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Four Days to Glory: Our Stars Rise at the Josie Music Awards

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Four more days until the Josie Music Awards — and this year, the excitement feels unstoppable as so many of our own shine among the nominees. The legendary Grand Ole Opry will soon open its doors to a celebration of artistry, independence, and heart — and this time, it’s personal.

Irene Michaels, who graced the Josie stage as a winner in 2023, returns this year not only nominated in multiple categories but also as a presenter, bringing her signature grace, style, and resilience to Nashville once again. Her journey from cabaret to house music to award-winning artist continues to inspire all who witness her timeless evolution.

Ben Bacardi steps into the spotlight as a first-time Josie nominee — his soulful presence, charisma, and powerful voice marking him as one to watch. His nomination is not just recognition; it’s a declaration that his moment has arrived.

Gina Zollman, another first-time nominee, brings her sophisticated artistry and golden vocals to the forefront in the Adult Contemporary category, her talent shimmering with both heart and elegance.

Quinn Lemley, the dazzling redhead of jazz and glamour, takes her nomination in the Jazz Vocal category with a blend of theatrical sparkle and musical mastery that’s pure magic — a first-time Josie nod that feels long overdue.

Tribeca Records itself is nominated for Label of the Year, honoring its unrelenting commitment to originality, artist empowerment, and truth in sound. With a roster that reflects vision, diversity, and authenticity, this nomination cements its place among the leaders shaping today’s independent music landscape.

And standing tall behind so many of these incredible artists is WorldStar PR, nominated for PR Company of the Year — recognition of tireless dedication, media brilliance, and a love for storytelling that turns every campaign into a legacy.

Four more days until the stage lights rise over Nashville, until applause fills the Opry, and until we celebrate our family of artists — each one a chapter in a story of perseverance, passion, and dreams realized.

The countdown has begun.

The spotlight is waiting.

And this year, the Josie Music Awards already feel like home

The official website for The Josie Music Awards may be found at https://josiemusicawards.com

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Michele Ducci teases new album with uplifting indie single ‘Woman Like You’

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Michele Ducci has unveiled the second single, ‘Woman Like You’, from his forthcoming album and animated film ‘Snail in the Clouds’.

‘Woman Like You’ pairs bright distorted electric guitar with an electronic drumbeat, adding in Ducci’s soulful vocals and a catchy uplifting chorus with Letizia Mandoleisi’s sweet vocal harmonies. A vintage organ pedalboard operated by Ducci simultaneously generates chords, bass and rhythm, like a one-man band. Shane Kennedy (Girl in the Year Above) joins in on guitar. Simon Milner (Is Tropical, Ysing) recorded and produced the track at his 4am Studios in London.

The album and film tell the story of a planet called ‘Snail’, inhabited by hybrids – primarily a mixture between scorpions, snails and humans – who lead a life according to the style of Pythagoras, devoted to music. There is also a cloud man named Agostos, a writer of musical operettas, who together with a talking smoke machine called Doctor Subtilis, begins to kill all hybrids, targeting in particular the hybrid musician Diodoros and his band, in an effort to steal the ark of melodies, an ancient ship that allows the whole planet to survive with music and joy.

The video for the single, created and animated by Ducci and Mandoleisi, delves further into the realm of planet ‘Snail’:

Says Ducci, “The ark of melodies, after various attempts, finally starts to work and fly in the planet Snail, while the shady Doc. Sub. and Agostos, with their platoon of soldiers made of foggy smoke, spy the miracle, planning to steal the ark for their evil and tyrannical purposes.


About the track, Michele says, I wrote this song for my love Letizia. Love seen from the mind is the sound we make. Sound is the love of matter.

We used a Technics synthesizer organ from a flea market. I tried to find a mood that was right for the song and I started using the bass of the pedal board together with the synth and the drums, and it was magical to hear the song reveal itself all coming from a single instrument. Leti was singing with me and we recorded everything live in one shot. Then we made Shane do the guitar flight, as if he came out of the window. The idea was to maintain disproportions, guitar thrust and synth drum thinness a la Haroumi Hosono, so as to create an estrangement, but naturally: it’s about how I listen, with close up something that captures me in its nuance as element of a larger orchestra somewhere. I’m glad we decided in the studio with Simon to use the layers of arrangement as the close-ups in the cinema; they look like strange enlargements that perch on parts of a mutated orchestra. I’m happy to come back with this love song at a time when everything seems to opt, even my labor in managing the flows of selfishness that have poured out on me while doing this album, for the sound of war. I’m here happy to be able to say that the sound of love always wins as did for me. Snail in the clouds is one of the most important works in my life and I am glad to start from pure love for this album that is my son.

The album and full-length film will be released on the 5th of June on Monotreme Records.

Michele and Letizia’s previous musical short film, ‘The Great Book of Nature’, is an official selection for the 2026 Venice Shorts Film Festival.

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