John Wood Band
The John Wood Band is a soulful, six-piece indie rock band out of Wilmington, NC. The band formed at UNCW, led by lead singer and songwriter John Wood, who is known for songs such as Coffee On The Beach and Dry Eyes. With six pieces in the band, you can always expect a dynamic and electric set. They have played alongside acts such as Congress The Band, Winyah, Harvey Street, Innlet, The Vegabonds, Wim Tapley, and Easy Honey. Catch The John Wood Band on tour all year long! Instagram | Spotify Wild Oak is an indie rock band out of Chapel Hill, NC. Battling through noise complaints and cop visits, the band played their first gig in February of 2025. With a sound somewhere between the Backseat Lovers and Ax and the Hatchetmen, Wild Oak hits the stage each night, sharing one thing with the audience: love for music. Pollen is an indie/alt-rock band based in Chapel Hill, NC. Formed when a casual invite to play, evolved into the first practice. The name Pollen comes from hours spent practicing outside, each time ending with the band covered in yellow dust. Drawing inspiration from staple bands like The Red Hot Chili Peppers and blending in the fresh, melodic edge of modern indie rock, Pollen is slowly cementing themselves in the vibrant Chapel Hill live music scene. They aim to bring the energy and fun of a cramped house show to every venue they play.
Mega Colossus
Empty Parking Lot, Lqm
Chris Chism EP Release
Nicole Tester:Nicole Tester is a singer/songwriter based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Her eclectic indie folk sound pulls from the roots of the Appalachian mountains where she was raised, intertwined with modern indie folk/rock/pop influences. Balancing wit and humor with introspection and insight, she is sure to cover a vast expanse of emotional ground with her lyrics and expressive voice. Her songs serve as a way to tell stories, process experiences, and simultaneously attempt to find common ground to connect with others.Instagram Chris Chism:Chris Chism is a North Carolina-based musician, originally from Indiana, whose work blends traditional folk with modern indie and alternative influences. Playing guitar and banjo, Chris creates music that is both deeply personal and open to interpretation. His songs carry a melancholic tone, but offer glimpses of hope for those willing to look closer. Through a unique mix of heartfelt storytelling and diverse musical elements, Chris’s work invites listeners to connect with the beauty and complexity of life’s quieter moments.Instagram Omar Ruiz-LopezOmar Ruiz-Lopez (he/they) is a Latin-Americana artist whose music bridges old-time, Celtic, and Brazilian fiddle traditions with indie folk songwriting. A bilingual singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Omar brings classical training, emotional depth, and a cross-cultural perspective to the stage — drawing inspiration from artists like Nick Drake, Bruce Molsky, and Elliott Smith. He is based in Hillsborough, NC. Omar has played and recorded with artists such as the GRAMMY-nominated band War and Treaty, Franklin Jonas, Lizzie No, Harper Grace and Langhorne Slim, and cowritten with songwriters such as Rachel Baiman and GRAMMY-nominated Melody Walker (Sierra Ferrell, American Dreaming). He is currently working on an EP with Willa Frank (Paper Wings) and a full-length album with Rachel Baiman producing.Instagram Lonnie RottLonnie Rott is a singer-songwriter in Durham, whose songs explore themes of anticapitalist anger, liberation, solidarity, and lament for the reality that everything dies at last, and too soon.Instagram
Bee Million
Durham, NC songwriter Ben Newgard formed Bee Million with his brother, drummer Anders Newgard, and best friend and lead guitar player David Smith, before adding bass extraordinaire Lucas Tax to round out the roster. With sonic influences spanning the likes of everything from Angel Olsen to the Rolling Stones to Guided by Voices (after whom they’re named), Bee Million weaves together a rough-and-ragged yet melodic and infectious strand of garage pop that will linger with you long after the music’s ended. Linktree PanesMinimal introspective music with an engaging, dreamy listlessness. Ever careening toward some kind of undiscovered self-epiphany. Instagram Future Fix Bandcamp
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. Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
Carrboro Bluegrass Festival Presents Bluegrass In The Backroom
This is a seated show.
Wednesday – Bleeds Tour 2026
Can a self-portrait be a collage? Can empathy be autobiographical? What’s the point of living if we’re not trying to understand all the horror and humor that surrounds everything? These are a few of the questions lurking under the bleachers of Wednesday’s new album Bleeds, an intoxicating collection of narrative-heavy Southern rock that—like many of the most arresting passages from the North Carolina band’s highlight reel so far—thoughtfully explores the vivid link between curiosity and confession. Bleeds is not only the best Wednesday record—it’s also the most Wednesday record, a patchwork-style triumph of literary allusions and outlaw grit, of place-based poetry and hair-raising noise. Karly Hartzman—founder, frontwoman, and primary lyricist—credits Wednesday’s tightened grasp on their own identity to time spent collaborating on previous albums, plus a tour schedule that’s been both rewarding and relentless. “Bleeds is the spiritual successor to Rat Saw God, and I think the quintessential ‘Wednesday Creek Rock’ album,” Hartzman said, articulating satisfaction with the ways her band has sharpened its trademark sound, how they’ve refined the formula that makes them one of the most interesting rock bands of their generation. “This is what Wednesday songs are supposed to sound like,” she said. “We’ve devoted a lot of our lives to figuring this out—and I feel like we did.”Just like Rat Saw God, one of the defining rock & roll records of the 2020s so far, Bleeds came together at Drop of Sun in Asheville and was produced by Alex Farrar, who’s been recording the band since Twin Plagues. Hartzman again brought demos to the studio, where she and her bandmates—Xandy Chelmis (lap steel, pedal steel), Alan Miller (drums), Ethan Baechtold (bass, piano), and Jake “M.J.” Lenderman (guitar)—worked as a team to bulk-up the compositions with the exact right amounts of country truth-telling, indie-pop hooks, and noisy sludge. More than ever, the precise proportions were steered by the lyricism—not only its tone or subject matter, but also the actual sound of the words, as well as Hartzman’s masterfully subjective approach to detail selection.Whether she’s purging her fascination with a gruesome true-crime case (“Carolina Murder Suicide”) or recounting why her old landlord Gary got dentures at thirty-three (“Gary’s II”), every image or scene is filtered through Hartzman’s agile, writerly brain. The particulars deemed essential—a wincing dentist, a crooked nail, a Pitbull puppy pissing off a balcony—all contain revelations about Hartzman’s specific obsessions and vulnerabilities, about the fragmented way she processes the world. She confronts this affinity for interpersonal soul-searching on “Townies,” remembering a high-school mischief partner whose sexual adventures triggered nasty gossip: “Off I-40 / crawled into your life begging on my knees / and I get it now / you were sixteen and bored and drunk.” Maybe sometimes the best way to locate truth or pain or dignity within your own life story, Bleeds suggests, is by crawling into someone else’s. Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Spotify
Blue Cactus, Skylar Gudasz
SMITTEN – A night for lovers, loners and the lovelorn. Celebrate Valentine’s with Blue Cactus and Skylar Gudasz on Friday the 13h at the Cat’s Cradle Back Room. Expect hauntingly beautiful music, tarot readings, flowers, photo booth, and plenty of surprises. Fate says you should be there – 2.13.26 7pm: Love Fair8pm: Show Brimming with cracked-open honesty and electrified twang, BELIEVER cements North Carolina’s Blue Cactus as a leading force in modern country and roots music. Led by songwriters Steph Stewart and Mario Arnez, the group’s third album was written over a heavy two years following their critically lauded debut BLUE CACTUS and the glitz-and-glam sophomore album STRANGER AGAIN, as Stewart battled chronic health issues and the duo reassembled their musical careers in the wake of 2020. Feeling into an arid internal landscape, Stewart found microclimates of life as she hummed melodies and jotted down phrases. On BELIEVER, Stewart’s instinct for cadence and lyricism evoke Emmylou Harris’ spacious storytelling and the dusty Southern folk melancholy of Gillian Welch while Arnez holds space for each song, tending the soil with layered folk textures, genre-hopping arrangements, and bittersweet hooks. The result is a shock of color and energy, Believer blooming as delicate, prickly, and bold as a field of wildflowers. As a departure from earlier records, BELIEVER features Stewart as Blue Cactus’ sole lead singer, her gossamer warble setting a foundation upon which the duo’s multiple vibrant musical communities build. Recording in the buzzy indie-folk scene of their home in the Piedmont of North Carolina, and later among the country sheen of Nashville, TN, the songs transform and journey through genre and mood. Website | Spotify | Youtube | Instagram | Facebook | Patreon Skylar Gudasz has an easy way about her as she contemplates the futility of trying to order the world into shapes of convenience. “It’s wild, the ways that humans try to make boundaries out of things,” she says. The subject of this restless, eternal wrangling has been on the singer-songwriter’s mind as she’s watched the world splinter into jagged, conflicted pieces. With her third LP, COUNTRY, Gudasz interrogates borders of land and sea, mind and body: the limits of the lines we draw for ourselves. Gudasz has concentrated her attention on matters of the mind and heart, last issuing a solo record with 2020’s Cinema (“★★★★ a career-making star turn” —MOJO) after her 2016 debut Oleander (“the Joni Mitchell the South never had” —Bitter Southerner). Between her LPs, Gudasz has registered a long list of extracurricular credits, taking up playing in the live bands of Hiss Golden Messenger, Eric Bachmann, Big Star’s Third, and spearheading the Ask Me Anything super trio tour with Libby Rodenbough and Kate Rhudy. Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
Luna Luna
Luna Luna is the solo project of Colombian-American artist Kavvi, known for crafting a vibrant sound that seamlessly blends his Spanish and English roots. Mixing nostalgic, feel-good synth-pop with a modern indie edge, Luna Luna has become a standout name in the alt-pop and Latin indie scenes. What started as a personal creative outlet has evolved into a project that has earned serious recognition — including nods from Rolling Stone as one of “10 Latin Acts to Break Big” and from Variety as one of “8 Latin Indie Artists to Watch.” Luna Luna’s music has been featured by Billboard, PEOPLE, NPR, Paper, FLOOD, Earmilk, REMEZCLA, and more, while also landing on major Spotify playlists like New Music Friday, Lorem, and Mixto. Known for dreamy live shows and an acclaimed Audiotree session, Luna Luna has built a devoted fanbase and a strong online presence, generating millions of views with over a quarter million followers across platforms. Brand collaborations with Jack Daniel’s, Topo Chico, and Taco Bell highlight the project’s growing cultural impact, all while staying true to the emotional core that makes the music resonate so deeply. Website | Instagram | Facebook
