🎙️ Songs That Don’t Suck – Episode 9

Bright Winter Vibes, Music Discovery Drought, and a Gen Z Data Analyst Who Sees the Future of Music

Welcome back, fellow music junkies. I’m Mark Bradbourne, your Gen X musical Mr. Miyagi—waxing off the trash music and waxing on the good stuff so you don’t have to dig through 500 mediocre songs to find the gems. 🥋🎶

This week? It almost happened. That nightmare scenario I feared back in Episode 1: a week with no good new music. 😱 But fear not—I brought in reinforcements. And we’ll get to that in a minute.

🎡 Bright Winter 2025: Where Cleveland Shines (Even in February)

Cleveland’s Bright Winter Festival was 🔥 this year—even if the temps were not. Held on the West Bank of the Flats, this February music & arts event turns “Why would anyone go outside in Ohio right now?” into “Oh dang, this is fun!”

Highlights:

• ❄️ Live music from Fox Royale, The Rosies, Signals Midwest, and more
• 🔥 Fire pits, food trucks, local art installations
• 🧥 Shirtless bands playing in 30-degree weather (respect)

Headliner Welshly Arms brought the house down (or maybe thawed it out?). Their 2017 hit “Legendary” was chef’s kiss, and they’ve got a new album + tour coming soon. Bonus track alert: their new single “Proud” is definitely worth a listen.

🎙️ Special Guest Interview: Samantha Monroe from Sodatone (Warner Music Group)

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Samantha Monroe, music data analyst and rising industry insider at Sodatone—a Warner-owned platform that helps A&Rs discover the next big thing using real fan data. Think: Shazam meets Google Trends for unsigned artists.

💡 What We Talked About:

• How streaming & TikTok influence which artists labels sign
• The growing genreless landscape of modern music
• Why fan engagement matters more than pure follower counts
• Her hot takes on autotune, AI, and live performance
• The rise of country’s new outlaws like Zach Bryan & Charles Wesley Godwin
• Why lyrics are the most emotionally powerful part of music (yep, agreed)

🔊 “Even if I don’t like a song, if it’s unique and passionate, it matters.” – Samantha

Samantha also tipped us off to some rising stars to watch 👇

🆕 Artists to Watch:

• Zach Bryan – Raw, real, genre-blurring Americana
• Charles Wesley Godwin – Live-from-a-church, soul-splitting country-folk
• Maddie Zahm – Honest, gut-punch pop a la Liana Firestone
• Bad Bunny – Okay, not new, but if you haven’t listened… just trust the energy 🐰🔥

🎧 Music Picks: Slim but Solid

Even in a bad music week, we found two songs that don’t suck.

🎵 The Moss – “Chaparral”

🌊 Genre: Alt-rock, rhythm-shifting magic
🧠 Vibes: Red Hot Chili Peppers meet The Police in a reggae bar

These guys know how to play with tempo like it’s a playground jungle gym. “Chaparral” bounces between straight-ahead rock, halftime grooves, and full reggae drops. It takes a few listens to fully absorb—and that’s a good thing.

This is The Moss’ second time on the pod. Episode 2 fans may remember their track “Blink.” If you didn’t check them out then, do it now.

🎸 The Struts – “Falling With Me” (Live Acoustic)

🎤 Genre: Glam-rock, arena-ready acoustic
✨ Vibes: If Freddie Mercury, Harry Styles & Elton had a baby band

I first saw The Struts open for the Foo Fighters and they blew me away. Lead singer Luke Spiller commands the stage with full glam energy, and this acoustic version of their new track proves they don’t need volume to impress.

Even stripped back, “Falling With Me” is all melody, emotion, and swagger. If you’re unfamiliar with The Struts, start here and then devour the catalog.

💬 Final Thoughts

🎧 Some weeks are bangers. Some are busts.
But the community we’re building here—through shared tracks, Twitter rants, and drinking song debates—makes it worth the grind. So thanks for sticking with me.

Massive thanks to Samantha for nerding out on music and data with me. And to Rob for dragging me out of my couch cocoon and into the icy glory of Bright Winter.

Until next week…

🎶 Keep searching for—and listening to—songs that don’t suck.

— Mark