Phoneboy

Lucius

Washington DC’s Teen Mortgage climbed from the city’s primordial punk soup in 2017 after guitarist/vocalist James Guile relocated to the nation’s capital from Liverpool, UK and by a stroke of luck was quickly able to find hard hitting drummer Ed Barkauskas via a desperate craigslist post. As a two piece they stood out – crossbreeding east coast hardcore aggression and garage/surf sleaze with a focus on pop sensibility. This sonic blend perfectly set the scene for vocalist and guitarist James Guile to illustrate what he describes as “the absurdity of living in the era of late stage capitalism and tech feudalism.” He adds, “it’s even woven into our name, like Mortgage in latin means ‘death pledge'” Teen Mortgage’s acerbic intensity was noticed by Brooklyn, NY label King Pizza Records, who released the duo’s 2019 EP Life/Death and 2021’s Smoked. Songs from the EPs earned Teen Mortgage placements with Shameless, Vans Park Series, and Evil Bikes and support slots with notable bands like The Chats, Mike Krol, Bass Drum Of Death, Jeff The Brotherhood, etc. Known for their rowdy live shows, Teen Mortgage detonates a sonic bomb that leaves no room for apathy, let alone time to breathe. Guile’s caustic riffs and sneer paired with Barakauskas’s brawn have fostered a new established meeting ground for those looking for a place to mosh. Their DIY headline national tours have seen crowd members become rabid as soon as the pair kick in the first riff of the set, like a pack of coyotes chasing down their prey. The group’s infectious fuzz bonded with Jello Biafra and George Carlin inspired lyrics ignite audiences into a primal frenzy, sweating out the drudgery of living through, once again in Guile’s words, “the era of late stage capitalism and tech feudalism.” “These guys have got it going on” – Iggy Pop, BBC6’s The Confidential Show Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | Soundcloud | TikTok

Rivalry Night: UNC vs NCSU!

Greenroom || Raleigh, NCFrom parking decks to bars, Greenroom began at NCSU when drummer Tyler Bowman, guitarist Will Smith, and singer Hunt Clark got together and started jamming. Keyboardist Oliver Bold and bassist Josh Friedman joined shortly after. The 5 have been together since January 2025 playing a mix of indie rock, classic rock, and grunge. The Wallabies || Chapel Hill, NCThe Wallabies are an indie rock band formed in Chapel Hill, NC in the fall of 2024. Focused on high energy guitar-driven melody lines, mixing multiple genres with their songwriting. Le Lotus || Raleigh, NCLe Lotus is a 4 piece from Raleigh, NC with a shoe-gaze and fast punk undertone. Consisting of Russell Barron on guitar, Linz Godwin on vocals, Tyler King on drums, and Colin West on bass. The group was formed in the late summer of ’24. They start recording and gigging in January of 2025. Stay tuned for what’s to come and future updates! Watch us bloom! Last Date || Chapel Hill, NCLast Date is an alternative and pop-rock band based in Chapel Hill, NC. The band consists of lead singer Sarah Brooks, lead guitarist Nate Hicks, bassist Joy Frost, rhythm guitarist Thomas Ferguson, and drummer Kevin Pacas.

Mei Semones

“No second-guessing, no overthinking. The way I want to live my life is by doing the things that are important to me, and I think everyone should live that way,” says Mei Semones of her strengthened self-assurance. Through continuously honing in on her signature fusion of indie rock, bossa nova, jazz and chamber pop in a way that highlights her technical prowess on guitar, the 24-year-old Brooklyn-based songwriter and guitarist is quickly establishing herself as an innovative musical force. Since the release of her acclaimed 2024 Kabutomushi EP, a series of lushly orchestrated reflections on love in its many stages, Mei has gone on to tour extensively across the US, cultivate a dedicated following, and write and record her highly anticipated debut album, Animaru. Inspired by the Japanese pronunciation of the word “animal” in Japanese, Animaru is the embodiment of Mei’s deeper trust in her instincts – a collection of musically impressive tracks that see Mei sounding more adventurous, more vulnerable and more confident than ever before. Mei’s newfound assertiveness comes in part from her experiences in the past year, as 2024 was a transformative year for the Mei Semones band. They shared bills with the likes of Liana Flores, Elephant Gym and Kara Jackson, among others, and Mei transitioned to doing music full-time. Amidst the frequent touring, Mei and her five-piece band recorded the album in the summer of 2024 at Ashlawn Recording Company, a farm studio in Connecticut operated by their friend Charles Dahlke. To these sessions, she brought a batch of tracks that, not unlike Kabutomushi, are sophisticated declarations of non-romantic love: love of life (“Dumb Feeling”), love of family (“Zarigani”), love of music and her guitar (“Tora Moyo”). Animaru exemplifies Mei’s enchantingly wide range as a songwriter and musician, including some of the most challenging and most straightforward songs Mei has ever written. Though her music might inherently evoke feelings of romance and softness, the crux of the album lies in Mei and her band’s skillful balance of tension and release. Often within individual tracks, there will be moments of pared-back acoustic guitar adorned by Mei’s infectious vocalizations that, in a moment’s notice, transform into orchestral swells of sweeping strings and complex guitar rhythms. Album opener “Dumb Feeling” is a prime example, a bossa/samba blend complete with indie rock sensibilities in the choruses as Mei details her contentment with her life in New York City. Mei actively seeks out musical challenges throughout Animaru, like on “I can do what I want,” the album’s most technically ambitious track. But she still manages to make the quickly cascading guitar harmonics and odd meters sound like a breeze to play, her breathy, lilting voice cutting through the track’s energetic dynamics. It epitomizes the album as a whole – she sings of doing things her own way, on her own terms, in hopes of inspiring others to make the same active switch in their own lives. The simpler moments on Animaru are equally as captivating as when Mei is shredding on guitar or her bandmates are carrying out an intricate arrangement. “Donguri,” a stripped-down jazz duo performance between acoustic guitar and upright bass, is the simplest song Mei has ever written, brought to life by Mei sweetly chronicling (mostly in Japanese) what she imagines life would be like as a woodland creature living in the forest. Website | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok

Electric Six

The Devil has always been there. He is the great outsider, the original iconoclast. He is a conniving little shit and never seems to tire of giving humanity a wedgie or a wet willie just for a laugh. The Devil is capable of taking many forms. He can exist as one being or spread out amongst many. He can present himself as an ordinary man or as a horrific cloven-hoofed beast depending on his mood. Above all else, The Devil lives to corrupt, to adulterate, to defile.Electric Six has often used The Devil as subject matter for its songs because of that last bit, the part about corruption and adulteration. That’s what Electric Six has been trying to do with its music now for quite some time!!!! We want to corrupt young women….just like The Devil!!! There’s nothing more rewarding than the seduction of a young innocent maiden, forcing her to wear demonic dresses, levitating her towards the great fiery skull and watching her eyes turn black as she gives into evil and becomes the bride of The Devil!!!! That….is why we started this band….to help women realize their potential as sexy evil maidens with eyes reflecting the utter darkness of a corrupted soul.With its fourteenth studio album Bride of the Devil, Electric Six examines the concepts of evil and corruption, humanity’s various falls from grace, the nine circles of purgatory and of course, the internet itself. Bride of the Devil opens with the thunderous opener “The Opener”, a bombastic celebration of the arena rock Electric Six never got to play. The next two numbers are textbook ear worm guitar pop numbers that deal with debilitating income inequality and nepotism (“Daddy’s Boy”) and the horrors of being forced into a pool of toxic waste by an a rabid Doberman trained to kill (“(It Gets) (A Little) Jumpy”).And then we get to the title track, a radio anthem, where it all becomes clear that The Devil is a metaphor for Russia and the United States is the young girl who is seduced, corrupted and wedded into a Satanic covenant with the beast. It’s all there in black and white. The Carrie Underwood-esque lyrics alongside a backdrop of vodka and caviar and backchannels and Seychllian bank accounts. That’s how they did it. They went after our country performers and got the rubes to feel good about being Russian assets. And still, it is the feel-good anthem of the summer.Finally, the haunting album closer “Worm In the Wood” is Electric Six at its most serious, most tender and emotional. Haunting. Effervescent. Corrupt. Jaundiced. Tired.So there you have it. Electric Six is back with its fourteenth record and it’s poppy and feel-good, as well as heavy, both sonically and lyrically. Our sound will corrupt you and enslave you as the beautiful demonic bride you know you truly are. Fraulein, take this severed hand with it’s creepy long nails from the beginning of time. To do so is truly thine destiny.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Julien Baker & TORRES – Send A Prayer My Way Tour

The New Outlaws Listen: For some of us, maybe even most of us, it’s been a rough year. As I write these words, it’s mid-November in Chicago, the warmest autumn on record, and the bad news keeps coming. Family and animals and homes washed away in the rural south. A wildfire season that never ends. Too much water in some places, not enough in others. Back in my home state of Texas, pregnant people, some barely out of childhood, are dying for lack of medical care. And Lord have mercy if you, or someone you love, is an undocumented immigrant, or if you’re trans, queer, poor, Black, and the list goes on (and on and on). Sometimes it feels like the whole damned world has made up its mind to destroy itself once and for all. So I feel it in my bones when Julien Baker sings, That it can’t get much worse depends on who you’re askin. Maybe you feel it, too, and maybe you could use the good company of this much-anticipated country album by critically acclaimed artists Julien Baker & TORRES (aka Mackenzie Scott). Send A Prayer My Way has been in the works for years. Imagine two young musicians playing their first show together at Lincoln Hall, a much-loved venue here in Chicago. It’s January 15, 2016, and bone chillingly cold outside, especially for a couple of southerners. When the show is over and they’re shooting the shit, one singer says to the other, “We should make a country album.” This is the origin story, the stuff of legend in the world of country music, and the beginning of a collaboration between two artists already admired for their spare, elegant lyrics as well as the courage to share their struggles with those who love their music. It’s also the beginning of creating a work that, like the most enduring country albums, sustains and inspires, reminding both singer and listener that not one of us is ever totally alone in this world, that music is a steady companion. Why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking,” they sing in “No Desert Flower.” I can take more than a little rain/If the going’s tough I will not cower/And all the passing years won’t wash me away. I’ll lay my cards on the table from the get-go: Send A Prayer My Way is a damn fine country album, written and sung in the best of the outlaw tradition—defiant, subversive, working class, and determined to wrestle not only with addiction, regret and bad decisions, but also with oppressive systems of power. (In the best outlaw country, The Law is no friend of yours, and neither is The Man; in TORRES and Baker’s music, neither are religious blowhards or mothers who can’t stomach their daughter’s sexuality.) Julien Baker: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube TORRES: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube

Transviolet

After viral success with their debut single Girls Your Age in 2015, cosigns from Harry Styles, Katy Perry and Ellie Goulding, and accolades from tastemakers like Rolling Stone, the Fader, and Nylon, Transviolet built their cult following by opening for artists like Twenty One Pilots, LANY, Joywave, Dua Lipa, Mother Mother and captivating audiences at Gov Ball, SXSW, Redding and Leeds, Firefly and Summerfest. After going independent in 2019, the band has continued to break barriers in the indie space, receiving organic radio play on LA’s alt 98.7, sync placements such as the title theme for WB’s Pretty Little Liars, and landing numerous coveted playlist spots across platforms and genres, such as New Music Friday (Spotify), New in Alternative (Apple), New Dance Pop (Spotify), Heart Beats (Spotify), New Arrivals Arrivals Pop (tidal), Creamy (spotify). Now, with a viral moment on Chinese social media, and a viral moment on instagram reels, the band packed rooms on their Chinese headlining tour in spring 2024, and their 4th headlining run in the US on their Softcore tour, anticipating the release of their Softcore EP, out June 28th, leading into their Softcore LP in February 2025. Website | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube

Hourglass Kids, Sugar Snap Peas

Hourglass Kids The Hourglass Kids began as a group of high school friends jamming in various North Carolina basements, growing over the years into a dynamic seven-piece reggae-jam-rock collective. Known for their electrifyingly original live shows, the band draws on the distinct lyricism of four vocalists and the vibrant energy of a full horn section. Their music spans an eclectic mix of styles, blending roots reggae, psychedelic jam, hip-hop, funk, and jazz-rock, and has carved them out their own space in the roots music scene Sugar Snap Peas Sugar Snap Peas is a 6-piece fusion outfit based out of Raleigh, NC. Drawing on a set of influences spanning jazz to dreampop, the Peas’ sound is characterized by intricate grooves, colorful harmonies, and a lushness that fills the room. The Peas guide audiences between intimate ballads and high-energy arrangements over the course of their live sets. Propelled by musical curiosity informed by sophisticated tastes, they offer a sound unique in the Triangle music scene. Brandon Tenney Brandon Tenney grew up in North Carolina idolizing the music of AC/DC and Van Halen. Now in his early twenties, Tenney is a bandleader recording original material, and building a local following in the North Carolina Triad area. On his upcoming EP “Under Construction”, Tenney finds his niche in modern indie rock, while paying homage to his favorite 70s bands. Still at the beginning of a burgeoning career, Tenney has not only an unstoppable drive to create and build a successful band, but a full commitment to artistry.

6th Annual Cupid’s Jam – Benefit Concert for TABLE

Please join us for the 6th Annual Cupid’s Jam – a festival show benefitting TABLE!As House Bands from School of Rock Chapel Hill, School of Rock Chesapeake, VA, School of Rock Virginia Beach, VA, and The R&B Performance Band from SOR Greensboro all come together to deliver an amazing afternoon of live music from the Main Stage of Cat’s Cradle! Sunday, February 16, 2025 – 12:30pm to 4:30pm!Doors at 12:00 noon. We humbly request $20 per attendee to help support the imporant work of TABLE. Always a great day and a wonderful event, we hope you’ll help us pack the house! TABLE delivers healthy food and nutrition education to children in Orange County, North Carolina. Learn more about this important organization at: https://tablenc.org/what-we-do/

Genre: Miscellaneous