Bats & Mice
In 2012, two of the founding members of the seminal punk trio Bats & Mice stepped into the studio to start work on their follow-up to 2010’s “Back In Bat” EP. Then, between babies and careers, life happened, and the project went dark for almost a decade. Bats & Mice is a band that has quietly crept through the music world. Three members of Sleepytime Trio originally formed the band: Jonathan Fuller (Engine Down, Denali), Dave NeSmith (Rah Bras, Committees) and Ben Davis (MileMarker, Committees). They began writing songs together in a new style that pursued their hardcore roots coupled with a more dark and winding sense of melody. However, the music still maintained the energy and drive of their previous efforts. This line-up produced Bats & Mice’s first work, a self-titled EP released on Lovitt Records in the fall of 2000, to critical acclaim. Friends Daron Hollowel and Ash Bruce from the band 400 Years joined for a stint in which ‘Bats’ wrote and released the full-length album entitled, “Believe It Mammals”, on Lovitt in the spring of 2002. That line-up toured to support the LP across the US, playing with Fugazi, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, 90 Day Men, Denali, and Gregor Samsa. In 2004, Luke Herbst joined the band on drums, and the band toured Europe in support of a new EP titled “A Person Carrying a Handmade Paper Bag is Considered as a Royal Person”. Jonathan Fuller rejoined the group and helped write and record the “Back In Bat” EP, released in 2010. Soon after, Mark Oates (from Wailin Storms) took over the drums for Jonathan and helped write new songs as the band headed into the studio to record the basic tracks for an LP in 2012. In early 2023, the band reconvened in Chapel Hill’s Warrior Sound to rework the original tracking and finish a 10-song full-length record. Named “PS: Seriously.” the finished LP is finally coming to light in 2024 to be released on Lovitt. Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Fruition: How To Make Mistakes Tour
How To Make Mistakes, Fruition’s first studio album in four years, showcases a reinvigorated group at the peak of its powers. This is American roots music at its broadest and boldest: a melting pot of rock, soul, folk, and pop, co-produced by the bandmates themselves and tracked entirely live in the recording studio. What began as a busking string band has evolved into something more eclectic, rooted not only in the unique delivery of three different singers, but also the cohesion of five friends who prefer their music to be homegrown and honest… mistakes and all. From folk-rock anthems to campfire ballads, How To Make Mistakes embraces the full spread of the band’s past and present, mixing unplugged instruments with electrified arrangements. The result is an all-encompassing sound suitable for arenas one minute and front-porch picking parties the next — the sound of a band rededicating itself to the long haul, one song at a time. Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Evan Bartels
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Dogpark – Breaking in America Tour
Dogpark got their start performing at University of Richmond (their alma-mater), before launching into sell-out shows across the country. The band consists of Eamon Moore (lead vocals), Chris Conte (drums), Declan Harris (lead guitar), Billy Apostolou (bass/guitar), and Will Harford (vocals/bass/guitar). Infectious stage presence and an homage to the indie-rock of the 90s have kick-started their career from a backyard band to a mainstage group. The band’s EP, ‘Breaking in Brooklyn,’ proves that they are here to make a mark, and with the release of their upcoming full-length album, this is only the beginning. Website | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube | TikTok
Medium Build
Medium Build, the queer singer-songwriter born Nick Carpenter, has a generous and inviting spirit that manifests in his songwriting. Medium Build built a cult following in Anchorage, Alaska, where he became a local celebrity and hometown hero, before making the recent move from to Nashville, moving closer to his southern roots and dedicating himself to his musical career. He developed a cult-like, passionate fan base both in Alaska and outside its borders, as he inspires listeners to dig deep and discover themselves alongside his own emotional journey. Medium Build has toured with pop headliners, but beneath it, there’s an old country soul, who treasures the simple things in life and keeps his family close to his heart. Songs like “Crying Over U,” embrace vulnerability with Nick’s intricate lyricism and gravelly yet soft voice at the helm while while “Never Learned to Dance” is pure cosmic Americana, complete with lush acoustic guitar and twangy steel, but it’s distinctly contemporary too, a modern tale of digital love and missed connections. More than just the sound alone, what Medium Build takes most from country music is a sense of yearning and restlessness, always in search of another experience and another sound in whatever form they may come. In another era, Medium Build might have just as easily been a rhinestone cowboy lonesome out on the range, a blue-eyed crooner on a smooth-sailing yacht, or a leather-clad video star, but in the here and now, he’s no one but himself. Medium Build’s vision is to take the sense of community his music creates far beyond wherever he calls home. Last year was busy for Medium Build, opening shows for Lewis Capaldi, Matt Maeson, and FINNEAS, while selling out his headlining tour across N. America and playing shows in Europe on the heels of his Health EP. 2024 proves to be no different, with a EU / UK tour supporting Holly Humberstone, California dates with Tyler Childers, his biggest US headline tour to date, and a handful of major festivals punctuated by Bonnaroo. All this touring will support a slew of new music following last year’s “In My Room”, which has already won the hearts of peers, and been championed by BBC1, Alt Nation, and Zane Lowe. Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | TikTok
The Ocean Blue
In 2024, the band will be playing a select number of shows, performing their first two albums in full – The Ocean Blue and Cerulean – in dates throughout the U.S. as they continue work on a new album (full list of tour dates below as they announce).Getting their start as teenagers in the late ‘80s in Hershey, PA, The Ocean Blue released their self-titled debut on the famed Sire Records that launched many of their heroes in the U.S., like the Smiths and Echo & the Bunnymen. Embraced by MTV, the band quickly made their mark on the onset of the Alternative Music scene. Their early singles “Between Something And Nothing” and “Drifting, Falling” notched them Top Ten hits on College and Modern Rock radio, setting in motion a run of four successful major label albums, followed by a string beloved independent releases from 2000 to the present. With eight albums and several EPs under their belt (Sire/Rhino reissued their first three albums in 2015), the band continues to do what it has always done with more plans for touring and releases on the horizon.The Ocean Blue is David Schelzel (vocals, guitar), Oed Ronne (guitar), Bobby Mittan (bass) and Peter Anderson (drums).The Ocean Blue arrived as the 1980s drew to a close, and their debut record on the famed Sire Records label in 1989 seemed to summarize the best of the passing musical decade. With the release of The Ocean Blue, the band of four teenagers from Hershey, Pennsylvania quickly achieved widespread acclaim and radio & MTV airplay with top 10 Modern Rock/College Radio hits like Between Something and Nothing, Drifting, Falling, and Vanity Fair. They followed their debut with the dreamy and atmospheric Cerulean, which includes perhaps their most beloved song, Ballerina Out of Control. Their third Sire release and highest charting pop album Beneath the Rhythm and Sound featured the single Sublime, with a video of the band in the sublime landscape of Iceland. The band’s fourth major label album on Mercury/ PolyGram, See The Ocean Blue, delved into wider 60s and 70s stylings but with the band’s 80s DNA peeking through.The band left the majors in the late 90s and released several independent records in the ensuing decade, including 2000’s Davy Jones Locker and 2004’s Waterworks. In 2013, after a long hiatus and much anticipation, the band released their first full length record in a decade, Ultramarine, on Korda Records, a label cooperative the band helped launch that same year. The record was a welcome return for both long-time fans of the band and a younger generation of like-minded fans, and it garnered widespread praise as one of their very best albums. In 2015, the band worked with Sire Records to reissue their first three albums on vinyl, and did wider touring in North America and in South America, where some of their most passionate fans reside.In 2019, the band returned with the beautifully powerful Kings and Queens / Knaves and Thieves, and has continued to tour for this release and the newly re-issued vinyl of See The Ocean Blue (2022) and Davy Jones’ Locker (2023). The band is on tour with select dates in 2024 performing their first two albums in full.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | Soundcloud
Kate Bollinger
On Songs From A Thousand Frames Of Mind, the kaleidoscopic full-length debut from Kate Bollinger, entire worlds lie in the small details. “When I’m recording a song,” the Charlottesville-born, Los Angeles-based songwriter observes, “my indication of whether it’s worth pursuing is if I’m seeing a movie in my head to go along with it.” Blending classic pop songcraft with scrappy punk instincts, Bollinger casts a collage-like vision that’s instantly memorable and uniquely mystifying. Ranging from homespun folk songs to warmly rendered psychedelic rock—like early Rolling Stones as fronted by Hope Sandoval—the resulting album can feel like flipping through your coolest friend’s record collection, finding a new favorite song with each discovery. In order to summon this majestic blend of styles, Bollinger spent years cultivating material, challenging herself to work with new collaborators while moving across the country from her native Virginia to California. Evolving the hermetic approach of her early EPs and solo performances, she arrived at a fuller sound based on intuitive responses and in-the-moment energy. “I came to this realization that most of my favorite music is the result of friends, or players who have known each other a long time, coming together and playing live in the room,” she observes. Armed with endless hooks and wildly shifting textures, Bollinger can seem as much like a songwriter as an art-house auteur, crafting the soundtrack and scenery for a non-existent movie. (Fittingly, Bollinger studied film in college, and she also directed the striking music video for Jessica Pratt’s recent single “World on a String.”) Several highlights from the record were co-written with Spacebomb Records mastermind Matthew E. White, such as the jangle-pop gem “Any Day Now” and the theatrical “I See It Now.” After months of writing in Richmond and Los Angeles, Bollinger traveled to upstate New York to record with producer Sam Evian (Big Thief, Blonde Redhead, Cass McCombs), with whom she developed a similar kinship. Alongside her longtime friend and drummer Jacob Grissom, she formed a group of tight-knit collaborators able to match her wide-ranging inspiration, spanning from ’60s icons like Françoise Hardy and the Velvet Underground to ’90s touchpoints like No Doubt and Pavement. “In some way, this album feels like my musical debut. I feel that I’ve finally been able to express all sides of myself in one record.” For Bollinger, the connective tissue between this disparate material is often unspoken but always deeply felt. “Songwriting is kind of like dreaming,” she explains. “They both tend to reveal to me what I don’t yet consciously know. I thought of the album title before most of the songs were written, but it became a self-fulfilling prophecy in a way that tends to happen in a lot of my music.” As a lyricist, Bollinger expresses herself through subtle imagery and surrealist stream-of-conscious narratives, allowing listeners to arrive at their own interpretation. When she touches on the rise and fall of romantic relationships, there is an almost therapeutic quality to her writing.Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Melt
Pulsing with the energy of their hometown New York City, ‘If There’s a Heaven’ (out 9/13/24) is the debut album from indie band Melt. The band formed in 2017 and cut their teeth touring on the heels of their viral single “Sour Candy” over weekends in college. Called “one groovy superorganism” by NPR, they are known for their ecstatic live set. In 2021, Melt released their ‘West Side Highway’ EP and toured nationally, further developing their intuitive connection as players as well as cementing their status as a band to watch. ‘If There’s a Heaven’ presents Melt simultaneously at their most airtight and freewheeling – evoking the raw, communal spirit of Fleetwood Mac as well as the modern, danceable hooks of MUNA. Recorded live to tape with producer Sam Evian (Big Thief), the eleven tracks span existential, feel-good pop (“Plant the Garden”), classic love ballads (“Your Name”) and lush, soulful rockers (“Heaven”). Melt’s debut is a joyous, timeless soundtrack for coming of age and finding oneself and one’s community. As emotionally stirring as they are groovy, Melt will move listeners in every sense of the word. Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | TikTok
Michigander
Michigander, who delivers elevated and eloquent songcraft, uplifting instrumentation, and plainspoken heartland storytelling punctuated by alternative flare, has racked up over 60 million career streams globally and garnered the acclaim of NPR, Paste, Consequence, SPIN, Forbes, BrooklynVegan, Guitar World, Ones To Watch, and more. In 2016, the now Nashville-based singer, songwriter, producer, and guitarist’s independent debut single “Nineties” achieved viral success, claiming real estate on multiple major Spotify playlists. Michigander’s first two EPs, Midland [2018] and Where Do We Go From Here [2019], have become fan favorites, with the latter’s standout single “Misery” eclipsing 10 million streams and earning Michigander his first Triple A radio hit. 2021’s critically lauded EP Everything Will Be Ok Eventually (C3 Records) elevated his career via the Top 5 Triple A radio hit “Let Down” and Top 10 Triple A radio hit “Better.” On the road, Michigander has shared the stage with Manchester Orchestra, Band of Horses, The Lumineers, Hippo Campus, Mt. Joy, and graced the stages of such marquee festivals as Lollapalooza, Electric Forest, Summerfest, Shaky Knees and more as well as SXSW. In 2023, Michigander was back, breaking personal records, charting at radio again, and on the road with a new set of songs and a re-energized passion for his craft. Listen to the latest EP It Will Never Be The Same everywhere, out now via C3 Records and look out for a new project coming from Singer in ’24. Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | Soundcloud | Twitter | YouTube
Ratboys
Ratboys have been recording and releasing music for over a decade, but their newest album, The Window, marks the first time they’d ever traveled outside their home base of Chicago to make a record, journeying to the Hall of Justice Recording Studio in Seattle to work with producer Chris Walla. The sessions with Walla (Death Cab for Cutie, Tegan and Sara, Foxing) struck the perfect balance between preparation and experimentation, injecting new life into the band’s style of soft-hearted Midwestern indie rock with an ever so subtle Americana twist. The solidified Ratboys lineup stretched and expanded their vision in the studio, adding unexpected elements and instruments like rototoms, talkboxes, and fiddles. The result is Ratboys’ most sonically diverse record, shifting wildly from track to track. It flexes everything from fuzzy power pop choruses on “Crossed That Line” and “It’s Alive!” to a warm country twang on “Morning Zoo” to mournful folk on the titular track. After more than ten years and four studio albums, The Window finally captures Ratboys as they were always meant to be heard—expansive while still intimate, audacious while still tender—the sound of four friends operating as a single, cohesive unit. Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
