Cafuné
Four years ago, in a vastly different context, Cafuné—the indie-pop powerhouse of Noah Yoo and Sedona Schat—released Running, a bionic debut album that soundtracked a collective urge for post-pandemic escapism. That record, Schat says, “is literally all about running away.” But as the duo enters its tenth year, their foundational questions—of authenticity, artificiality, and the existential tension between the two—feel more pressing than ever. “The entire time that the band has existed,” Schat says, “it’s always been about negotiating between digital manipulation and raw realness.” This moment—one increasingly defined by AI, algorithms, and artificial intimacy—is very much a bastion of “digital manipulation” in itself. Recorded in 2024, their new record finds the band at a familiar crossroads, reckoning between real and fake. The difference, this time around, is that they’re doing it in the real world, too. And it sounds like it. Bite Reality captures Cafuné in a confrontational state, no longer running from the bite of reality, but biting reality back. Their guitars growl; their vocals snarl; their lyrics teem with brutal honesty, not avoidant analogy. “Self-flagellation is not cute after a certain point,” Yoo says, with a laugh. “That’s not even helpful,” Schat adds. “What helps you to be better is actually facing: What is really wrong, and how do I work through it?” Bite Reality is about the fine line between documenting your existence and doing the work to actually exist. What does humanity look, sound, and feel like in a dehumanizing era? Why prove that you’re alive when you can just live? Website | Instagram | Facebook | Youtube | Spotify | Bandcamp | TikTok
East Forest
This is a seated show. East Forest is a multidisciplinary artist, producer, speaker, and ceremony guide. Since 2008, East Forest’s “lush” (Rolling Stone) and “blissful” (NPR) music has blended ambient, neoclassical, electronic, and avant-pop to explore sound as a tool for inner journeys and consciousness expansion. The project’s latest endeavor is “Music for Mushrooms,” a feature-length narrative documentary showcasing the transformative power of psychedelics, music, and community. East Forest’s most recent musical release, “Lovingly: A Soundtrack For The Psychedelic Practitioner, vol. III” is an immersive long-form live album, over six hours in length, and intended to guide journeys of deep introspection from start to finish. The third volume of his Soundtrack For The Psychedelic Practitioner series, the music was recorded and improvised live inside psilocybin ceremonies facilitated between 2020 and 2024. East Forest’s extensive catalog includes over 30 albums and notable collaborations with artists such as Ram Dass, Jon Hopkins, Laraaji, Dead Prez, Nick Mulvey, Peter Broderick, Max Cooper, and DJ ANNA. The project has performed at major festivals and venues internationally. As a trailblazer in meditation and inner resilience, East Forest offers guided meditations, retreats, and a podcast (“Ten Laws w/East Forest”). His approach promotes non-religious, accessible spirituality. He’s a faculty member at the Esalen Institute and has collaborated with institutions across social justice, mental health, science, music, and creative fields, including Google, Johns Hopkins, UCSF, Stanford, and TED. His work has appeared on Bright Antenna, Domino, Mercury KX, Aquilo, Ghostly, as well as Tender Loving Empire & Universal/Decca. Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Spotify | Soundcloud | TikTok
Ethan Regan: I Almost Graduated Tour
Music goes beyond skin deep for Ethan Regan. Piercing the surface, he’s not just singing and playing guitar; he’s laying his emotions bare, getting out those words that we don’t always say when we should, and practicing the best kind of therapy—out loud. As a vocalist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, the North Carolina native shapes each facet of his artistry, architecting soundscapes, performing every part, and belting right from the soul. Sonically, he fuses gentle, yet heartfelt folk with alternative experimentation, going as far as to pull inspiration from rock, hip-hop, and funk. Born in Raleigh, his family settled in Charlotte by the time he turned five-years-old. Even though mom and dad encouraged him to learn guitar with lessons, his interest in the instrument waivered until he stumbled upon a YouTube clip of Damien Rice at a festival. During freshman year of high school, Ethan learned how to produce on Ableton and started to drop D.I.Y. projects. Attending Penn State for college, he constantly posted music on TikTok. Eventually, “Durham” incited a viral frenzy. Its popularity crossed over to DSPs, amassing several million Spotify streams at the start. Meanwhile, “My Fault” and “Secrecy” sparked the same result and saw streams grow rapidly. Simultaneously, he progressed into a formidable performer on stage galvanized by hundreds of shows and dates with everyone from Rainbow Kitten Surprise to Chelsea Cutler and Jeremy Zucker. Building on this foundation, he packed houses on his first headline run in 2025. Once again, Ethan connects at a core level through a series of singles for Columbia Records and more to come. Website | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify | Soundcloud
Mipso
Mipso formed in 2012 as an excuse to play together between classes in Chapel Hill. Joseph Terrell came from a family of banjo-playing uncles and a guitarist grandma, and he’d gotten curious again about the string band music he’d heard as a kid. Jacob Sharp was raised on equal parts Doc Watson and Avett Brothers in the N.C. mountains and was hunting for a chance to sing harmonies. Wood Robinson added a Charlie Haden-esque interest in bridging jazz and grass sensibilities on the double bass, and Libby Rodenbough soon joined on fiddle, unsatisfied by her classical violin training but drawn like a moth toward the glow of old, weird Americana.Their first album, “Dark Holler Pop,” produced by Andrew Marlin (Watchhouse), included Terrell-penned fan favorites “Louise” and “Couple Acres Greener” and turned the recent grads into a full-blown touring band. Although it hung out on the Billboard Bluegrass top 10, its sonic mission statement was in the name: “Dark Holler Pop” was groovier and catchier than its string band contemporaries.2015’s “Old Time Reverie” earned them an invitation to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade wherein they rolled down 5th Avenue on a 12-foot bucket of fried chicken. They doubled down on touring, honing a telepathic, sibling-esque connection onstage.2017’s “Coming Down The Mountain,” produced by Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Waxahatchee), added drums and pedal steel and put the band on bigger stages with an expanded Americana sound, including the Rodenbough-fronted title track, another streaming hit and live staple.Mipso considered hanging up their hats in 2018 while recording “Edges Run” with Todd Sickafoose (Ani DiFranco, Anais Mitchell). After five years of near-constant touring, they had started to wake up in hotel rooms wondering what state they were in; they’d never had pets. The album took off. Sharp’s intimate vocal on “People Change” floated into dorm rooms and coffee shops across America, cementing Mipso as a bona fide streaming success across four albums and placing them in that rarefied strata of bands with three distinct lead singers. 2020’s self-titled start-fresh album on Rounder Records brought experimental Canadian producer Sandro Perri into the mix and minted a collection with moodier landscapes and unexpected textures.Post-pandemic Mipso is starting fresh again with “Book of Fools.” The songs might be their best yet. “Carolina Rolling By” shows Terrell at his most relaxed and confident—it’s a meditative cosmic country-tinged head bopper. “The Numbers” flirts with 60s surf rock while Rodenbough winks and wags a finger at our market-obsessed culture, and “Broken Heart/Open Heart” features Sharp at his most heart-wrenching and earnest. Other standouts “East” and “Radio Hell” will infect you with earworms made of guitar riffs, Robinson’s pretzel-twisted upright bass lines, and saturated “ooohs” drifting in as if on AM radio waves. Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Marshall Crenshaw – 40+ Years in Showbiz
This is a seated show. Born in 1953 in Detroit, Michigan, Marshall Crenshaw learned to tune a guitar correctly at age ten and has been trying ever since. His first big break came in 1978 playing John Lennon in “Beatlemania”, first as an understudy in New York, then in the West Coast company, followed by a national touring company. Removing himself from that situation in Feb. 1980, Marshall settled in New York City. Enthralled by the hyper-diverse musical culture of the City, and the local Rock scene in particular, Marshall formed a Rock and Roll band with brother Robert on drums and Chris Donato on bass. After crossing paths with the great and legendary Alan Betrock, Marshall recorded his debut single “Something’s Gonna Happen” for Betrock’s Shake Records label; at nearly the same time, legendary Rockabilly singer Robert Gordon’s recording of Marshall’s “Someday Someway” was released as a single on the RCA label. These two records simultaneously broke big on New York’s WNEW-FM, causing Marshall and his trio’s local popularity to explode. And so began a career that’s spanned four decades, 13 albums, Grammy and Golden Globe nominations, film and TV appearances (Buddy Holly in “La Bamba”) and thousands of live performances. Marshall Crenshaw’s musical output has maintained a consistent fidelity to the qualities of artfulness, and passion, and his efforts have been rewarded with the devotion of a broad and loyal fan base. Presently, along with touring around the country and the occasional recording project, other current projects include producing a documentary film-in progress about legendary record producer Tom Wilson. Says Crenshaw, “This is a road that I’d never imagined taking before, but it’s been an incredible learning experience.” “Although he was seen as a latter-day Buddy Holly at the outset, he soon proved too talented and original to be anyone but himself.” – Trouser Press Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
TWRP. The Longest Weekend 2025 Tour
It is said that the natural world is magic through the eyes of a child. But since it is illegal to harvest children’s eyes, you must use your own. Look around you. See the forest. See the lake. See that tickets are on sale now for “The Longest Weekend Tour 2025”. Disconnect from the digital world and take a load off with TWRP in a brand new chapter of their energetic live show. Website | Instagram | Facebook | Youtube | Spotify | Bandcamp
harf.
harf. (Will Harford) is a singer-songwriter from Connecticut known for his melancholy, journal-entry style lyrics and melodic folk music. His raw and simplistic songwriting style is direct and personal, holding nothing back. YouTube | Instagram | Spotify
Thalia Zedek Band
Thalia Zedek’s considerable body of work demonstrates a clarity of vision, a singular performance style, and an expansive range. Her ability to deliver raw emotions through her vivid stories of loss and hope, strife and triumph is unmatched. Zedek has long been a melodic songwriter in a series of heavy bands. That contrast, along with her distinct blend of both direct and poetic lyrics, allows her to sing of the most difficult of life’s moments in ways that are both elevating and devastating. Out and proud her entire career, Thalia never hesitates to speak truth to power. A commanding presence, Zedek wields her band like a storm, hurling tempests and cutting through the mist with precision, the ensemble swelling and unspooling in sync with her every gesture. The Boat Outside Your Window finds Thalia Zedek contemplating absence and distance, with songs as spirited as they are profoundly moving. Since the departure of violist Dave Curry and pianist Mel Lederman following the 2021 album Perfect Vision, the core band of Zedek (guitar and vocals), bassist Winston Braman, and drummer Gavin McCarthy (Karate) have been joined by pedal steel guitarist Karen Sarkisian. On The Boat Outside Your Window, Sarkisian’s counter-melodies and oblique augmentations created with nontraditional tools like an Ebow, add an otherworldly quality to songs. The grit of Zedek’s guitar and drive of Braman and McCarthy are met with synth-like swells and more harmonic density. As Zedek guides the ensemble towards more tender passages, melodies unfold gently, with ease. The album features guests Nancy Asch (percussion) and Beth Heinberg (piano) whose subtle touches are added to “Shoes” and “Aliyah”. Unlike the more politically-charged songs of Perfect Vision and Fighting Season (2018), the songs on The Boat Outside Your Window reflect inwards. The energetic “Tsunami” seamlessly intertwines the personal and the political; the rising wave of pedal steel surrounds the song’s core guitar figure. “Aliyah”’ (meaning rising, ascending, exalted) is a song about the ancient tower of Babel and the utter communication breakdown that humankind is currently in the midst of. “Disarm” deals with personal separation and reunification while “Circus,” looks at broader helplessness and loss of control. The downtempo, longing “Boat” gorgeously captures the beauty and pain of seeing a person one misses in one’s surroundings. The poignant “Shoes”, a song inspired by Berlin, braids haunting images of the past with an unsettling present. Throughout the album, Zedek deftly uncovers how external realities manifest in our internal worlds. Zedek’s mastery of songwriting is on full display on The Boat Outside Your Window. Her unique musical voice remains potent and pointed. Cultivating her sound with purpose and an unflinching view of humanity, Zedek’s words and music are both invigorating, and capable of capturing the deep emotional complexities of life. The Boat Outside Your Window is Thalia Zedek reaching new heights, reinforcing her status as a peerless songwriter and voice. Linktree | Instagram | Facebook
Skating Polly
Over the past decade, few artists have embodied the unbridled freedom of punk like Skating Polly. Formed when stepsisters Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse were just 9 and 14, the Oklahoma-bred band have channeled their chameleonic musicality into a sound they call “ugly pop,” unruly and subversive and wildly melodic. With Kelli’s brother Kurtis Mayo joining on drums in 2017, they’ve also built a close-knit community of fans while earning the admiration of their musical forebears, a feat that’s found them collaborating with icons like X’s Exene Cervenka and Beat Happening’s Calvin Johnson, touring with Babes In Toyland, and starring as the subject of a feature-length documentary. On their double album Chaos County Line, Skating Polly reach a whole new level of self-possession, ultimately sharing their most expansive and emotionally powerful work to date. The follow-up to 2018’s The Make It All Show, Chaos County Line finds Skating Polly working again with Brad Wood, the acclaimed producer behind indie-rock classics like Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville. As their songs journey from art-punk to noise-rock to piano-driven power-pop, the band matches that musical complexity with a sharply honed narrative voice that manifests in countless forms (ultravivid poetry, diary-like confession, fearlessly detailed storytelling, etc.). Not only the outcome of their constant growth as songwriters, Chaos County Line’s scope and depth has much to do with Skating Polly’s newly heightened clarity of vision. “All these songs are the most special to me of anything I’ve ever written, and I think Kelli feels the same,” says Peyton. “In the past I didn’t always write with a clear purpose, but this time I knew exactly what I wanted to say. We both ended up writing about the most difficult emotional experiences we’ve ever been through, and instead of being terrified of saying exactly what I was feeling it just all came out so naturally.” Whether they’re opening up about matters internal (identity, disassociation, unhealthy coping mechanisms) or external (obsession, deception, gaslighting), Skating Polly imbue that outpouring with an unfettered emotional truth. On songs like Chaos County Line’s frenetic lead single “Hickey King,” Kelli and Peyton trade off vocals as they share their distinct perspectives on closely related experiences—in this case, the minefield of power dynamics in sex and relationships. “In Peyton’s verse she’s talking about never knowing how far to go or how much of yourself to give to someone, and when my part comes crashing in it’s about guys being possessive and always trying to leave their mark on you,” Kelli says. “To me it’s the most Skating Polly song on the record, because it’s all these different energies happening at once.” Meanwhile, on “I’m Sorry For Always Apologizing,” Skating Polly deliver a bouncy piece of bubblegum-punk in which Kelli calls herself out on certain messy behavior in her past. Website | Instagram | Spotify | Facebook | YouTube
Bonny Light Horseman
Bonny Light Horseman’s new album, Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free, is an ode to the blessed mess of our humanity. Confident and generous, it is an unvarnished offering that puts every feeling and supposed flaw out in the open. The themes are stacked high and staked even higher: love and loss, hope and sorrow, community and family, change and time all permeate Bonny Light Horseman’s most vulnerable and bounteous offering to date. Yet for all of its humanistic touchpoints, Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free was forged from a kind of unexplainable magic. Written over five months in 2023, this third album began when the band’s core trio–Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson, and Josh Kaufman–convened in an Irish pub alongside beloved collaborators JT Bates (drums), Cameron Ralston (bass), and recording engineer Bella Blasko. Mitchell suggested the pub as their first recording location, based on her one conversation with owner Joe O’Leary. She had a feeling about the place, and was surprised by her bandmates’ enthusiasm for the idea. Stepping inside the pub’s aged confines, the trio felt an immediate connection to its palpable sense of community, and of family, forged over many decades. The pub was Levis (pronounced: “leh-viss”) Corner House, a century-old watering hole in Ballydehob, a tiny coastal village in County Cork, and its energy became a singular source of Bonny Light Horseman’s creative engine. The pub’s upright piano, which they lubricated with olive oil to quiet its creaking, became a sort of spiritual fulcrum, a single entity that embodied all of the album’s motifs: imperfection as a badge of honor; aging, endurance and the passage of time; how the simplest of acts can heal us. The analogs–between this century-old meeting place of local folk and this trio of American folkies–were undeniable. “It has this sense of history; it’s also small, and crammed with a bunch of stuff that’s spilling all over the place,” says Kaufman. “It was like the pub version of our band.” A painting that hung on a wall of the pub, which watched over the band during their time working, became the album cover. “I was making eye contact with that person for most of the recording,” Johnson said of the artwork. And there was a deeper connection. Before the band had even planned to record in the pub, the owner’s wife had named the woman in the painting Bonnie. There’s magic in a place like Levis Corner House, yes, but it takes the right wizards to wield it. At the center of Bonny Light Horseman is, always, the singular combination of three powerful and tender artists–artists who expertly dodge superlatives but are quick to acknowledge the ways they strengthen and enrich one another, and the bond that makes each one better, braver and more vulnerable than they’d be on their own. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the force of their voices together, which work with complete trust in one another through the gentlest moments and the most ruthless wails. The result can comfort and cradle listeners, but also leaves them rattled, wrecked, and reborn. Website | Facebook | Instagram
