Birds and Arrows
In 2020 the Birds and Arrows began the creation of their 6th full length record. But recording was cut short due to the first big wave of Covid hitting the US. Like all musicians during the lockdown, the band had to cancel all tours and shows putting their livelihood as musicians and artists in jeopardy. Birds and Arrows also had to put all album production on hold for the foreseeable future.In 2021, the band was able to get back into the studio with new ideas to complete the album which would become “Electric Bones.”The album was recorded live at Dust and Stone Studios as a full 4 piece band with Andrea Connolly on lead vocals, rhythm guitar and synth soundscapes, Pete Connolly on drums and vocals, Ben Nisbet on lead guitar and Gabriel Sullivan on bass and in role of producer. By this time Gabe had partnered with full time engineer Frank Bair. The electricity that happened between the live studio band when they returned from lockdown was palpable. The visceral excitement fueled by pent up creativity is the spark that formed “Electric Bones.”“Electric Bones” the new album by Birds and Arrows out August 5th on Hookworm records is a lush combination of moody soundscapes, throwback 70’s groove and classic “in studio” live band sound.This collection of new songs was written by creative duo Andrea and Pete Connolly and is a wild ride through the psyche of lifelong artists digesting an unexpected pandemic lockdown and processing the communal loss of innocence that came with surviving a world shattering pandemic together.“Electric Bones” is authentic on every level, right down to the band’s energetic core performance that burns bright into the studio microphones and shines direct into listeners psyches. The album is a strong collection of thoughtful compositions, dynamic melody and harmony and stellar vocal performances that hint at despair while still maintaining enough hope to shimmer in the dark.The album also features an ethereal vocal duet with Brian Lopez (of XIXA and Calexico) called “Saviors of this Town” Other special guests include Saul Millan (of Los Esplifs) – Moog manipulation. Daniel Martin Diaz (of Trees Speak) – synth on Truth or Consequence. Chris Pierce (of Katie Haverly and the Aviary) – bass on Radio Shack. Marta DeLeon (of Weekend Lovers) – bass on Saviors of This Town.Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
The Greeting Committee
Comprised of Addie Sartino and Pierce Turcotte, joined by Noah Spencer and Micah Ritchie, the spirit of purposeful sharing has served as something of a lifeline for Kansas City band The Greeting Committee.After making their Harvest debut with the Meeting People Is Easy EP in 2017 and the subsequent release of This Is It, the band spent much of the years to follow on the road, with sold-out headline shows in major markets such as Chicago, Austin, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. To date, they’ve toured with the likes of Bombay Bicycle Club, Tennis, Hippo Campus, and Rainbow Kitten Surprise and taken the stage at leading festivals like Lollapalooza and SXSW, in addition to delivering the I’m Afraid I’m Not Angry EP in late 2019 and appearing in Netflix’s To All the Boys: Always and Forever in 2021. The band’s sophomore album ‘Dandelion’ is out now via Harvest/Capitol Records with a deluxe edition, including tracks with Briston Maroney and Tune-Yards. Sartino and Turcotte are currently working on the band’s next project.Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | TikTok
The Wrecks: Back and Better Than Ever Tour
THE WRECKSNick Anderson (Vocals)Aaron Kelly (Bass)Billy Nally (Drums)Nick “Schmizz” Schmidt (Guitar)Hailing from rural Wellsville, New York – almost exactly two hours south of nowhere, it’s not too surprising that there wasn’t much of a music scene. So, in the absence of one, Nick Anderson built one from scratch. In search of like-minded souls who loved the punk and alternative sounds he preferred, Nick turned to the internet. He recruited Aaron Kelley, Billy Nally, and Nick “Schmizz” Schmidt, to road test a new band: The Wrecks. The band’s top five tracks on Spotify have been listened to more than 80 million times, & their first single was a Top 40 Alternative Radio hit. Their most recent single, the post-breakup anthem “I Love This Part” finds the Wrecks’ music evolving as they approach the completion of their second album. Now as they progress towards an even larger reach that far extends above the foundation that they have already built, The Wrecks are poised for a wide-open road ahead of them.Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | TikTok
Eugene Mirman
This is a seated show.Comedian and actor Eugene Mirman immigrated from Moscow with his family at age 4. He grew up in Lexington, MA, attended Hampshire College where he designed his own Comedy major doing a one hour stand-up set as his thesis and has since gone on to a successful career on TV, stage and film. On TV, Eugene can currently be heard as the voice of Gene Belcher on FOX’s Emmy Award winning Bob’s Burgers. He has appeared on many other TV shows including Flight of the Conchords, Delocated, Archer, Broad City, StarTalk, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, Inside Amy Schumer, Conan O’Brien, The Colbert Report, Late Night with Seth Myers, @midnight, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Home Movies and more. Eugene made his animated big screen debut with the theatrical release of "The Bob's Burgers Movie" in spring 2022. As a stand-up, Eugene started his career in Boston before moving to New York where he was one of the kingpins in the city’s early alt-comedy scene. Eugene has two Comedy Central stand-up specials and his comedy special “Vegan on His Way to the Complain Store” is available for streaming. He has released five comedy albums, including his epic Sub Pop Records release I’m Sorry (You’re Welcome), which was made available in multiple formats including a 9-volume digital set, 7 LPs, a chair and a robe. As a touring headliner, Eugene has performed on stages around the world and at festivals including Edinburgh Fringe, Sasquatch, Bonnaroo, SXSW, SF Sketchfest and many more. Along with Julie Smith Clem, Eugene co-founded the comedy production company Pretty Good Friends which began as a weekly comedy show in Brooklyn and grew into tours, large outdoor shows and TV and radio projects. Out of these shows, Mirman and Clem also created the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival which started as a joke and became an annual institution in Brooklyn for 10 years. The festival also spawned the documentary film "It Started As A Joke" which chronicles the decade-long run of the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival, including a final farewell show. The film celebrates Eugene’s unique brand of humor and his role in the alternative comedy movement, offers a bittersweet goodbye to an era, and reminds us of the healing properties of comedy – even in the most challenging of life’s circumstances. The film includes interviews Michael Ian Black, Kristen Schaal, Wyatt Cenac, Ira Glass, John Hodgman, Kumail Nanjiani, Reggie Watts and Michael Showalter, along with performances by Janeane Garofalo, Jim Gaffigan, Jon Glaser, Mike Birbiglia, Bobcat Goldthwait, Michael Che and more. Hailed as "funny and elegiac" (The New York Times) and "a hidden history of alternative comedy” (The Moveable Fest), the film is available on most streaming platforms.Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Soundcloud
The Connells
The Connells, one of North Carolina’s most successful indie rock bands, have new music on the way for the first time since 2001. They’ll break their recording hiatus with “Steadman’s Wake,” a new 11-song album that will be released September 24th, 2021.Beyond the fact that “Steadman’s Wake” is the group’s first new release in over 20 years, it is the first Connells’ album to feature their two newest members, guitarist Mike Ayers and drummer Rob Ladd (who have been in the lineup since 2002 and 2012, respectively), and the band’s first record made up of songs contributed solely by Mike Connell, who happens to take on a more prominent role as vocalist.Additionally, the title track, “Steadman’s Wake,” represents the first time The Connells have ventured into overt politics. Previously, the group tended to let actions and implications do the talking when it came to current events. But taking a more concrete and literal stand was something the times seemed to demand. With references to war, the opioid crisis and the white-supremacist rioting that roiled Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 (and were reprised in the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.), there is no mistaking the message of “Steadman’s Wake.”“We’ve had some oblique socio-political bits here and there over the years,” says Mike Connell. “But never as direct as this. It seems like it’s time. It’s scary, where we still stand in this country with issues of race. Of the 11 songs on the record, the clear consensus within the band was that ‘Steadman’s Wake’ best reflected the band’s take on the temper of the times and best represented the “spirit” of the record.”Off-record and onstage, The Connells have been no strangers to political activism over the years, going back to benefit shows they played for Harvey Gant when he was running against controversial Republican U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms. Nevertheless, taking a musical step into current events was not a decision they made lightly. But as frontman Doug MacMillan concurs, the times are dire enough to demand a response.“Even the least politically minded bands are saying things now because they need to be said,” MacMillan says. “Mike’s never been one for hitting anybody over the head with an agenda, and his lyrics tend to be pretty subtle. But I’m glad we did this. I’ll be interested to see what people think.”Even though it’s been 20 years since their last recording, The Connells never quit playing live, and Mike Connell never quit writing songs. Eventually enough material came together to suggest it was finally time to make another record. “Steadman’s Wake” features eight new songs that have never been released, while three of the album’s songs previously appeared in different versions on 2001’s “Old-School Dropouts” – a collection of demos recorded at the group’s practice space.Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Apple Music
Junior Boys
Fusing disco, soul and modern R&B with New Wave, pop and techno, Junior Boys, the Hamilton, Ontario duo of Jeremy Greenspan and Matt Didemus, have released 5 albums, and numerous EPs over two decades. Their 2004 debut “Last Exit” and its follow up “So This Is Goodbye”, while very well received at the time, have now gained a cult-like following, as their distinctive style seems to have clearly prefigured the digital R&B/synthpop blend so omnipresent within popular music of the last few years. The three following albums were each praised for the increasing emphasis placed on sonic wizardry and non-traditional songcraft. Their last album “Big Black Coat”, released in 2016, was their most overt homage to the techno influence of their youth. It was universally heralded as one of the best records of their career and of the of the best electronic releases of the year 2016. 2023 will mark the 20th anniversary of Junior Boys’ first release “Birthday/Last Exit” EP on Kin Records. In keeping with a celebratory mood, the group is undertaking a tour of North America which will include an expanded band performing songs from all five albums and other rarities. This will be the first opportunity to see the band perform in seven years, and fans can expect a show unlike any other the band has ever performed.Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
The Luka State
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Lucero
Like the great river that flows through Memphis, the music of Lucero keeps rolling on, twisting and turning through the years, the same dark and brooding steadiness always at work.Since forming in late the ‘90s, this group of Memphis road-dogs has mixed heartfelt lyrics with the sounds of early rock and roll, classic punk, country-folk, and deep-fried Southern soul. It’s a sound that stands on the pillars of American music, born more of feeling than technique, delivered night after night to legions of fans in dive bars and theaters, and on stages as august as Red Rocks Amphitheater and the Ryman. In short, it’s music that is built to last, impervious to trends.For their tenth studio album, When You Found Me, the band continues its natural evolution, this time tapping into a more atmospheric, widescreen vision (one that wouldn’t seem out of place on a Reagan-era FM dial) while still staying tethered to its roots.“I wanted a very classic rock sound for this album,” says songwriter and frontman Ben Nichols. “I wanted it to sound like stuff I heard on the radio growing up. I didn’t want to make a retro record at all, but I did want to reference some of those sounds and tones and moods. I think we struck a nice balance between nostalgia and something that still sounds like contemporary Lucero.”Long-time fans might be surprised to hear the ghostly tinge of a synthesizer on a Lucero record. But the new direction is not as far afield as one might think. Rick Steff, the band’s piano and organ man of ten years, collects vintage synthesizers, so this new sonic twist was a natural detour for him. With these flourishes, Steff helps conjure an aural world of classic tracks with a firm foot in the present. Nichols’s long-time fondness for film soundtracks likely contributed to the album’s feel as well. The band has also recorded music for every movie made by Ben’s brother, acclaimed filmmaker Jeff Nichols, whose credits include Mud, Midnight Special, and Shotgun Stories.Lucero recorded When You Found Me over two weeks in July of 2020 at Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis. Matt Ross-Spang, a long-time friend of the band who also produced 2018’s Among The Ghosts, signed on again as producer and engineer. “I don’t think he often records with a lot of synthesizers,” Nichols says, “but he’s a natural and was able to get all the sounds we wanted on the album while making sure we stayed true to ourselves.”During the recording session, Lucero wore masks the entire time, quarantining among themselves and managing not to get sick. The band had not rehearsed since Covid-19 took root. As such, Nichols’ demos were more fleshed out this time around, complete with drum machine, synth, and fairly elaborate guitar parts, which gave the guys more of a playbook to go by when they entered the studio. “The band did an excellent job of taking those parts and making them their own,” Nichols says. Now a fairly stripped-down five-piece shorn of a horn section, Lucero — in addition to Nichols and Steff, the group comprises Brian Venable on guitar, John C. Stubblefield on bass, and Roy Berry on drums — has been able to explore new sonic avenues in its latest form, as the leaner version has opened up more space in the band’s sound.Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Titus Andronicus
With their seventh studio album, revered rock institution Titus Andronicus invite you on a journey from fear to faith, from anger to acceptance, from grief to gratitude, chasing the mythical ideal of Ultimate Rock, all in hopes that you will find The Will to Live.The Will to Live was produced by Titus Andronicus singer-songwriter Patrick Stickles and Canadian icon Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Leonard Cohen, The Whole Nine Yards) at the latter’s Hotel 2 Tango recording studio in Montreal. Drawing on maximalist rock epics from Who’s Next to Hysteria, Bilerman and Stickles have crafted the richest, densest, and hardest-hitting sound for Titus Andronicus yet. All at once, the record matches the sprawl and scope of the band’s most celebrated work, while also honing their ambitious attack to greater effect than ever before. “It may strike some as ironic we had to go to Canada to record our equivalent to Born in the USA,” quips Stickles, “but the pursuit of Ultimate Rock knows no borders.”To reach this level of focus and clarity, Stickles had to stand on the nexus of triumph and tragedy.For his recent stretch of personal stability, he credits a newfound domestic bliss and steadfast mental health regimen (“Lamictal is a hell of a drug”) as well as the endurance of what has become the longest-running consistent lineup of Titus Andronicus—as with 2018’s A Productive Cough and 2019’s An Obelisk, The Will to Live proudly features Liam Betson on guitar, R.J. Gordon on bass, and Chris Wilson on drums.On the crueler side of the coin, however, The Will to Live was created in large part as an attempt to process the untimely 2021 death of Matt “Money” Miller, the founding keyboardist of the band and Stickles’ closest cousin. Stickles explains: “Certain recent challenges, some unique to myself and some we have all shared, but particularly the passing of my dearest friend, have forced me to recognize not only the precious and fragile nature of life, but also the interconnectivity of all life. Loved ones we have lost are really not lost at all, as they, and we still living, are all component pieces of a far larger continuous organism, which both precedes and succeeds our illusory individual selves, united through time by (you guessed it) the will to live. Recognition of this self-evident truth demands that we extend the same empathy and compassion we would wish for ourselves outward to every living creature, even to those we would label our enemies, for we are all cells in the same body, sprung from a common womb, devoted to the common cause of survival.”“Naturally, though, our long-suffering narrator can only arrive at this conclusion through a painful and arduous odyssey through Hell itself,” he qualifies. “This is a Titus Andronicus record, after all.”Some of the proverbial fires lit under Stickles’ ass, however, burned more pleasurably than others. When Titus Andronicus made their long-awaited return to the stage in November of 2021, it was to celebrate the 10th 11th anniversary of their landmark breakthrough album The Monitor, and the act of playing that material before an ecstatic audience left the band determined to deliver an album that would reach for those same lofty heights, relying this time less on the reckless fire of youth and more on the experience and perspective at which a band only arrives with a thousand shows under their belt. Through this golden ratio, Titus Andronicus have arrived at the peak of their creative powers.Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Narrow Head
“Nobody has riffs anymore,” says founding member/vocalist/guitarist Jacob Duarte when asked about his approach on 12th House Rock, Narrow Head’s highly anticipated LP for Run for Cover due on August 28. “That’s the kind of band we are and to me, that’s just how you write songs. Drums, bass, guitar, vocals. Nothing else. There are no other instruments on the record.”The Houston-based band’s latest entry is the distillation of the greatest moments in 90’s alternative and hard rock with a fresh set of ears, thirteen tracks of their signature brand of bludgeoning lullabies bursting at the seams with creative ideas, new directions and yes, massive, monolithic riffs. In between the sparkle and smash, open-hearted and emotionally naked songwriting showcases a core piece of the band’s identity– showcasing 12th House Rock as one of the best releases of 2020. “It’s the definitive work of Narrow Head,” proudly explains bassist Ryan Chavez. “Recorded in a studio over a month’s span, the way they used to do it. Not just for the sake of making it that way, but because it was the right way for us.”Delving into deep-seated themes of self loathing, desolation, self-medication, the loss of loved ones and hopeful redemption,12th House Rock is, as the title suggests, a rock-focused LP themed on transition– exploring the vast abyss of darkness just before the sun cracks upon the horizon. “A lot of the record was made in the late hours and early morning,” recalls Duarte. ”Those quiet moments alone when utter silence and my self-medication made it impossible to escape from my own thoughts. It was also from a specific time when I didn’t take care of myself and made bad decisions in all aspects of my life. These songs were a way out, temporarily anyway.”Duarte references specific songs on the record as touchstones within that dark period. “’Emmadazey’ and ‘Hard to Swallow’ were inspired by pharmaceuticals and when the people around you know that you’re making bad decisions but are afraid to tell you,” he reveals. “’Crankcase. is about staying up for days at a time, not eating and chain smoking.” Guitarist William Menjivar is also quick to add that “’Ponderosa’ is about big life choices and the empty feelings of ‘What if?’ thinking about whether or not your decision was the right one. In the end it doesn’t matter because you can never take it back.” Yet while all the songs follow explore the darkness, Menjivar adds emphatically that 12th House Rock “does have moments of optimism and sentimentality, so it’s not a completely dark record. Nostalgia is also something we want people to feel when they listen to this.”Rising from the Texas underground scene, Narrow Head formed in 2013 but became fully realized as a band in Houston with the release of their 2016 debut LP Satisfaction and the lineup of Duarte, Menjivar and drummer Carson Wilcox. Playing in the Texas scene instilled a can-do attitude, an ability to explore several different ideas along with a strong set of DIY ethics, qualities that still form the basis of the band to this day. “Book your own shows, book your own tours,” details Duarte about the foundation of his musical viewpoint. ”I think that having other musical projects provided a scene for us to play too. Nobody else was looking at us, so we had to make our own scene.”Links: Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Soundcloud
