly appealed to me. I have absolutely no desire to go mountain climbing in real life so it was fun following the characters as they embarked on their climb. The main character Cecily is also a novice climber so the reader is given the opportunity to learn more about mountaineering alongside her which I thought was a nice touch. I found it very interesting to learn more about what was required when climbing and the different steps you have to take for a successful climb.
The story does start off a little slowly as the reader is introduced to the scenario and the characters but soon picks up pace and becomes impossible to put down. Weird or unexplained things keep happening which if I’d have been there would have had be running, screaming down the mountain. I found myself getting quite upset over some of the deaths as I felt I’d got to know the characters quite well and I wanted to keep reading to find out who had killed them.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and I will definitely be recommending it to others I did guess who was behind everything towards the end but this didn’t stop my overall enjoyment of the book as I wanted to keep reading to check I was right.
Huge thanks to Ellie Hughes and Michael St Joseph for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Amy McCulloch is the Chinese-White author of eight novels for children and young adults, including the #1 bestselling YA novel The Magpie Society: One for Sorrow. In September 2019, she became the youngest Canadian woman to climb Mt Manaslu in Nepal — the world’s eighth highest mountain. She also summited the highest mountain in the Americas, Aconcagua, in -45C and 90kmph winds, and has visited all seven continents. Breathless is her adult fiction debut.
Good morning everyone and happy weekend! Today I’m featuring the amazing Space-man and his album Dream.
Space-man is a very proud Ukrainian singer songwriter who I discovered on twitch. His identity remains a secret as he always wears a helmet on stream and speaks through a voice decoder.
I was lucky enough to get him to answer some questions for me, which you can find below. I did feel a bit daft asking him some of the questions considering all that is happening in the Ukraine at the moment but he has written some great, patriotic answers to my questions which I really like.
If you would like to follow Space-man on twitch or social media you can do by clicking on the links below.
Space-mans music is available on a variety of streaming platforms as listed below. He makes some really beautiful instrumental rock music which has some fantastic electric guitar in it. Some of the songs are quite heavy but there are also some more melodic ones in the album which I think provides a great contrast. I have included my two favourite songs below.
Glory to Ukraine! I’m Space-man composer and mostly guitarist. Love to create original music in deep space mood and powerful guitar riffs, and electronic & piano sometimes. I don’t speak, only tapa-tapa c:
What first got you into music?
It was a Rammstein (Asche zu Asche) on a TV (music channel) and visiting friend where I was first tried electric guitar.
Who inspired you to make music?
I listened to 2 cassettes and knew all the songs by heart. words and riffs) I wanted more, and there were no new albums yet and I came up with my own riffs just with the sounds of my mouth) I also sang and came up with new melodies for Rammstein using all the words in German that I learned from Rammstein. That was the point when I started to develop my composing skills. After I got a music program DAW “Nuendo” and start to learning how to record, mix & mastering my music. Also I love video games and love Silent Hill great compositor Akira Yamaoka who was very inspired me too, later it was a KoЯn and the last was Buckethead
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
One guy say “his music have a sense of something gloomy perhaps post-apocalypse, and in some songs happiness and the struggle for it”
What is your creative process like?
There 3 ways of this…
I sit down and just think. what do i want today something gloomy and heavy? or cosmic and sad? or electronic topic?
Just decided to train on the guitar and accidentally came up with a cool riff and decided to record and it’s been half a day and there is a new track)
Also I did on streams on tweets orders for channel points. write a riff or chill tune and improvise a bit. and for one stream there can be 2-3 wonderful themes for new tracks which I already sit down at a separate time and finish
Who would you most like to collaborate with? First of all its a Akira Yamaoka and Buckethead, Rammstein & KoЯn but real cooperation can be with Mike Shinoda he is very creative and one mand band like me, so I think we can create something really cool, and he know me, that`s why its can be possible smile
If you could go open a show for any artist who would it be?
Lana Del Rey *smile*
What is one message you would give to your fans?
Сall on NATO to close the skies over Ukraine because every day we have innocent people dying and I can’t be sure the rocket will hit me tomorrow :cI always play video games at the most difficult level :0
What is the most useless talent you have?
I always play video games at the most difficult level
Do you sing in the shower? What songs?
Nope)
What would you be doing right now, if it wasn’t for your music career?
Artist – drawing or Video making
Where have you performed? What are your favourite and least favourite venues? Do you have any upcoming shows?
I performed mainly in Lviv, where I live. a lot on the street. several times it was solo performances that I also organized. several times at art festivals. corporate parties.
Favourite place its where I organiser.
Least favourite its a corporate party and performance background music in pub
No upcoming shows, war and covid :c only streams on twitch
How do you feel the Internet has impacted the music business?
Of course. the internet and music technology (recording) have completely turned the music industry and music business upside down, and I think its good, because artist can build own music business and it will be independent for me it is very important.
What is your favourite song to perform? Saturation smile and all new fresh songs what I created c:
Which famous musicians do you admire?
Rammstein are still very good! all albums, that is very rare
What is the most trouble you’ve ever gotten into? russia’s war against Ukraine, its very terrible, there are no words in the world as it would be possible to describe all the horror of the murder of children and civilians by russia!
What is the best advice you’ve been given?
“Don`t give up”
If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
Create festival of instrumental music! *Smile*
What’s next for you?
First of all, I want to win the war with all the Ukrainian people against the russia! and rebuild Ukraine
than I have a new electronic instrument c: need to learn how to play. and than I will present on stream few tracks and will performing live,
Than new album and live shows in Ukraine than Europe, and than will try USA tour
Thank you! and Glory to Ukraine!
Thanks for answering my questions Space-man!
JoJo Recommends Playlist:
You can now listen to Space-man and all other previously featured artists on a special playlist I’ve created on Spotify.
JoJo Recommends is now a feature on the fantastic Island Vibing Presents channel on twitch which is hugely exciting. The lovely couple from Maine are hilarious to watch and I really recommend their streams!
You can watch last week’s JoJo Recommends by clicking on the link below.
Over The Rainbow Blog 