Mipso
Since making their acclaimed debut with 2013’s Dark Holler Pop, North Carolina-bred four- piece Mipso have captivated audiences with their finely layered vocal harmonies, graceful fluency in the timeless musical traditions of their home state, and a near-telepathic musical connection that makes their live show especially kinetic. On their self-titled sixth album and Rounder Records debut, fiddle player Libby Rodenbough, mandolinist Jacob Sharp, guitarist Joseph Terrell, and bassist Wood Robinson share their most sonically adventurous and lyrically rich work to date, each moment charged with the tension between textural effervescence and an underlying despair about the modern world.Mainly recorded at Echo Mountain in Asheville, North Carolina, Mipso finds the band joining forces with Sandro Perri (a musician/producer known for his work with acts like Great Lake Swimmers, as well as his own post-rock/experimental-electronic material). In overseeing the production process, Perri guided Mipso toward their goal of shaping a sonic landscape that was expansive and atmospheric yet surprisingly personal, even playful. To that end, the band dreamed up Mipso’s resplendent textures by stretching the limits of their acoustic instruments, rather than employing outside musicians to create new sounds. The result is a body of work with spacious arrangements that gently illuminate the idiosyncratic details and refined musicianship at the heart of every song.Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Fleece
“If two men just ain’t right, then I’m living in a world that’s upside down,” Matt Rogers, lead vocalist and songwriter of Montreal-based LGBTQ indie-rock band Fleece, croons on “Upside Down”, a song on their gorgeous new LP, Stunning and Atrocious. On this album, the band isn’t holding back on sharing their roadmap for how they see the world.In fact, Fleece has never paused, even for a moment, to define themselves or add labels to their experience, instead opting to open up and be. This band is au naturel and it shows, right from their earliest days and rise to notoriety through their rice cake- munching “How to write an Alt-J song” viral video (which amassed 12 million views). Since that video, that notoriety has only amplified. Subsequent releases and antics have added fuel to this fire and grown large and dedicated followings on Spotify, Instagram and TikTok, resulting in worldwide audiences and millions of monthly streams. The band’s recent singles “Upside Down”, “Do U Mind? (Leave The Light On)”, and “Love Song for the Haters” have each leapt past the 2-million stream mark. Along the way the band found themselves on tour across North America multiple times, supporting renowned bands Tokyo Police Club, Born Ruffians, Mt. Joy, and others as their demand as a headliner grew in these same markets.While having been focused on the songwriting of lead vocalist Matt Rogers and the relentless energy of drummer and co-founder Ethan Soil, Fleece has always been about being a band. Fleece’s previous music had drawn from musicians no longer in the project, but it was the emergence of Megan Ennenberg (guitar/vocals) and Jameson Daniel (guitar) as members that completed the line up and contributed to the cohesive whole, the final resting place, the rebirth of Fleece.And it is from this new Fleece where their newest emerging musical work, the album Stunning and Atrocious, came to fruition. Said Matt, “I think we’re finally Fleece. In the past, the process was more about bringing my own compositions to the band, but this album is a complete coming together of all of our brains. We played whatever we came up with, stream of consciousness style, and then restructured the songs until they felt right. It was a bit daunting to give up control at first, but the product and process of collaborating made Fleece more exciting for all of us. I definitely grew from it too. Song two (“Like It A Lot”) is about exactly this – letting the power go and feeling good.”Written from the late parts of 2018 until 2020, the album was a first for Fleece in that it was created with a collective focus in mind: songwriting with a strong emphasis on contributions from all four band members. While on tour, the band would write and demo songs, creating oodles of voice-memo-type song skeletons everywhere they went, from rural Texas to the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec to a highway-side rehearsal room in Montreal. The song ideas came together naturally and the singers began weaving in lyrics about the complexities of vulnerability, sexuality, love, depression and anxiety, joy and silliness, honesty, and power. And then, of course, the lens of a pandemic magnified the stunning and atrocious parts of all of these tropes, and they wove in that new intensified insight as well.Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Post Sex Nachos & Similar Kind
Similar Kind is an indie pop band from Norwalk, CT. It originated as just a few friends jamming in a garage and has blossomed into a five piece band playing shows all over the US. Similar Kind has played with acts such as Sunflower Bean, Bad Bad Hats, Hot Flash Heat Wave, No Vacation & more. The band is currently working on a follow up EP to their debut “Faces & Places” a project chock-full of indie pop, reminiscent of The Cure and Talking Heads, described as “dance-ready synth-pop. equal parts R&B, pop, and indie rock, the EP is a highly-polished, thoroughly-confident release.”The band has a pair of new singles “I Don’t Wanna Fight Anymore” and “ There She Was” their latest releases.Links: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTubeFrom the depths of the Midwest alternative scene arises a soulful and passionate quintet, ready to bend genres and produce tunes that will make you jump, shake, and move: Post Sex Nachos.Charging into battle for the love of rock n’ roll, this roller-coaster collective and their irreplaceable sound has shown audiences young and old, from coast to coast, the power of one thing: their music. Breathing new life into genres across the spectrum – from jazz, pop, indie rock, and straight up funk – Post Sex Nachos is here to redefine the term “boyband” forever.With the release of their first two self-produced albums, four original music videos, and the recent release of their third full-length LP, the band continues to pursue one thing: the groove. Collaborating with artists, producers, musicians, and filmmakers locally and globally, Post Sex Nachos continues to reimagine the scope of their music. Where most find a wall, they find a door, in a get-me-a-sledge-hammer kind of way.Who is Post Sex Nachos? We’re glad you asked.Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Be Loud! ’22
We’re back for Be Loud! ’22, our 9th annual show! Inspired by our Clash London Calling tribute show in ’21, we decided to ask some of our favorite local musicians to cover truly influential acts of the 1980s. Rob Ladd, Robert Sledge and Brian Dennis (you know them as Preeesh!) stepped up to do The Police. Glam rockers What Peggy Wants are regrouping to perform the music of The Cure. And, finally, The Sex Police & Friends will take on The Ramones. It promises to be an incredible evening of music and community, with all proceeds going to support the Be Loud! Sophie Foundation and the amazing work of the UNC AYA team at UNC Hospitals. Get your tickets now…before they’re gone! Here’s the full line-up with show details: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24TH Doors Open 7:00 pm, Music Starts 8:00 pmIn order of appearance:Special Guest: Secret Monkey Weekend The Police performed by Preeesh! The Cure performed by What Peggy WantsThe Ramones performed by The Sex Police and Friends TICKETS & DETAILS Tickets are $25 and all proceeds will go to the Be Loud! Sophie Foundation. Be Loud ’22 is an all ages show.Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Steve Kimock & Friends
Steve Kimock is regarded as one of the great guitar improvisers of his generation inspiring music fans with his signature sound voiced through electric, acoustic, lap and pedal steel guitars for over four decades. His ability to articulate crystal-clear tone, melody and emotion into intricately woven music crafted with technical brilliance is matchless, and his unparalleled ability to embrace and capture his audiences musically is the stuff of legend.A pioneer of the ‘jam band’ scene and the West Coast sound, no one niche has ever confined him. Instead, through the years, he’s explored various sounds and styles based on what’s moved him at the time, whether it’s blues or jazz; funk or folk; psychedelic or boogie; gypsy or prog-rock; traditional American or world fusion. With a reputation as a blazing psychedelic guitarist versatile enough to touch almost all aspects of American music, Kimock continues to evolve creatively and elevate audiences worldwide.After more than 40 years on stage, Kimock is more committed than ever to the spirit of musical diversity and diving deep into his Rock roots. Many classic tunes and tones of his youth that forged his sound and his attitude as a musician will be unearthed with the same spirit that has fed his desire to pursue an authentic relationship with the guitar since the day he realized his calling.Dubbed “The Guitar Monk” by Relix magazine, Kimock is driven by the knowledge that there is always more to discover – that and the fact that he loves guitar too much to do anything else. Like all of us, he’s sick of this pandemic and plans to return to the stage with guns blazing. If you’re a fan of Steve Kimock, you won’t want to miss this side of the artist with his foot on the gas.Steve Kimock & Friends Featuring:Steve Kimock: Guitar, Lap SteelBilly Goodman: Vocals, Slide Guitar (Goodman Brothers, Jorma Kaukonen)John Morgan Kimock: Drums (Oteil & Friends, Mike Gordon)Andy Hess: Bass (John Scofield, Black Crowes, Graham Nash)Jeff Kazee: Keys, B3, vocals (Bon Jovi, Southside Johnny & the Jukes, Roger Waters)Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Wild Rivers
“The more I see, the less I know about it.” It’s one of the first, most prominent lyrics on Sidelines, the much-anticipated full-length album from indie trio Wild Rivers. The phrasing is brief but says everything about adjusting to young adulthood — and beyond. The world places infinite pressure on us to have a plan for the future, but, as Wild Rivers eloquently articulate throughout Sidelines, it’s healthier to acknowledge — and even embrace — the not knowing.Comprising Khalid Yassein [guitar, vocals, keys], Devan Glover [vocals], and Andrew Oliver [lead guitar, synths], Toronto’s Wild Rivers have a gift for penning introspective lyrics and genre-fluid melodies that transmit wisdom beyond their years. The 10-track Sidelines, co-produced by Peter Katis (The National, Interpol, Sharon van Etten) and Wild Rivers and recorded in Connecticut, Los Angeles and Khalid and Devan’s college town of Kingston, Ontario, touches on coming-of-age themes, such as learning how to be more present and coming to terms with life’s unpredictability.In many ways, the group’s own story is one about embracing the unknown. Born in Canada, Khalid, who is half-Egyptian, and Devan, who spent her childhood in London, England before returning to Canada, first connected at Queen’s University in Kingston in 2013. Starting out as an acoustic singer-songwriter project, Khalid and Devan expanded their aesthetic to a more full-bodied sound, adding multi-instrumentalist Andrew, who Khalid calls their “Swiss army knife.”Together, right before their first show, the band decided on the name Wild Rivers “in a Subway restaurant,” laughs Andrew. “Our friends were going to be there and there was a lot of pressure on making a big reveal, just cause we had really left it to the last minute,” adds Devan. “There wasn’t too much thought put into it. We just were like, ‘okay, this sounds cool. I’m going to get a foot-long’”.A portrait of their early post-college years, Sidelines is where Wild Rivers poured their collective impressions about merging into their mid-20s — a strange, liminal age where it’s easy to romanticize childhood. Sidelines, according to Andrew, looks back longingly upon “the time when you are truly present and you’re not having this forward-thinking vision where you’re worried about the next thing.”“A lot of [Sidelines] is about perspective and longing to be somewhere that you’re not, or trying to figure out how to get to a place that you want to be, whether it’s physically, emotionally,” says Devan. “I think we’re all kind of struggling with our sense of identity, in the stage of life that we’re in.”Sonically, Wild Rivers pull from a spectrum of sounds, imbuing pop, rock, indie, and folk into each song’s blueprint. “We all listen to a wide range of music, from hip-hop to indie rock to pop,” Devan says. “We like to pull our favorite parts of every genre and patch them together and see what works and see what feels good.”Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Amanda Shires
Grammy and Americana-award-winning singer-songwriter and virtuoso violinist Amanda Shires has pushed the reset button, releasing an album that is so unlike anything she has ever recorded before that you would be tempted to think it’s her debut album instead of her seventh. Take It Like a Man is a fearless confessional, showing the world what turning 40 looks like in 10 emotionally raw tracks, and as the title track intimates, not only can she “take it like a man,” but more importantly she can “Take it like Amanda,” as the last line proclaims– the clue to the entire album, and perhaps Shires herself. “I wrote that last line, ‘take it like a man,’” says Shires from her barn/studio located about 30 minutes outside of Nashville. “Then I changed it. I realized you can try and do what they say and take it like a man and show that you can withstand anything. But truly you can only take it like yourself.” There are few musicians of Amanda Shires’ stature who would be willing to sacrifice so much of their privacy and personal life for the sake of a record. But for her, art isn’t meant to be constrained, ever since her earliest days. The native Texan got her start playing fiddle with the legendary Texas Playboys at 15. She toured and collaborated with John Prine, Todd Snider, Justin Townes Earle and others, and has long been a member of husband Jason Isbell’s 400 Unit band. Winner of the Americana Music Association’s 2017 Emerging Artist of the Year award, she has released a series of rapturously received solo albums. In Shires’ world, music is how the tribe communicates. It’s that sort of communal thinking that inspired her to form The Highwomen – a concept that was born in 2016 which Amanda envisioned as an all-women supergroup intended to share the same swashbuckling spirit as ‘80s outlaw country outfit The Highwaymen. That band, consisting of country music legends Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson, was a successful reaction to a prevalent ageism in Nashville circles. The Highwomen – Shires, Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby — aspired to redress the scarcity of women artists on country radio, and released a critically acclaimed self-titled album in 2019. “I realize I have a responsibility to tell the truth and if it empowers someone, all the better,” Shires says, who is often seen donning one of her trademark hats from her vast collection. “My goal is to accurately explain my feelings to myself and hopefully find folks out there that feel or have felt the ways that I do. I share so much personal information so that others don’t have to feel alone.” That’s something she has achieved superbly on her new album, thanks in large part to a creative rebirth inspired by a chance encounter. Shires had no plans to record an album during the pandemic … if at all. A couple of events left her disenchanted with some of her choices, musical and otherwise, and had her wondering if she should continue. “I just wasn’t thinking about recording or performing, because I was protecting myself from what I thought could be the loss of music and touring altogether,” Shires admits. “Even when it was clear this wasn’t the bubonic plague, I wasn’t letting myself think of what the future looked like.” Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
The Happy Fits: Under The Shade Of Green Tour
Five years ago, the Happy Fits didn’t know they were going to be a band. Now, they’re recording their third full-length album, after their 2020 breakout release What Could Be Better. Turning a love for the Killers and Violent Femmes into their own compact pop songwriting, the New Jersey-based trio started as a casual summer project for high school friends Calvin Langman, Ross Monteith, and Luke Davis before going off to college. After their debut EP, 2016’s Awfully Apeelin’, took off on Spotify during their first semester, school stopped looking like the natural next step.“We came up with the title to record those four songs on our EP, and we thought that was going to be it,” guitarist Monteith says. “But once the songs got picked up and we really started questioning it, that’s when we decided to go for it and record the first album. When we left school was when we officially became a band.” Following their 2018 full-length Concentrate, the Happy Fits further honed their ambition for What Could Be Better’s collection of crowd-pleasers, which got the band signed to AWAL after being self-released.“Growing up, I was either in school, at home practicing, or at music school, and there was always this pressure to be really productive,” says primary songwriter Langman, who dropped out of conservatory to pursue the band. “When I decided that I wanted to do this for a living, being productive meant a totally different thing, because now I have to create things that are just in my head and make them real. Measuring how productive that is in my life, it’s hard to do that. There’s a lot of dissatisfaction I feel. I write that into the songs, all of the guilt that I feel for not sticking with a normal plan.”From the stomping “No Instructions” to the album-closing title track, What Could Be Better channels youthful malaise into songs that demand to be sung along to. The irresistible “Hold Me Down” cracked the top 30 on the alternative radio chart and became the album’s breakout favorite. Far from cloying, the band’s upbeat nature is rooted in a real desire to connect with a world that sometimes seems distant. It’s no wonder that NPR Fresh Air’s Ken Tucker said that they’re “making some of the freshest, catchiest pop music around right now.”On “What Could Be Better” Langman sings, “There’s a hole in my consciousness where I feel I belong,” a line inspired by his isolation as one of the few Asian-Americans in his hometown.“I don’t have crippling social anxiety, but I have always felt like I’m a bit different,” Langman says. “I grew up in rural New Jersey and was one of three Asian kids in my high school…Also, growing up, with Hollywood and TV shows, I didn’t see many people like me, especially half-Filipinos.”As the band’s stages get bigger, Langman knows he gets to be the role model he didn’t have, saying, “It feels really good to be someone that Filipino kids growing up in America could look up to.”Known for their uplifting live shows, the Happy Fits have stayed busy over the past year away from touring by livestreaming performances for fans around the world and making music videos for all 10 tracks on What Could Be Better. They’ve also been writing and recording a new album, planned for next spring. For now, fans can get a preview on the band’s 42-date fall tour of the US.Links: Website
The 502s
Known for their viral music videos on TikTok and raucous live shows, Floridian feel-good folk band The 502s are heading back on the road! The 502s provide the soundtrack for adventure, and that’s exactly the spirit behind the recent viral TikTok trend of their song “Just A Little While.” While the song was released in October 2021 as the lead-off to their album Could It Get Better Than This, it exploded in popularity in December, coinciding with the end of the fall school semester. The band fired up their TikTok one day and saw thousands of videos from college and high school students posting compilations of their school year experiences, all scored by the ebullient chorus of “Just A Little While.” Soon the trend caught on with users of all ages, locations and backgrounds, with the song appearing in videos of everything from motivational videos to makeup tutorials to globetrotting excursions. The result has been a massive influx of millions of new fans, pushing their streaming numbers through the roof and landing them on Billboard’s Hot Rock and Alternative chart, as well as the #3 spot on Spotify’s Top Viral 50 tracks. The 502s have grabbed the spotlight overnight, but they’re anything but a flash in the pan. The six strapping lads are no strangers to TikTok audiences, following a prior viral moment back in 2020 with a video for their song “Magdalene.” The most recent album is their second full length, and the band has already traveled on multiple tours across North America and Europe. The 502s’ sound can be described as a combination of the familiar folk pop singalongs of The Lumineers with the swelling instrumental energy of Paul Simon’s Graceland. Employing banjo, piano, and soprano saxophone as main instruments, the band is full of unexpected surprises and always ready to bring a smile and a shout when they hit the stage. Links: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes formed in 1981 as an acoustic punk band playing on the streets of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Their main influences at that time were Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps and The Velvet Underground. Their goal was to rock harder than any other acoustic act on the planet.After being rejected for an audition by a local nightclub, the Femmes set up outside a Pretenders gig and began to play. Pretenders’ lead singer Chrissie Hynde asked them to open that night’s show, which gave the young band a publicity boost and caught the attention of Richard Hell, who invited the Femmes to open for him in NYC. A rave review in the New York Times eventually led to a record deal, which in turn spawned worldwide touring.Violent Femmes eponymous debut album became the first and only album in Billboard history to enter the charts with a platinum certification- eight years after its release. Over the ensuing three decades, the Femmes became a mainstay of festivals, clubs, and theaters in more than 20 countries worldwide.MTV’s “Unplugged” show was inspired by the Femmes, although they never actually appeared on it. Their raw sound and honest lyrical perspective has been cited as an influence by artists as diverse as Pink, Keith Urban, The Smiths, The Pixies, John Cusack, Mark Morris, and Wim Wenders.More than 30 years into their careers, Violent Femmes spent 2019 touring extensively and released Hotel Last Resort. After the COVID shutdown they successfully completed a full US tour with Flogging Molly in 2021. US touring continues through 2022.2023 will mark the 40th anniversary of the band’s debut album. The songs continue to impact younger generations to this day.Website | Facebook | Twitter
