Music.Entertainment.Made For You.As Told By Me.: Pick of the Week--Artist You Should Know About: Rixton

There's just something about bands who play their own instruments that makes me want to drop everything and live on their Youtube channel for days. It just makes them that much more REAL. It gives them that extra je ne sais quoi in the talent department. I've been really into a particular group of musicians the past few weeks and they are definitely an artist you should know about…

Rixton (formerly known as Relics) is a four-piece Pop/Rock/R&B band made up of Jake Roche, Charley Bagnall, Lewi Morgan, and Danny Wilkin. These Manchester natives have developed quite the following on Youtube with their remastered covers of artists from Taylor Swift and Usher to Sisqo's "The Thong Song." Yes, it's true. They covered "The Thong Song" and it wasn't horrific. It was actually quite amazing. If I hadn't believed that these guys had something special before listening to that cover, I definitely do now. Check out their cover of "The Thong Song" here. It's absolutely worth a listen.

Rixton: (from left) Lewi Morgan, Danny Wilkin,
Jake Roche, Charley Bagnall

Rixton just recently released their US debut EP: Me And My Broken Heart EP. The foursome went on a bit of a road trip across the US radioverse promoting their first single, "Me And My Broken Heart." They have already gained a dedicated following in the states evident by their single entering in the top 50 on iTunes and reaching #1 on 102.7 KIIS-FM's top 9 at 9. Their popularity seems to be rising like crazy especially with the anticipation of their debut album due out this year. With their abundance of originality and lead singer Jake's out-of-this-world vocals which are literally unlike anything I think I have ever heard, Rixton are bound to catch the attention of big-name talent managers. And they've already done just that with one Scooter Braun.

Now I'm naturally a bit skeptical about this Scooter Braun business because of everything that has gone down with The Wanted recently. The Wanted announcing their "break" hit a lot of fans really hard and have lead to numerous rumors about Rixton being a sort of "replacement." Now whether this is true or not, I'm not going to attempt to dissect the mind of Scooter Braun. What I have mainly picked up on is that people are hesitant to jump on the Rixton train because of this assumption that Scooter Braun ditched The Wanted and needed to fill the empty boyband slot. People are drawing all sorts of conclusions about this whole ordeal but, in reality, Rixton are a crazy talented band that can pull off a sort of Maroon 5 vibe perfectly while still being able to sound original and ooze potential to be the next big thing. I can't get enough of Rixton right now and I have no doubt in my mind that I will be wearing out the replay button once their album is released.

The Rixton guys are set to perform at 103.5 KISS' Fantabulo 2014 show in May along with Timeflies, Austin Mahone, and Jason Derulo. They are doing a few shows here and there over the next few months in the UK and US. You can find all of these dates on their website. Also, make sure you don't miss their "Rixton Roundup" videos where you can see what the band is up to basically 24/7. I can't wait to see how far Rixton will go this year with new music releases and hopefully announcing a tour…or two…or three…? Challenge accepted.

"Me And My Broken Heart" by Rixton: