Liana Flores
Liana Flores’ story is one of cultural cross-pollination, unlikely chances, and quite possibly a signpost for the evolution of folk music in the digital age. Raised in rural Norfolk pre-internet ubiquity, the bossa nova CDs belonging to Liana’s Brazilian mother were a first glimpse into a musical world beyond Eleanor Rigby on cassette and Gilbert & Sullivan in the village hall. At 19, she went from building an early listener base with showtune covers in the YouTube era, to penning her own songs. The influences all started coming together, in self-recorded songs combining the harmonic stylings of bossa nova guitar with personal lyrics – often gloomy but persevering, expressing anxieties and depicting the nature in her hometown. Three years later, one of these unassuming songs, ‘rises the moon’, was uploaded to TikTok without the singer’s knowledge and became a surprise hit, spawning countless cover versions before the labels came calling. Nearly a billion streams later, it’s arguably a defining folk song of its generation. After signing to Verve Records, a full-length record, Flower of the soul, followed in 2024. Drawing from sunshine pop, bossa nova and psych folk, and featuring newly polished studio production and a full band, the record marked a metamorphosis from DIY recluse to rising artist with records available in stores all over the world, and a tour spanning UK, Europe, the US, and Asia. Her latest single, “So it goes” is inspired by classic bossa nova in the vein of Burt Bacharach and Astrud Gilberto, reflecting the pace of city life since moving to London. Bandcamp · Instagram · YouTube · Spotify
HARBOUR
Since their formation in 2014, HARBOUR has gone from packing rooms in their native Cincinnati, to selling out venues across the United States. Members Ryan Green (vocals/guitar), Jarett Lewis (guitar), Zack Lemons (guitar), Ryan Sulken (drums), and Devon Turner (bass) have curated an infectious high energy sound that transfers seamlessly into their live shows. During their tenure as a group, HARBOUR has delivered 5 full length albums – the latest of which, entitled Great, Big, Insignificant, was released in October 2025 after much anticipation. After supportings artists such as Bilmuri & Wilderado, HARBOUR successfully completed their first multinational headline tour in 2025. With more shows on the way in celebration of the new album, and even more music in the works, the band’s future is sure to be anything but insignificant. Website
The Hails – Duckpond Tour
Following a string of encounters too strange to be coincidence, Robbie Kingsley, Franco Solari, Dylan McCue and Zach Levy came together to form The Hails. Despite first playing in an insular Miami high school music scene, the band officially formed at the University of Florida in Gainesville, turning the tattered carpeting and beer bottle lined shelves of their shitty college house into a distinct, refined sound that is now synonymous with their name. After graduation, the group made the pilgrimage back to their home of Miami, the city that directly influenced the sound of their early shimmering singles “Younger” and “Stay,” debut EP He Seems Upset (2020), and the subsequent Alive in Strange Ways (2021).After releasing their debut album What’s Your Motive (2023) and gaining international praise, The Hails have created their own unique style of collaboration with band members living in Miami, DC and Brooklyn. Recent highlights of the road include holding court at festivals like Governors Ball, III Points and Okeechobee, interspersed between sold-out headline shows and tour support for The Revivalists, Quarters, The Beaches, flipturn and the moss. This year will see The Hails back out on the road as they ready for the release of their second full-length album later this year. Instagram · Facebook · TikTok · YouTube · Spotify
The Tubs
Upon arriving in the United States for The Tubs’ first tour of the country, frontman Owen Williams told The New Yorker, “We’re here to unite the country. We’re gonna come, like, three times. By that point, I think this place will start healing.” Then, joyously, they did just that, piling into a van and criss-crossing the States, bringing their literary, bleary-eyed, world-weary, night-of-your-life highwire act to the masses when it was needed most. Along the way, they signed to Merge Records, who will release The Tubs’ third full-length album, Hard Life, on September 11, 2026. The Tubs have never lacked for ambition — on Hard Life, theirs is to complicate the Tub-ullar experience. Having perfected their sound across two albums and hundreds of shows, the London-based Celtic jangle boyband — Williams (vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass), Dan Lucas (guitar), Taylor Stewart (drums), and Max Warren (bass) — push themselves even further into the shimmering heart of virtuosic indie rock. They’re joined by frequent collaborators Lan McArdle (vocals), George Nicholls (guitar), and Rachel Kenedy (keyboards), all of whom have orbited various Tubs and Gob Nation-adjacent efforts dating back to Joanna Gruesome, but the secret to Hard Life’s lushness is the addition of fiddle player Chris Haigh, an instructor and session musician who left an indelible mark on British pop on Steps’ “5, 6, 7, 8.” Mirroring Williams’ use of trilling on vocal melodies, Haigh’s fiddle shades the vocalist’s rueful croon like a bruise. On “Stoop to Me,” the folkiest, jangliest pop song on the album, Haigh’s licks complement Williams at his most self-deprecating, the lopsided smile of a guy trying not to let on how wounded he is in unrequited love. On album opener and title track “Hard Life,” it’s the sweetness of the ascending fiddle lines in the mix that weds the harshness of Williams’ lyrics to The Tubs’ fist-pumping anthemics. The hard line Williams takes here and elsewhere on Hard Life further troubles one’s idea of a Tubs song. The persona familiar to listeners of Cotton Crown and Dead Meat — to quote Williams, “navel gazing about romantic abjection, London squalor, and the indignities of grief and OCD” — is still present, but so too is a second voice, steelier and more experienced. “The second persona doesn’t have much time for the first,” Williams explains, “often haranguing him for his self-indulgence and immaturity; sometimes fairly, sometimes unfairly.” It’s the scold who takes center stage on lead single “Who’s Gonna Love You Now?” His questions, from the titular one to more concrete concerns like “Who’s gonna pay the rent?” existing in mocking opposition to ideas like moving to the city and really starting to live. Though Williams plays the crank, the song is a raver, guitars ringing out over an organ-brightened horizon. “It’s your life,” Williams sings, the life chugging away beneath him sounding exceptionally keen. He wouldn’t have much sympathy for the lovelorn Williams of “If You Don’t Love Me” — hell, his whole existence seems like a warning that the kinds of romantic entanglements one suffers when they’re young will end in loneliness, failure, and an inbox choked with unread Substacks. Linktree · Instagram · Facebook · Bandcamp · Substack
Karina Rykman – Late Checkout Tour 2026
Karina Rykman plays bass, sings, jumps around, and laughs a lot. In doing so, she has garnered rare attention and avid listenership. Straddling the worlds of jam rock and indie pop drenched in psychedelia, Karina’s effervescent presence comes to life in musical form. Born & raised in New York City, Karina Rykman’s musical path began in her early teens playing in bands whenever she could while attending a veritable ton of live music as a fan. By the end of her senior year at NYU, Rykman’s virtuoso talent & infectious spirit saw her invited to join pianist Marco Benevento’s band (as recommended by Ween bassist Dave Dreiwitz), with whom she’s performed countless shows including dates with Vulfpeck, Dispatch, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, & many more. Rykman soon formed her own namesake band, accompanied by Adam November (guitar, loopers, effects) and Chris Corsico (drums). She quickly earned a reputation as an unmissable live act – a bombastic exposition that floats freely between dreamy indie pop and thick, distorted rock – with “fun” as its guiding light. Tearing up sold out headline performances to ravenous fans, show-stealing festival performances (including Bonnaroo, Peach Music Festival, and Sweetwater 420 Fest), opening for Khruangbin, My Morning Jacket, the Tedeschi Trucks Band (+ many more), plus recent appearances in the house band on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, Karina stays busy. Rykman released her debut album, JOYRIDE via AWAL in August 2023. Written & recorded with childhood friend and producer Gabe Monro, the album serves as a vivid canvas for Rykman’s vibrant expression & chameleonic songcraft. JOYRIDE features Trey Anastasio as co-producer & featured musician, contributing guitar on five of the album’s nine tracks. The bassist/vocalist’s concerts are often packed with fans who feel more like friends—a testament to her undeniable charisma and her embrace of the live music community—and that circle continues to expand at alarming rates. Website · Facebook · Instagram
The Wldlfe
The Wldlfe, comprised of Jansen Hogan, Carson Hogan, & Jack Crane, entered into the independent scene in 2016 with their smash EP “New, 2016” and have continued to grow one the most steadfast fanbases around through their consistent releases and relentless appetite for touring. An electrifying live act, The Wldlfe has toured sold-out shows across North America in 2023, 2024, and 2025 while cultivating an audience hungry for more. Frontman Jansen Hogan’s magnetic stage presence and infectious charisma, paired with the skillful instrumentation of Carson Hogan and Jack Crane, leave fans with unforgettable experience. With over 100 million global streams to date, The Wldlfe released the Deluxe version of their highest streaming project yet, Heaven is a place, 2024. Website · Instagram · Facebook · Spotify · YouTube · TikTok
The War And Treaty
For the past decade, soulful duo The War And Treaty—the husband-and-wife team of Michael and Tanya Trotter—have released music that continues to elevate them beyond beloved industry favorites, as well as award-season and touring staples, capable of performing on stages worldwide with widespread acclaim and standing ovations. Every aspect of their new project exemplifies the pinnacle of the group’s ever-creative growth within these mentioned ideas. Twelve years after their founding, The War And Treaty have redefined themselves beyond Academy of Country Music, Country Music Association, and GRAMMY nominations. Moreover, being lauded by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Grand Ole Opry, and the Americana Music Association, which named them Duo/Group of the Year for two consecutive years, cannot contain them as a group greater than the sum of their most successful parts. Immediately upon listening to their latest album, it’s clear that a more vibrant energy now guides a duo confidently shaping their own destiny. Album collaborators include titans of the arts who are as much friends, mentors, and trusted confidants as they are legends across multiple industries: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award winner Whoopi Goldberg (who provides the spoken word intro for “Litty”), Songwriters Hall of Famer Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds (writer of “You Can’t Hurt Me Anymore”), Country Music Hall of Famer Wynonna Judd, and Grammy-nominated performer Valerie June (both on “Reclaim All Of Your Time”) all contribute as guest artists. Hall of Fame-caliber mentors and influential friends, now serving as relaxed collaborators, shape how powerhouse country-soul vocalists like Valerie June and Wynonna Judd influence The War And Treaty’s latest sound. The duo’s pairing is less unlikely than it appears at first glance: both grew up listening to classic country and Memphis soul records, among many other genres. As a result, on the song “Reclaim All of Your Time,” their styles blend seamlessly with Tanya Trotter’s veteran gospel-soul stylings. For nearly five years after writing the folksy, female-empowerment ballad, Michael Trotter, its creator, believed it should be presented as a conversational piece with layered harmonies. He was right. The song, both in its composition and vocal delivery, combines warmth and strength to forge a rare genre bridge. Beyond collaborations, The War And Treaty’s latest work also thoughtfully seeks to expand Ray Charles’ 50-year-old idea that the best music exists in the tension between sacred sounds and secular desires. Given that Michael and Tanya Trotter are a married couple, their ability to explore that space is obvious. Yet, their decade-long efforts to meet industry expectations in folk, Americana, and country music left significant raw and romantic potential in their sound untapped. “We’re finally performing material that shows people how, beyond being mature and intentional, how sanctified and sexual we can be,” says Tanya Trotter. “For Michael and me, it’s important to show the combination of rawness and sweetness that underlies our soulful sound.” Instagram · Spotify · Facebook · YouTube · TikTok
Carrboro Indie Night
Six Foot Blonde
Chicago-based indie pop/rock outfit Six Foot Blonde delivers a dynamic sound defined by soulful, powerhouse vocals with lush indie rock instrumentation. This six-piece seamlessly blends infectious pop melodies with raw rock energy, cementing their reputation as one of the Midwest’s most exciting emerging acts. They burst onto the scene from Bloomington, Indiana, forming during the pandemic in 2020 as an IU college cover band. They quickly evolved into a tight-knit group of meticulous arrangers. Frontwoman Julia Rusyniak’s soaring voice and deeply personal lyrics backed by a dynamic fusion of indie-rock slide guitar, synth, and three-part harmonies. Their infectious sound and explosive performances are rapidly expanding their dedicated fanbase. “The rare combination of earnest and exciting, the synthesis of frontwoman Julia’s tremendous vocal talent and heartfelt lyrics with a 90’s-alt-washed take on soul pop that is lush, tight-knit, and brimming with energy.” — MOKB Presents “Julia’s voice and lyrics resemble a modern pop artist, backdropped by indie-rock instrumentation uniquely their own.” – Melodic Magazine Website · Facebook · Instagram · Spotify · YouTube
Brian Fallon & The Painkillers
Brian Fallon is known far and wide for his elemental gifts as a songwriter, musician, and storyteller, including four acclaimed solo albums and his role as founding member and frontman of The Gaslight Anthem. Over the course of nearly three decades, the New Jersey-based artist has crafted a constantly evolving body of work, booming with insistent imagery, defiant romanticism, and an extraordinary emotional acuity that has marked all variations of his music from the very start. 2023 saw The Gaslight Anthem return from a long hiatus with History Books, their sixth full-length album and first new studio LP in nine years. The much-beloved band marked the acclaimed album with an epic tour schedule that saw sold-out headline dates and show-stopping festival performances around the world, confirming their ongoing place among the top ranks of American rock ‘n’ roll bands. Website · Instagram · TikTok · YouTube · Spotify