Evan Bartels

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Medium Build, the queer singer-songwriter born Nick Carpenter, has a generous and inviting spirit that manifests in his songwriting. Medium Build built a cult following in Anchorage, Alaska, where he became a local celebrity and hometown hero, before making the recent move from to Nashville, moving closer to his southern roots and dedicating himself to his musical career. He developed a cult-like, passionate fan base both in Alaska and outside its borders, as he inspires listeners to dig deep and discover themselves alongside his own emotional journey. Medium Build has toured with pop headliners, but beneath it, there’s an old country soul, who treasures the simple things in life and keeps his family close to his heart. Songs like “Crying Over U,” embrace vulnerability with Nick’s intricate lyricism and gravelly yet soft voice at the helm while while “Never Learned to Dance” is pure cosmic Americana, complete with lush acoustic guitar and twangy steel, but it’s distinctly contemporary too, a modern tale of digital love and missed connections. More than just the sound alone, what Medium Build takes most from country music is a sense of yearning and restlessness, always in search of another experience and another sound in whatever form they may come. In another era, Medium Build might have just as easily been a rhinestone cowboy lonesome out on the range, a blue-eyed crooner on a smooth-sailing yacht, or a leather-clad video star, but in the here and now, he’s no one but himself. Medium Build’s vision is to take the sense of community his music creates far beyond wherever he calls home. Last year was busy for Medium Build, opening shows for Lewis Capaldi, Matt Maeson, and FINNEAS, while selling out his headlining tour across N. America and playing shows in Europe on the heels of his Health EP. 2024 proves to be no different, with a EU / UK tour supporting Holly Humberstone, California dates with Tyler Childers, his biggest US headline tour to date, and a handful of major festivals punctuated by Bonnaroo. All this touring will support a slew of new music following last year’s “In My Room”, which has already won the hearts of peers, and been championed by BBC1, Alt Nation, and Zane Lowe. Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | TikTok

The Ocean Blue

In 2024, the band will be playing a select number of shows, performing their first two albums in full – The Ocean Blue and Cerulean – in dates throughout the U.S. as they continue work on a new album (full list of tour dates below as they announce).Getting their start as teenagers in the late ‘80s in Hershey, PA, The Ocean Blue released their self-titled debut on the famed Sire Records that launched many of their heroes in the U.S., like the Smiths and Echo & the Bunnymen. Embraced by MTV, the band quickly made their mark on the onset of the Alternative Music scene. Their early singles “Between Something And Nothing” and “Drifting, Falling” notched them Top Ten hits on College and Modern Rock radio, setting in motion a run of four successful major label albums, followed by a string beloved independent releases from 2000 to the present. With eight albums and several EPs under their belt (Sire/Rhino reissued their first three albums in 2015), the band continues to do what it has always done with more plans for touring and releases on the horizon.The Ocean Blue is David Schelzel (vocals, guitar), Oed Ronne (guitar), Bobby Mittan (bass) and Peter Anderson (drums).The Ocean Blue arrived as the 1980s drew to a close, and their debut record on the famed Sire Records label in 1989 seemed to summarize the best of the passing musical decade. With the release of The Ocean Blue, the band of four teenagers from Hershey, Pennsylvania quickly achieved widespread acclaim and radio & MTV airplay with top 10 Modern Rock/College Radio hits like Between Something and Nothing, Drifting, Falling, and Vanity Fair. They followed their debut with the dreamy and atmospheric Cerulean, which includes perhaps their most beloved song, Ballerina Out of Control. Their third Sire release and highest charting pop album Beneath the Rhythm and Sound featured the single Sublime, with a video of the band in the sublime landscape of Iceland. The band’s fourth major label album on Mercury/ PolyGram, See The Ocean Blue, delved into wider 60s and 70s stylings but with the band’s 80s DNA peeking through.The band left the majors in the late 90s and released several independent records in the ensuing decade, including 2000’s Davy Jones Locker and 2004’s Waterworks. In 2013, after a long hiatus and much anticipation, the band released their first full length record in a decade, Ultramarine, on Korda Records, a label cooperative the band helped launch that same year. The record was a welcome return for both long-time fans of the band and a younger generation of like-minded fans, and it garnered widespread praise as one of their very best albums. In 2015, the band worked with Sire Records to reissue their first three albums on vinyl, and did wider touring in North America and in South America, where some of their most passionate fans reside.In 2019, the band returned with the beautifully powerful Kings and Queens / Knaves and Thieves, and has continued to tour for this release and the newly re-issued vinyl of See The Ocean Blue (2022) and Davy Jones’ Locker (2023). The band is on tour with select dates in 2024 performing their first two albums in full.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | Soundcloud

Kate Bollinger

On Songs From A Thousand Frames Of Mind, the kaleidoscopic full-length debut from Kate Bollinger, entire worlds lie in the small details. “When I’m recording a song,” the Charlottesville-born, Los Angeles-based songwriter observes, “my indication of whether it’s worth pursuing is if I’m seeing a movie in my head to go along with it.” Blending classic pop songcraft with scrappy punk instincts, Bollinger casts a collage-like vision that’s instantly memorable and uniquely mystifying. Ranging from homespun folk songs to warmly rendered psychedelic rock—like early Rolling Stones as fronted by Hope Sandoval—the resulting album can feel like flipping through your coolest friend’s record collection, finding a new favorite song with each discovery. In order to summon this majestic blend of styles, Bollinger spent years cultivating material, challenging herself to work with new collaborators while moving across the country from her native Virginia to California. Evolving the hermetic approach of her early EPs and solo performances, she arrived at a fuller sound based on intuitive responses and in-the-moment energy. “I came to this realization that most of my favorite music is the result of friends, or players who have known each other a long time, coming together and playing live in the room,” she observes. Armed with endless hooks and wildly shifting textures, Bollinger can seem as much like a songwriter as an art-house auteur, crafting the soundtrack and scenery for a non-existent movie. (Fittingly, Bollinger studied film in college, and she also directed the striking music video for Jessica Pratt’s recent single “World on a String.”) Several highlights from the record were co-written with Spacebomb Records mastermind Matthew E. White, such as the jangle-pop gem “Any Day Now” and the theatrical “I See It Now.” After months of writing in Richmond and Los Angeles, Bollinger traveled to upstate New York to record with producer Sam Evian (Big Thief, Blonde Redhead, Cass McCombs), with whom she developed a similar kinship. Alongside her longtime friend and drummer Jacob Grissom, she formed a group of tight-knit collaborators able to match her wide-ranging inspiration, spanning from ’60s icons like Françoise Hardy and the Velvet Underground to ’90s touchpoints like No Doubt and Pavement. “In some way, this album feels like my musical debut. I feel that I’ve finally been able to express all sides of myself in one record.” For Bollinger, the connective tissue between this disparate material is often unspoken but always deeply felt. “Songwriting is kind of like dreaming,” she explains. “They both tend to reveal to me what I don’t yet consciously know. I thought of the album title before most of the songs were written, but it became a self-fulfilling prophecy in a way that tends to happen in a lot of my music.” As a lyricist, Bollinger expresses herself through subtle imagery and surrealist stream-of-conscious narratives, allowing listeners to arrive at their own interpretation. When she touches on the rise and fall of romantic relationships, there is an almost therapeutic quality to her writing.Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube

Dogpark – Breaking in America Tour

Dogpark got their start performing at University of Richmond (their alma-mater), before launching into sell-out shows across the country. The band consists of Eamon Moore (lead vocals), Chris Conte (drums), Declan Harris (lead guitar), Billy Apostolou (bass/guitar), and Will Harford (vocals/bass/guitar). Infectious stage presence and an homage to the indie-rock of the 90s have kick-started their career from a backyard band to a mainstage group. The band’s EP, ‘Breaking in Brooklyn,’ proves that they are here to make a mark, and with the release of their upcoming full-length album, this is only the beginning. Website | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube | TikTok

Melt

Pulsing with the energy of their hometown New York City, ‘If There’s a Heaven’ (out 9/13/24) is the debut album from indie band Melt. The band formed in 2017 and cut their teeth touring on the heels of their viral single “Sour Candy” over weekends in college. Called “one groovy superorganism” by NPR, they are known for their ecstatic live set. In 2021, Melt released their ‘West Side Highway’ EP and toured nationally, further developing their intuitive connection as players as well as cementing their status as a band to watch. ‘If There’s a Heaven’ presents Melt simultaneously at their most airtight and freewheeling – evoking the raw, communal spirit of Fleetwood Mac as well as the modern, danceable hooks of MUNA. Recorded live to tape with producer Sam Evian (Big Thief), the eleven tracks span existential, feel-good pop (“Plant the Garden”), classic love ballads (“Your Name”) and lush, soulful rockers (“Heaven”). Melt’s debut is a joyous, timeless soundtrack for coming of age and finding oneself and one’s community. As emotionally stirring as they are groovy, Melt will move listeners in every sense of the word. Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | TikTok

Ratboys

Ratboys have been recording and releasing music for over a decade, but their newest album, The Window, marks the first time they’d ever traveled outside their home base of Chicago to make a record, journeying to the Hall of Justice Recording Studio in Seattle to work with producer Chris Walla. The sessions with Walla (Death Cab for Cutie, Tegan and Sara, Foxing) struck the perfect balance between preparation and experimentation, injecting new life into the band’s style of soft-hearted Midwestern indie rock with an ever so subtle Americana twist. The solidified Ratboys lineup stretched and expanded their vision in the studio, adding unexpected elements and instruments like rototoms, talkboxes, and fiddles. The result is Ratboys’ most sonically diverse record, shifting wildly from track to track. It flexes everything from fuzzy power pop choruses on “Crossed That Line” and “It’s Alive!” to a warm country twang on “Morning Zoo” to mournful folk on the titular track. After more than ten years and four studio albums, The Window finally captures Ratboys as they were always meant to be heard—expansive while still intimate, audacious while still tender—the sound of four friends operating as a single, cohesive unit. Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

Michigander

Michigander, who delivers elevated and eloquent songcraft, uplifting instrumentation, and plainspoken heartland storytelling punctuated by alternative flare, has racked up over 60 million career streams globally and garnered the acclaim of NPR, Paste, Consequence, SPIN, Forbes, BrooklynVegan, Guitar World, Ones To Watch, and more. In 2016, the now Nashville-based singer, songwriter, producer, and guitarist’s independent debut single “Nineties” achieved viral success, claiming real estate on multiple major Spotify playlists. Michigander’s first two EPs, Midland [2018] and Where Do We Go From Here [2019], have become fan favorites, with the latter’s standout single “Misery” eclipsing 10 million streams and earning Michigander his first Triple A radio hit. 2021’s critically lauded EP Everything Will Be Ok Eventually (C3 Records) elevated his career via the Top 5 Triple A radio hit “Let Down” and Top 10 Triple A radio hit “Better.” On the road, Michigander has shared the stage with Manchester Orchestra, Band of Horses, The Lumineers, Hippo Campus, Mt. Joy, and graced the stages of such marquee festivals as Lollapalooza, Electric Forest, Summerfest, Shaky Knees and more as well as SXSW. In 2023, Michigander was back, breaking personal records, charting at radio again, and on the road with a new set of songs and a re-energized passion for his craft. Listen to the latest EP It Will Never Be The Same everywhere, out now via C3 Records and look out for a new project coming from Singer in ’24. Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | Soundcloud | Twitter | YouTube

River Whyless

In August 2019 the four members of River Whyless, Ryan O’Keefe, Halli Anderson, Daniel Shearin and Alex McWalters, secluded themselves for thirty days deep in the hills outside Asheville, NC. Their intention was to make a record, the band’s fourth full-length effort, and first without a producer since their 2012 debut A Stone, A Leaf, An Unfound Door. Back then, that constraint was a matter of necessity. This time, it was deliberate. Using mostly gear from Daniel’s recording studio, the band converted Alex’s house into a multi-level homemade recording space. The basement became the control room and drum world. The main level, with its high ceilings and pine floors, was well-equipped for acoustic guitars and violin. They didn’t know yet where the vocals would be tracked. In truth, they didn’t know much except that they had the gear they needed, some time, and a collection of very rough-hewn demos they hoped could be shaped into something honest and cohesive. Accustomed to arriving at the studio well-rehearsed, for Monoflora, Dan, Halli, Ryan and Alex came intentionally unprepared. They wanted to capture ideas at their source, in the very moment of their creation. They would start the tape and let it roll until they could let their conscious minds forget they were recording. Then they could simply create. Arrangements were fleshed out and captured on the spot. The foundation of songs were often recorded with the singers in a room together with a guitar, writing harmonies and lyrics as they went. Many of the vocals were finished within the first few takes, or even with the scratch take. Early experimental drum ideas were slowed down and pitched-shifted to blend with a changing vision of a song. Of course, opting for this freedom of experimentation in lieu of a well-rehearsed outfit did come with a cost. “I think we were all unpleasantly surprised by how short a month suddenly felt as soon as we started grappling with the challenge we’d created for ourselves,” Ryan said. There were many long days and nights, especially for Dan, who, by virtue of his experience in the world of recording, was wearing at least two hats at all times: that of artist and engineer. Ryan, Monoflora’s de facto assistant engineer, could relate. “It’s an intensely immersive and romantic experience to be wearing all the hats at once,” he said. “It’s empowering, exciting. But it’s also exhausting. We knew this, and yet… we were determined to put our years of experience to the test.” On Monoflora the band has, in some ways, returned to its more acoustic origins, this album shed of the hard-driving, electrified and/or synthesized outwardness that propelled 2018’s Kindness, A Rebel. But while Monoflora certainly features more acoustic guitar and violin than both Kindness and 2016’s We All The Light, it would be inaccurate (or oversimple) to say that it harkens back to RW’s earlier, “folksier” efforts, like 2012’s Stone and/or its eponymous 2015 EP. The arrangements on Monoflora are, in many cases, more intricate and dynamic than any of the band’s previous work, the instrumentation more eclectic and expansive, the members’ roles as individual musicians more fluid and diverse. Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | Soundcloud

Slow Teeth

Slow Teeth makes original cinematic music inspired by Radiohead/The Smile, Pink Floyd, Sigur Ros, and many more. The band formed and started writing songs in Saxapahaw, North Carolina in June 2021, initially as an opportunity for Robert Chamberlain (drums, synthesizers), Justin Ellis (bass, vocals, keyboards), and Jeremy Haire (guitar, vocals) to start playing music with others following the pandemic lockdown while previous respective projects were on indefinite hiatus. As the band’s chemistry and highly collaborative identity coalesced, they began playing live in March 2022, tweaking and adapting their improvised post-rock compositions into finished songs and performing them all over the East Coast. Slow Teeth has supported such acts as Xiu Xiu, A Place To Bury Strangers, Holy Fawn, Easter Island, Camp St. Helene, and more. Notable US venues and festivals played include the Cat’s Cradle (Carrboro NC), Kings (Raleigh NC), Berlin Under A (New York City), Pie Shop (Washington DC), The Drunken Unicorn (Atlanta GA), The Basement (Nashville TN), The Pinhook (Durham NC), Motorco Music Hall (Durham NC), Fleetwood’s (Asheville NC), the North Carolina State Fair, the Festival For The Eno, Bull City Summit, and the Carrboro Music Festival. Outside of their original compositions and visceral live shows, Slow Teeth has presented various music community events, including a Father’s Day- themed music festival (Paternity Fest at The Kraken, June 2022), a month-long Durham performance residency culminating in an improvised film score to a classic silent film (“Metropolis” at Arcana March 2023), and a headlining show at the Cat’s Cradle in August 2023 to perform Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of The Moon” front to back for the album’s 50th anniversary, complete with backing musicians and interactive visuals. The band independently released their debut single “Still You Speak” in May 2023 and are actively writing and recording new music. For this special Halloween headlining set, Slow Teeth will be performing a live film score to the 13-minute film “Fall Of The House Of Usher” (1928). An event not to be missed! Instagram | Facebook Winfield is a Chapel Hill, NC based band formed in 2017. Their music blends the energy of vintage indie rock and the textures of dream pop and goth/ post-punk. In 2018, Victoria Roy (vocals), Brad Prenda (guitar, vocals), Kent Corley (bass) and David Bunch (drums) entered the studio with producer Scott Solter (Spoon, St. Vincent, Mountain Goats, Superchunk) to record their 7-song debut, GIANT. After spending much of 2018 and early 2019 performing, Winfield returned to the studio with Solter again in 2019 to record their follow-up four-song self-titled EP. “With You” & “Simple Things” showcase a darker, more intimate and experimental sound that emphasizes unconventional arrangements and the delicate interplay of warm harmonies. “Seconds” and “Contusion” are dark and raucous reminders that WINFIELD is at heart a rock band building on the strong foundation of alternative pioneers from the 70s-90s. Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Spotify | Twitter

Genre: Concerts