You know the old saying, don’t get VD on V-Day. February 14th is Valentine’s Day, here are some bands in the mood for love.

Read more Valentine’s Day.

LIGHTS
iamlights.com

Canada’s Lights (aka Valerie Poxleitner) is kicking off her national US tour at Mill City Nights in Minneapolis this Valentine’s Day (Saturday) with support from X Ambassadors. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’ve already committed to Sleater-Kinney and Lizzo this same night, I’d definitely be checking out this geek girl pop multi-instrumentalist (she’s into comic books!)

The Little Machines tour will take her to Coachella 2015, which Ryan Seacrest included Lights in his ’10 Artists You Must See at Coachella,’ saying “Lights has a knack for creating celestial beats by combining alternative rock and contemporary synth-pop.”

With a couple of Juno Awards (sort of like Australia’s ARIA Awards or USA’s American Music Awards) and Gold records under her belt (and not to mention a recently sold out European tour), she’s amassed a dedicated ‘Lights Army’ over the years (1.3 million Facebook fans, over half a million Twitter fans), including self-professed fans Miley Cyrus, John Mayer, and K’Naan among others.

Lights upcoming tour dates:

02/13 Kansas City, MO Arvest Bank Theatre
02/14 Minneapolis, MN Mill City Nights
02/15 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room
02/17 Iowa City, IA Blue Moose Tap House
02/18 St. Louis, MO Ready Room
02/20 Dallas, TX Granada Theater
02/21 Austin, TX Emo’s
02/22 Houston, TX Warehouse Live
02/24 Orlando, FL Beacham Theater
02/25 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Culture Room
02/27 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade
02/28 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
03/01 Nashville, TN Rocketown
03/02 Charlotte, NC The Fillmore Charlotte
03/04 Norfolk, VA The NorVa
03/05 Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Small’s Theatre
03/06 Columbus, OH Skully’s Music Diner
03/07 Indianapolis, IN Deluxe at Old National Centre
03/09 Cleveland, OH House of Blues – Cleveland
03/10 Grand Rapids, MI The Intersection
04/11 Indio, CA Coachella Week 1
04/14 Phoenix, AZ Marquee Theatre*
04/15 San Diego, CA The Irenic*
04/16 Sacramento, CA Ace of Spades*
04/18 Indio, CA Coachella Week 2

All dates with special guest X Ambassadors with the exception of (*) with Saint Motel. Full tour dates and additional information over at news.weheartmusic.com.

MEIKO
meikomusic.com

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Meiko‘s five-track EP Lovers & Fighters came out this week (February 10th). You can officially stream the EP over at meikomusic.com.

Hear the first track, “Raincoat Song”:

We love her and have seen her live at SXSW 2009, 7th Street Entry in 2012, and most recently Loring Pasta Bar in 2014… she’s always fun and entertaining live.

Also, if you have some CDs for her to sign, she’s usually accessible after her show. Very approachable and always friendly.

You can spend V-Day with Meiko this February 14 at Hotel CafÃ©.

Tour dates:

Feb 14 Hotel Cafe Hollywood, CA

Mar 03 Stubb’s Austin, TX *

Mar 05 Dosey Doe Music Cafe Houston, TX *

Mar 06 Poor David’s Pub Dallas, TX*

Mar 28 Safety Harbor Singer-Songwriter Festival

* with Lex Land

HAYDEN
wasteyourdaysaway.com

Leading up to Valentine’s Day, Hayden shared the title track, “Hey Love”, from the forthcoming Arts & Crafts release, Hey Love, over at Soundcloud.

Hey Love comes out March 24, 2015 on Arts & Crafts.

Tour dates:

02/18/15 Halifax, NS Rebecca Cohn Auditorium

02/19/15 Fredericton, NB Fredericton Playhouse

02/20/15 Quebec City, QC Imperial Du Quebec

02/21/15 Montreal High Lights Festival

02/21/15 Montreal, QC Virgin Mobile Corona

02/24/15 Kingston, ON Grand Theatre

02/26/15 London, ON London Music Hall

02/27/15 Ottawa, ON National Arts Centre

02/28/15 Toronto, ON Massey Hall

03/01/15 Guelph, ON River Run Centre

03/05/15 Winnipeg, MB Garrick Centre

03/06/15 Saskatoon, SK O’Brian’s Event

03/07/15 Regina, SK Darke Hall

03/09/15 Banff, AB Eric Harvie Theatre

03/10/15 Calgary, AB Jack Singer Concert Hall

03/11/15 Edmonton, AB Winspear Centre

03/13/15 Vancouver, BC Vogue Theatre

03/14/15 Vancouver, BC Vogue Theatre

FUZZKILL RECORDS
fuzzkillrecords.bandcamp.com

You know I’m a cover lover, so here is a new Valentine’s Day compilation by Fuzzkill Records called Under the Covers, featuring love song covers by some Scottish (and some Manchester bands). The compilation will be released on limited cassette tapes on February 14th, with all profits going to the Greater Maryhill Foodbank and CLAN Cancer Support.

Track listing:

The Bellybuttons – Anna (Go To Him) (Arthur Alexander)
FROTH – Happy Together (The Turtles)
SHARPTOOTH – Remember (Walkin’ In The Sand)(The Shangri-Las)
Catholic Action – Somebody Made For Me (Emitt Rhodes)
PAWS – Sea Of Love (Phil Phillips)
Secret Motorbikes – Alison (Elvis Costello)
Pinact – Sparky’s Dream (Teenage Fanclub)
Twin Mirrors – For Your Love (The Yardbirds)
Poor Things – I Will (The Beatles)
The Pooches – You’re The One For Me (Jonathan Richman)
Bite – I Feel Love (Donna Summer)
The Sh**hawks – She’s Like The Wind (Patrick Swayze)
Tuff Love – Lovely Day (Bill Withers)
Faiides – Just Like Honey (The Jesus and Mary Chain)
Fruit Tones – Tears On My Pillow (Little Anthony and the Imperials)
Elara Caluna – O, Willow Waly (Georges Auric)

ELLE KING
elleking.com

Often compared to Janis Joplin, singer/songwriter/banjoist Elle King will be releasing her debut album Love Stuff next week, February 17th… just missing out on Valentine’s Day. The Love Stuff album featured her new single, “Ex’s & Oh’s”, which you can hear it live on The Today Show next Tuesday.

Here’s what they said about the single:

“Ex’s & Oh’s” was #1 Most Added at AAA radio upon release and has received tremendous praise: Billboard raves â€œMix Duffy’s vocals, the Black Keys’ urgent rhythms and a hook and tempo that recalls P!nk’s “So What,” and you have Elle King’s catchy and clever RCA debut.â€

She’s set to play at Hangout Music Festival 2015 in Alabama.

Love Stuff
Track listing: