Reproduced from: NOLA.com

No artist has benefited so much from – or perhaps done as much to create - the recent crossover popularity of bounce music so much as rapper Big Freedia, who, over the past few years, has taken the once deeply local hip-hop sound international with gigs around the U.S. as well as Europe and Australia.

Freedia debuted on late-night TV in January 2012, performing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” and on Oct. 2, an eight-episode run of the reality show “Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce” will premiere on the Fuse TV channel.

This week, Big Freedia checked off another line item on the successful-performer list; readers who opened their New Yorker magazine to the music listings section were treated to a cartoon illustration of the rapper, who performs this coming weekend (Aug. 24-25) at the Afro-Punk festival in Brooklyn, NY.

The recognition in cartoon form came on the heels of the announcement of Big Freedia’s upcoming EP, “The Queen of Bounce” (Queen Diva Music/Beat Exchange). 

Produced by Freedia’s frequent collaborator DJ BlaqNMild, who can largely be credited with the speedy, punishing beat bounce music has acquired of late, the six-song collection drops Oct. 2, coinciding with the reality show’s first airing.

“Queen of Bounce” is actually only Big Freedia’s third physical release in a career that’s lasted more than a decade.  Over ten years passed between the release of Freedia’s debut, 2000’s “Queen Diva” (Money Rules Entertainment), which is now something of a collectors’ item, and the 2011 EP “Scion A/V Presents Big Freedia.” The singles collection “Hitz: Vol. 1” was released on iTunes in 2010.

Big Freedia next plays an official New Orleans show at Republic, Sept. 5.  But if you want a sample now, check out "Na Who Mad" below.

Feeling confident in his guitar playing following years of practice, Satterfield took out a classified ad in the Dallas Observer for singers and musicians interested in forming his Pink Floyd tribute band.

“I started getting answers and, before too long, we had a band,” he said. “After six months of practice we were out playing gigs. It really grew to what I always envisioned it to be, a full-on Pink Floyd experience with lasers and video screens, lights and authentic equipment and the giant pig that we’ll bring out on occasion.”

Following its formation in 1998, demand for Bricks in the Wall grew. The group later reduced its schedule to about 12 shows a years, including its exclusive Dallas and Houston area performances at those cities’ House of Blues locations.

The nine-member Bricks in the Wall is spending most of this year marking the 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd’s classic 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon.

The group’s Dark Side of the Moon show features original Pink Floyd video synced to the performance as well as synced lights and lasers.

With a highly enjoyable concert last night in Baton Rouge, plus a few more tours left in Louisiana and Texas, BITW can be an experience to relish and behold - whether you know nothing or are a diehard fan of the music of Pink Floyd.

Not many bands can bring stadium-sized concert experiences to smaller venues; and do so effectively.

But luckily for us, Bricks In the Wall, like their source of inspiration, looks to buck and defy most stereotypes of success geared for their audiences.