Dex Fest Night One

The second year of the music festival for musicians and the music-obsessed, celebrating the legacy of Dexter Romweber, a musical legend of Carrboro. The festival centers artists who have that wildfire stage presence, the passion and dedication that consumes them and ensures they must create, must perform, must share their visions. An intentionally connective experience brought to you by a team of all-female, townie music freaks. + There will be additional Dex Fest events at Local 506, The Cave, and Lapin Bleu. Lineup coming soon. Website · Instagram · Facebook

Dex Fest Night Two

Rostam – American Stories

Rostam is a GRAMMY® Award-winning songwriter, producer, and composer. One of the founding members of Vampire Weekend and producer of their first three albums, he has been described as one of the great pop and indie-rock producers of his generation, having produced for some of the most important artists of the last decade including Frank Ocean, Clairo, Charli XCX, Maggie Rogers, HAIM, Solange, Lykke Li, Santigold, Carly Rae Jepsen, Hamilton Leithauser, and many others. In recent years, he has maintained an astonishingly varied and intensely busy career, releasing two critically acclaimed solo albums—2017’s Half-Light and 2020’s Changephobia—while also producing records for HAIM (2020’s Women in Music Pt. III, nominated for Album of the Year at the 63rd GRAMMY® Awards, and 2025’s I quit, nominated for Best Rock Album at the 68th GRAMMY® Awards), Clairo (2019’s Immunity), Vagabon (2023’s Sorry I Haven’t Called), Leith Ross (2025’s I Can See the Future), and Georgia (2023’s Euphoric), as well as composing for film and television, including 2016’s The OA and 2023’s The Persian Version. This year, Rostam released his original version of Vampire Weekend’s beloved single “Campus.” His third studio album American Stories arrives on May 15. The album’s first single “Like a Spark” is out now.

Robyn Hitchcock “Live And Electric – Full Band Shows”

With a career now spanning six decades, Robyn Hitchcock remains a truly one-of-a-kind artist – surrealist rock ‘n’ roller, iconic troubadour, guitarist, poet, painter, and performer. An unparalleled, deeply individualistic songwriter and stylist, Hitchcock has traversed many genres with humor, intelligence and originality over 30 albums and seemingly infinite live performances. From The Soft Boys’ proto-psych-punk and The Egyptians’ Dadaist pop to solo masterpieces like 1984’s milestone I Often Dream of Trains and 1990’s Eye, Hitchcock has crafted a strikingly original oeuvre rife with sagacious observation, astringent wit, recurring marine life, mechanized rail services, cheese, Clint Eastwood, and innumerable finely drawn characters, real and imagined. Website · Facebook · Instagram · Bandsintown · Spotify · YouTube

Dylan LeBlanc

Dylan LeBlanc is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who often finds himself flirting with the edge — or “dancing on a razor,” as he calls it — as it is all he has ever known. A verdict vagabond since he was a little boy tossed between Texas, Louisiana and Alabama, LeBlanc thrives on the precipice, never staying in one place for too long. It is that nomadic spirit that drew him not only to a life as a touring musician, but also to the beast that titles his newest record: ‘Coyote.’LeBlanc says he has always related to the insatiable, scavenging nature of the wily coyote. Much like the animal, LeBlanc is a wanderer who knows when to trust his instincts, musically and otherwise. It is a spiritual kinship that runs deep, but he credits one particularly hair-raising face-to-face instance with solidifying his bond with the animal. LeBlanc was in Austin, Texas, climbing the face of a 100-foot cliff, gambling with Mother Nature’s good graces as he pulled himself up by tree branches. Once he reached the top, all that laid ahead of him was a lush treeline. There was a breath of stillness, then the sound of a thunderous rustling that drew closer and closer to him. In a blink, LeBlanc watched as a frenzied raccoon came speeding out of the treeline, trailed by an animal that stopped and stared at him with striking intensity: a coyote. “We’re looking at each other dead in the eyes…and I’m saying — out loud — ‘If it’s you or me, I am going to kick you off the side of this cliff. I’m not going down.’ It was intense, this human-animal moment,” LeBlanc recalls. “I’ve never forgotten that… he was just trying to survive and so was I.” ‘Coyote’ is LeBlanc’s first self-produced release, boasting a cherry-picked lineup of what he calls “killer session players,” such as drummer Fred Eltringham (Ringo Starr, Sheryl Crow), pianist Jim “Moose” Brown (Bob Seger), and bass player Seth Kaufman (Lana Del Rey). Though ‘Coyote’ covers familiar ground for LeBlanc of living on the edge of danger and its many consequences, the record is both autobiographical and a concept album built around the character of Coyote, a man on the run. The story of ‘Coyote’ progresses linearly, opening with the dizzyingly declarative, strings-heavy title track which details Coyote’s arrival and quick departure as he crosses the border and gets involved with drug cartels. The trouble builds and dark waters rise until track six, “No Promises Broken,” a soaring, against-all-odds love song that marks when Coyote meets a girl, and his luck begins to change for the better. The song tells of how love heals, and places emphasis on lovers remaining open while maintaining their own freedoms, as LeBlanc believes that true devotion does not equal possession. He says that though both Coyote and his love each faced adversity, the hand of destiny put them on the same path and bound them together before they ever met: “‘No Promises Broken’ is an honest love song about two people who come from the same troubled past, and fate intertwines them together. It’s about acknowledging that there will be hard times ahead, but vowing to stick it out without making promises to each other that they know they can’t keep.” Website · Facebook · Instagram

Emerson Bruno and The Undercurrents

Less than three years after his solo debut, Emerson Bruno shares an intimate and honest look at himself through his sophomore album ‘Sounds for the Restless Mind’. Recorded at Deep River Studios in Sanford, NC, Emerson Bruno and the Undercurrents joined forces with John Davenport (John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones) to track twenty songs over the course of two years. From these initial recordings, and with the help of Raleigh-based audio engineer Max Gowan (Truth Club), a variety of supplementary textures were added and the strongest of the tunes sank their way into the album. The end result is a lush, introspective piece of work, peering at the wild world through a candid lens. To its core, the songs of ‘Sounds for the Restless Mind’ are rooted in the music of the 60s. The album represents a sonic and inner shift for Emerson. In it, he embraces more of his influences. Many elements of the Laurel Canyon recipe are captured and presented with a modern twist. In songwriting and in life, Emerson strives to strike a balance between the light and the dark, to live in that horizon, and reflect all the colors in between. Website · Instagram · Spotify · YouTube · Facebook · TikTok

The Big Pop Show

Caleb Caudle & The Sweet Critters

Caleb Caudle’s body of work is shaped from the ground up. His artistry has emerged through endurance and the steady momentum of a life in motion, carrying him from small stages in the North Carolina foothills he calls home, all the way to the Grand Ole Opry. Now, Caudle is entering a pivotal chapter – one of a profound culmination where life and art converge in powerful ways. The recent discovery that he and his wife are going to be first-time parents has added a new perspective, full of the responsibility and wonder that welcoming a child into the world brings. On his new album, Heavy Thrill, this personal evolution mirrors his artistic journey. He takes full creative control, self-producing for the first time while recording at the storied Cash Cabin in Hendersonville, Tenn., where reverence for tradition meets his singular artistic vision. “For this record, I wanted to focus on embracing the patina of life,” says Caudle. “Our plans rarely shake out the way we want them to. This record is about doing the most with what you’re given and weathering the storms.” With the release of this album, Caudle is also launching his own label, aptly named “Handplow Records,” for the steel handplow painted a rusty red that sits in his great uncle’s yard, across the street from his home. The humble tool was used for generations of tobacco farming in Caudle’s family, its wooden handles worn smooth by years of use stretching back to his great-grandfather. It represents the toil and dedication it takes to do things the hard way — and the sweetness that can yield. “Much like farming, my career has been about putting in the work,” Caudle says. “You can’t always control the weather, but you can show up every day and give it your best.” His ascent has been gradual and steadfast, guided by experience rather than spectacle. The sound reflects where he comes from: the rich country traditions he was immersed in as a child, blended seamlessly with the indie music he grew up hearing on the radio. The result feels rooted yet restless — aware of its lineage but unafraid to wander.The 10-track album captures life as it leaves its mark, embracing patience and quiet perseverance, as embodied in “Slow Growth” whose lyrics tell the story of the constant gardener, waking up each day and finding the ways to become a better version of yourself.“The Ballad of Country Ham” reckons with the cost of chasing dreams and the aftermath when they slip away, while songs like “Anxious” turn inward, grappling with the dissonance of staying empathetic in a world that seems to have forgotten what the word means. Caudle extends compassion toward flawed, deeply human lives—whether it’s the ethical gray spaces of survival in “Fox Got the Chicken” or the quiet resilience of a toll booth worker hanging on in “Toll Booth,” penned alongside two-time Grammy winner Natalie Hemby.Together, these songs unfold as intimate portraits of individuals, moments, and moral crossroads, stitched together by empathy and hard-won self-awareness. At its heart, the record searches for meaning without certainty, dignity without recognition, and a hope that exists honestly within a fractured world. Website · Facebook · YouTube · Instagram · Spotify

Andy Hull

Andy Hull is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer, best known as the lead singer for the acclaimed Atlanta-based band, Manchester Orchestra. Over the past two decades, they’ve ascended beyond their Atlanta, GA, origins to national TV performances, playing main stages at major festivals like Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, and reaching #1 at commercial AAA radio and the Alternative radio Top 15 (“The Gold” from 2017’s A Black Mile To The Surface). The sweeping and cinematic nature of the band’s consistently impressive catalog—inspired in part by Hull and producing partner Robert McDowell’s experience scoring movies, including 2016’s Swiss Army Man and 2019’s The Death Of Dick Long—has continually been synced across film, TV, and commercial campaigns. The band’s critically acclaimed sixth album, The Million Masks of God, debuted in 2021 on various Billboard charts with first-week sales, including at #1 on Alternative and Vinyl charts, and at #3 on the Top Current Album Sales and Top Rock Albums charts. It featured the Top 2 AAA and Top 20 Alternative radio hit “Bed Head,” which has been lauded as “an epic fit for sold-out venues” (Consequence). As a songwriter and producer, Hull has worked with artists including Logic, Paris Jackson, Briston Maroney, and Foxing. Beyond Manchester Orchestra, Hull’s signature voice can also be heard across his solo project, fan favorite, Right Away, Great Captain!, and his collaboration with McDowell and Kevin Devine, Bad Books. Instagram | Spotify

Leanna Firestone

Leanna Firestone is an impressive artist and talented musician from Nashville, Tennessee. While attending Recording Industry school, Leanna entered the professional world of songwriting by fusing her writing with the community of anime stans she found when she first joined TikTok. Ultimately, this led to a short snippet of what would become her first release, “Strawberry Mentos” which reached 5M streams. Then, in 2021, her next track “Least Favorite Only Child” reached 4M streams, while her EP Y/N peaked at #8 on the US singer-songwriter iTunes Charts. One of her songs was also featured during an episode of Love Island UK. In early 2022, she released her first full album Forward / Slash, featuring “Diet Coke”, “Gambling Addiction” and “Smitten.” Currently, Leanna is signed to Frtyfve Records out of London. Website · Instagram · YouTube · Spotify · TikTok · Facebook

Genre: Miscellaneous