Dan Bern
If you must put him in a box, make sure it’s a big box! Undefinable by genre, crossing over and through folk, rock, singer-songwriter, and kids music, Dan Bern is a captivating live performer with a loyal, multi-generational following. He has written thousands of songs, released dozens of albums, and played shows across North America and Europe–from coffee shops to Carnegie Hall, and he most recently opened for The Who. Dan’s songs have appeared in numerous films (“Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” “Get Him to the Greek” “The Bubble” “Zero Effect”) and TV shows (Amazon Prime’s award-winning kids program “The Stinky & Dirty Show”). A rare, and true renaissance artist, Dan is the author of several books, is a prolific painter, has his own podcast, and internet radio station. During Covid, his online “Hunkered in the Bunker” shows developed their own passionate community of followers. His topical sports songs are regularly featured on “The Tony Kornheiser Show.” Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band – Hello Starling 20th Anniversary Tour
Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band – Performing the Album ‘Hello Starling’ Josh and band will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Josh’s 2003 breakthrough record, Hello Starling, with a very limited North America headline tour, playing the album in full (plus more music). This follows a sold out European autumn tour celebrating the album. A note from Josh: “When I wrote Hello Starling, I was playing coffee shops and open mics. By the time it came out, I was on tour with the Frames and Joan Baez. I was practically living on the road, hearing my songs on the radio for the first time, staying up all night, touring North America & Europe with my band, doing all these things I had only dreamt of. It was a grand time. For the 20th anniversary of the album, the band and I will be taking a swing through Hello Starling this February. We’ll play the entire album in full, front to back, and then play a bunch more music. Thank you all for listening all these years! Love, Josh” Praise for Josh Ritter: “There have been plenty of highlights in Ritter’s 20-year (plus) recording career.” – AP “Harking back to Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and maybe a little Mark Knopfler, Mr. Ritter has always been a slinger of serious ideas and high-flown imagery.” – The New York Times “Josh Ritter remains at the top of his game two decades into a highlight-strewn career. He’d be forgiven for loosening his grip, but his hand has never felt surer.” – NPR Music “If you love music and have a device on which to play it, you should listen to Josh Ritter whenever you need sound.”—Mary-Louise Parker in Esquire “Mysterious, melancholy, melodic…and those are only the M’s.”—Stephen King in Entertainment Weekly Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
MIKE
MIKE is a quintessential old soul. The 24-year-old artist’s wisdom is evident in both his calm delivery and measured questioning, even if he doesn’t always understand the depth of his words until they’re written. “All of these random ideas come to my head, but always end up making sense after it’s done,” the NY-based rapper-producer says about his method. Known for introspective, subtly profound rhymes that explore grief, family, and identity, and melt over muffled, soul-seasoned samples, on his expansive new record Burning Desire MIKE reaches new heights far above the sonic foundation he laid with his previous project. As MIKE’s career flourishes – already spanning numerous critically celebrated albums and tours with artists like Blood Orange, Earl Sweatshirt, The Alchemist, and Freddie Gibbs – his inner world demands nurturing. In a noisy metropolis, it can be hard to see beyond what’s right in front you, to find stillness. “So much shit is happening on surface level, it’s hard to have some idea of external shit outside of that,” MIKE says. The beloved rapper has come a long way from making waves in underground hip-hop circles with the [sLUms] collective—a group of young rappers Adé Hakim, Darryl Johnson, King Carter, Jazz Jodi, and DJ Mason formed in New York in 2015. In 2017 MIKE released his mixtape May God Bless Your Hustle, capturing a singular moment in a city where the only constant is change. It received a Best New Music review from Pitchfork as MIKE started to gain international attention outside of New York City. At the end of 2018 MIKE released his album War In My Pen independently, and followed it up in mid 2019 with Tears of Joy, his second album to be selected for Pitchfork’s Best New Music. MIKE’s Weight of the World, released in 2020, is nearly entirely self-produced, and only contains features from Jadasea and Earl Sweatshirt. It is one of MIKE’s most introspective and sonically diverse releases. Disco! followed Weight of the World, and saw MIKE combine his new style of production with his top tier songwriting and delivery. On his most recent record, Beware of the Monkey, MIKE polished the sound he established with Weight of the World and Disco! and cemented himself as one of the main figures at the front of a new wave of hip hop that is showing early signs of cracking the mainstream – a wave that MIKE himself pioneered. Three weeks ahead of Burning Desire, MIKE released Faith Is A Rock, a collaborative LP with fellow NYC rapper Wiki and legendary producer The Alchemist. The project is a kind of passing of the torch, that sees Alchemist cosign MIKE as the future of hip hop not only within New York but far beyond the city. As producer dj blackpower, MIKE has armed himself with a tapestry of ancestral sound built upon repurposed material, from soulful cuts to archival motifs. The ethos of dj blackpower shows up throughout episodes of IFE Radio, an ecosystem of black sound (Sun Ra, Miles Davis, Roy Ayers, Yesterday’s New Quintet) he hosts, featuring guest conversations and sets from artists like duendita and Frank Dorrey. “You don’t have to ask to be a leader. You have to do things and if the spot is open and needed, it will be there for you,” MIKE says about using his platform to build community. Young World III, the third iteration of the day-long festival he organizes at Bed Stuy’s Herbert Von King Park (performers included Noname, MAVI, Jay Critch, 454 and more), epitomized his impact. Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | Soundcloud
Eddie Fest 2023
Secret Monkey Weekend Rachel Hirsh Nikki Meets The HibachiMy hopes for a Valley Missing Receipts Oort PatrolZone Jamm tha Nubian iannie
Paul Thorn and Steve Poltz
This show is seated.Similar backgrounds yet different paths. Paul Thorn and Steve Poltz have a 20+ year friendship and are taking it on the road and in the ring together this Spring for a multi-city tour, surely to bring love, laughter and mischief along with them. Equal parts humor, poignant stories, and expert musicianship, these two storytellers with contagious smiles will put on a show that will make you laugh one minute and cry the next.Paul Thorn: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTubeSteve Poltz: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | Soundcloud
Mitch Rowland
Even as a little kid, singer-songwriter Mitch Rowland was obsessed with guitar music. He will never forget how it initially hit him, sitting in front of the first jukebox he ever saw, letting the sound wash over him. He was four years old, growing up with his family on the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio. “My dad had a friend who was single but owned a house,” he says. “And instead of normal furniture in his living room, he had a pool table and this vintage jukebox in the corner. You’d stick the quarter in and it would fall out the bottom and you could just keep putting on songs.” Rowland was instantly fascinated with bands like The Black Crowes and Aerosmith, and would listen to their singles over and over again. The beautiful, introspective folk music on Rowland’s debut album, Come June, can be traced back to that jukebox, which inspired a lifelong exploration of why he loves certain sounds, and how to make them himself. Although Rowland already has impressive songwriting credits to his name, as one of Harry Styles’ collaborators on major hits like “Watermelon Sugar” and “Golden,” Come June is truly the beginning of the most important chapter yet in Rowland’s artistic evolution. By the time he was five and his older brother got a drum kit, Rowland already had the urge to play. “My brother would kick my ass if I tried to sit behind his kit while he was home,” he says, “so I had to get my time in when he was out with friends. From there I was self-taught, just by playing along to records.” He started with Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and then added some of those Aerosmith and Crowes tunes to his repertoire on drums, and then began teaching himself guitar, alone in his bedroom. By college, he had started experimenting with writing his own songs, but still yearned for a sense of direction. Cut to 2008, and Rowland is at an arts festival in Columbus, playing a game where you spin a wheel to win tickets to different upcoming concerts. “Out of all these shows, it landed on the Black Crowes, and I won two tickets,” he says. “So I asked my dad if he wanted to go with me. I hadn’t listened to the Black Crowes since I was a kid, so it seemed like something fun to do. But then it turned into a show that really grabbed me, where I had to go listen to everything they’d ever done. And I got really into wondering, ‘Why do I like the sound of Rich Robinson’s guitar so much?’ And that was how I discovered the world of open tunings. Because sometimes Rich is coming from Keith Richards’ world of playing open G, but then if you read enough interviews with him, he cites Nick Drake as his gateway into open tunings. And so that became my gateway into Nick Drake and other artists like that, as well. And I think all of that goes back to the jukebox.”Rowland started putting songs together after that Black Crowes show, spending countless hours in his bedroom, playing and playing and playing, figuring out his own sound. Then, in 2013, Rowland decided to move out to Los Angeles, following a friend who was heading out there to be an engineer. “If you would have asked me back then, I don’t know what I would have said I was planning to do,” he admits. “The goal was to play music, but I was kind of in the slow lane.” He looked for work as a dishwasher, applying everywhere in LA, “but I had no dishwashing experience,” he says, “so I couldn’t get hired.”Website | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube
Dyke Night: Haunted House
Brace yourself for Dyke Night: Haunted House, a queer horror show hosted by King Shade and Lady Dyke. Featuring drag from Asmodeous, Kali Fuchis, and Poison, as well as the original music of Found Family and the Hyphenellas. Bring your friends, your nail polish remover, and DRESS OUT!!!
Sarah Jarosz
Four-time GRAMMY winner Sarah Jarosz has announced her new album, Polaroid Lovers. The record is set for release on January 26th, 2024 via Rounder Records. To mark the occasion she has shared the album opener, “Jealous Moon,” and its companion video. The song finds Jarosz backed by a decidedly more electric band, with her Texas lilt as clear and evocative as ever. Polaroid Lovers is available for pre-order today digitally and on vinyl with gray, lavender, orange and green splatter variants. Indie retailers will also have a special blue and green splatter vinyl. For more information visit https://store.sarahjarosz.com/Sarah Jarosz on “Jealous Moon” I wrote this song with Daniel Tashian in Monteagle, TN on a screened in porch with birds chirping all around. It was a warm summer afternoon. It started as a quiet melody on ukulele and nylon string guitar, but when we got to the studio it became something much more powerful. It’s a song about the times when the parts of ourselves that we try to keep hidden rise to the surface and we have no choice but to ride the wave. Sometimes that means doing your own thing to figure it out so you can emerge stronger on the other side. It’s not about the end of a relationship, but rather a moment of self reflection and a promise to keep showing up even when things get tough. Once Daniel played the opening riff on piano I knew it had to open the album. I’m always seeking to push myself into new sonic territory, and this song gave me permission to not hold back.The seventh album from Sarah Jarosz finds the highly decorated songwriter at the apex of change. A Texas native, she’s spent most of her adult life living in New York City, but shortly before writing the album Jarosz left her adopted home to join her soon-to-be husband in Nashville, TN. The geographic shake-up led to a sonic one as well for Polaroid Lovers. For the first time in her career she opened herself up to collaborators, leading to writing sessions with Daniel Tashian, Ruston Kelly and Natalie Hemby. The creative reorganization of her writing process evolved to include a much richer and more electric sound in the studio and being in Nashville meant access to a world of hot shot players. She tapped guitarist Rob McNelley (Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood), Tom Bukovac (Tom Petty, Vince Gill) on guitar and organ, her husband- bassist Jeff Picker (Nickel Creek), and drummer Fred Eltringham (Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams) for the album recording. Tashian took the helm as producer and the whole album was laid down at the legendary Sound Emporium.As it goes with all change, Jarosz’s major life events had her feeling contemplative. While sitting on the precipice of adulthood, Polaroid Lovers finds her reflecting on past loves, childhood dreams, the places she lived in and all the versions of herself that she’s been. Although the listener experiences the sonic shift forward, the album’s subject matter is a photo album of the past. Jarosz has never sounded more assured. Polaroid Lovers is filled with the kind of confidence that comes from hard won life experiences and the conviction of someone who truly knows herself.Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | TikTok
The Gone Ghosts & Old Heavy Hands
The Gone Ghosts is an Alt-Country Americana/Rock band from Carrboro NC, formed by singer/guitarist and songwriter Dave Hedeman and bassist Dillon Partin from The Vagabond Union. Joined by singer/guitarist Justin Bowlin and drummer Scott Jones. Dave started his music career fronting East Coast college favorite, Puddleduck from 1993 to 2000 before vanishing from the music scene for almost a decade. In 2008, while moving to Carrboro, Dave had a chance encounter with Jason Isbell, who he credits as his inspiration to re-engage with creating music. “I was moving from South Florida to Carrboro and stopped in Charleston to catch one of his shows at the Pour House,” he recalls. “After the show, I walked up to him and struck up a conversation. At one point I said, ‘I used to be a musician.’ He looked me in the eyes and said, ‘You still are.’” It was a pivotal moment. Dave found his spirit renewed. And another decade later, he’s bringing to life the lyrics that have haunted his subconscious. Dave hasn’t spent the intervening ten years laying low. Shortly after his move, he formed The Vagabond Union, based in Charleston, SC, with his long time friend John Kenney. They’ve released two albums with the band. Still, Dave felt he needed to give voice to deeply personal lyrics that didn’t seem right for The Vagabond Union’s mostly rock sound. So in the Spring of 2018, Dave formed The Gone Ghosts to lean more toward Americana and alt country sound that he holds dear. The Gone Ghosts set out to create their version of American rock music with songs fueled by love, loss and heartache. Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeOld Heavy Hands is a Southern Rock band from Greensboro, NC. The band name pays tribute to their roots and conception. Many of their songs started on acoustics at Legacy Irons Tattoo in downtown Greensboro where three of the members earn their living. They blend together nostalgia from the golden era of Muscle Shoals and their adolescent years of punk rock influence to create a unique brand of Rock music for the modern age. The upcoming record “Small Fires” was tracked at The Fidelitorium and Earthtones Recording studio.Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Chatham Rabbits
This is a partially seated show. There is something warm and instantly familiar about the beloved roots duo, Chatham Rabbits. Partners in music and life, Chatham Rabbits’ Austin and Sarah McCombie blend their personal histories through deft songwriting and a history that comes from building a life together. Leaning into each other’s strengths, their songs present a congenial, collaborative spirit that has captured the pure adoration of fans along the way and earned them praise from Garden & Gun Magazine, American Songwriter, and No Depression. Their artistry hinges on a fervent desire to connect with others through the music that first brought the pair together. Steeped in the regional traditions of their North Carolina home, Chatham Rabbits’ musical pursuits represent a new age of roots music. Chatham Rabbits recorded and released their beloved debut album, All I Want From You in 2019. This set the standard for their sophomore release The Yoke is Easy, The Burden is Full—the centerpiece song “Oxen” was named “Top Folk Song of 2020” by Paste Magazine. Nurtured by central North Carolina’s fertile, influential music scene, Chatham Rabbits’ sound continues to evolve in their expansive third album, If You See Me Riding By (2022), which was simultaneously released with a television series, On the Road with Chatham Rabbits, on PBS-NC. The McCombies ingenuity during the Covid-19 crisis led to the creation of their mobile concert experience, The Stay at Home Tour, which took the duo to 194 neighborhoods in 2020-21. The pair is currently recording their fourth album of poignant original songs and continuing to foster their tight-knit fan community across the US. Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
