For nearly a decade, Southwest Airlines has helped launch music careers through their "Artist on the Rise" program. In 2018, they teamed up with Luck Reunion to offer an even bigger prize: a coveted main stage performance slot. Past winners like Arcy Drive and Ida Mae are now beloved members of the Luck family, proving the power of this program.
This year, three new finalists are vying for the spotlight: Victoria Bigelow, Lou Hazel, and Jobi Riccio. Head over to southwest.fm to watch their hometown videos and see where their music comes from. Your vote (cast daily!) will decide who takes the stage at Willie's iconic World Headquarters on March 14th. Don't miss out on shaping the future of music!
Victoria Bigelow
A young woman hailing from the desert, Bigelow has heart and soul. Her moody, yet hopeful, music has drawn comparisons with Weyes Blood, Angel Olsen, and Mazzy Star, but it’s her life, her voice, and her honesty that gives her a sound all of her own. Telling stories of heartbreak, adversity, and bittersweet hope, Bigelow takes love, loss, and longing, and transforms them into music that speaks to the heart of the modern world. Songs written with no one else around, to help all of us feel a little less alone.
“I draw inspiration from past experiences, heartahces, heartbreaks…it’s all just kind of lived stuff I’ve sat in for long enough, and kind of need to get out.” – Victoria BigelowArtist On The Rise - Victoria Bigelow
Lou Hazel
Lou Hazel was born in the town of Olean, New York to a family of northeastern wiseacres.Not one to commit, he skirted the compulsive hunting and fishing tradition held close to his father’s heart - instead cultivating a sensitivity more suited to artists and vagabonds. As a result, his travels brought him across the country and eventually through debilitating depression before coming to rest with a sense of personal peace and positivity in Durham, NC.
Yet, Lou’s brain is still a bat cave. Mostly, he wakes up with no idea what he’s going to do next, then finds himself there. In songwriting, he pulls from this cave rambling, heartfelt tales flowing through unselfconscious truth. In illustrations, he swirls and meanders towards an eventual finish only understood upon completion – as in his music. And in his photography and design work, he renders the essence of fellow musicians into expressive, personalized works of art.
Today, Louie continues crafting genuine folk tales of honest longing, disquieting loss, and nostalgia through a brilliant sheen of fresh insight with humble humor. Grabbing us by the ears in a new-age, Prine-like grip. Transforming the minutiae of everyday life into ever more evocative music. And surprising us all, including himself, with where we emerge.
In other words, Lou Hazel is coming out of this unbearable, unbelievably tragic, disconcerting year like a damn newborn moth with jet engine wings aimed toward a totally full super-moon. And it is good.
"I kind of grew up with an armor around me...I'm just inspired by everything. My world is observing." – Lou HazelArtist On The Rise - Lou Hazel
Jobi Riccio
Born and raised in Morrison, Colorado - a tourist town in the foothills outside of Denver that’s home to Red Rocks Amphitheater - Jobi Riccio grew up surrounded by music and found inspiration in artists ranging from Sheryl Crow to Joni Mitchell. Sonically, Jobi’s music exists between worlds, melding the classic craftsmanship of her songwriting with modern indie-leaning production to forge a lush, expansive sound that feels traditional and experimental all at once. She has received acclaim for her songwriting, including winning the 2019 NewSong Music Competition, performing at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, receiving the 2019 Lee Villiare Scholarship from her alma mater Berklee College of Music, and being named a finalist in the 2018 Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Songwriters Showcase. In 2023 Jobi was awarded the Newport Folk Festival John Prine Fellowship.
Her debut album, "Whiplash," which debuted September 2023 on Yep Roc, introduces influences from a variety of genres, while still holding space for Riccio's love for all decades of country and americana music.
“I just really felt drawn to and called by singing and writing from a young age. That really sort of directed the course of my life.” – Jobi RiccioArtist On The Rise - Jobi Riccio
