On a Friday night, I decided to walk into one of the nosiest and busiest bars in my hometown, opened up my laptop and began listening to Valley Queen’s NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert series. Through the annoying drunk bar guests and awful overhead music, Natalie Carol’s hypnotic voice and beautiful harmonies demanded my attention. Raw, ingenious talent ignites from the guitar, through her soul, and out her mouth to create a natural and humbling sound that is reminiscent of Stevie Nicks, Florence Welch, and Josephine Vander Gucht.

Roll Call Family Records has official welcomed Valley Queen to their family earlier this year, as their debut album will be released soon. But until then, we have the pleasure of listening to their single “Chasing The Muse.” Valley Queen is currently touring the west coast with Liza Anne, so make sure to catch them while you can. Kayla Hay

LA County's kickoff festival is here: Make Music Pasadena is happening tomorrow, June 6th, with over 150 bands playing at the heart of downtown Pasadena! Along with main stage big-timers like Kishi Bashi, How To Dress Well, Sir Sly, Nick Waterhouse, and rising stars Jr., Kera & The Lesbians, and Autumn in June, music & arts collectives around the county will also curate some of the tastiest home-grown acts. The main stage activities end with Pasadena Symphony & Pops' grandeur performance, but these side venues will be going strong late into the night.

You can find the complete schedule here on MMP's site, and we definitely recommend hitting up these side-stages below:

All Scene Eye presents two live stages at Armory Center for the Arts: check out Kat Myers & The Buzzards, The Electric West, Draag, Holland Belle, Tashaki Miyaki, and more.

Sherpa Music MGMT, One Question Sessions, and De La Vie TV presents at Old Towne Pub: DARK FURS, Crystales, Sanglorians, LA Takedown, Le Cos, and more.

For Friends Of Sound presents at Der Wolfskopf in the evening: OYLS, Kid Bloom, Slow Graffiti, GDNA, and more.

Montecito Music and Media presents at Shoppes at Stats: Shattered Skyline, Cool Face, The Wild Reeds, Valley Queen, bed, and more.

Open Kanvas presents at Club 54: Veteran Assassins, Noah V, Kennis Clark, Born Allah, and more plus a surprise headliner.

Remember: this music festival is FREE and starts at 11 AM. Parking structures are dotted across the city, but will definitely fill up soon, so make it out early! - Ryan Mo, photo credit: Chris Molina

Thanks to all the artists who submitted their music to be considered for The Deli's Best of Los Angeles Year End Poll for Emerging Artists. We had a record number of submissions from Los Angeles this year - 72! - thanks so much for the overwhelming response!

After tallying our editors' ratings for the Open Submissions stage, it’s time to release the results. Please note that to avoid conflicts no local editor was allowed to vote for bands in his/her own scene.

Total submissions from Los Angeles: 72

Jurors: Travis Leipzig (The Deli Portland), Roxy Morrison (The Deli Toronto), Paolo De Gregorio (The Deli NYC).

Acts advancing to our Readers/Fans Poll:

1. Kiev (8 out of 10)

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2. Sex Helicopter (7.83)

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3. Valley Queen (7.5)

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4. Hearty Har (7.33)

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5. Afternoons (7.16)

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5. Dalton (7.16)

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5. Fellow Bohemian (7.16)

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5. Hi Ho Silver Oh (7.16)

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5. Dark Furs (7.16)

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Honorable Mentions (scores above 6.83)

Twin Oaks, Vokab Kompany, Meg Olsen, Brooklyn Pets, Lady Low, Wages.

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WHAT’S NEXT: These results end the first phase of the poll. We have already unveiled full list of nominees that also includes the artists nominated by our local jurors (see left column here). It's now time for our readers to influence this Year End Poll for Emerging Los Angeles Artists with their vote - look out for th readers' poll on the right column of this same page!

The Deli Los Angeles