Jeffrey Martin

On a small corner lot in southeast Portland, Oregon, Jeffrey Martin holed up through the winter recording his quietly potent fourth full-length album Thank God We Left The Garden (out on Portland’s Fluff and Gravy Records Nov 3). Long nights bled into mornings in the tiny shack he built in the backyard, eight feet by ten feet. What began as demos meant for a later visit to a proper studio became the album itself, spare and intimate and true. Recorded live and alone around two microphones, Jeffrey often held his breath to wait for the low diesel hum of a truck to pass one block over on the busy thoroughfare. During the coldest nights, he timed recording between the clicks of the oil coil heater cycling on and off. “There was a magic quality to the sounds I was getting in the shack with these two cheap microphones, some lucky recipe of time and place that allowed my voice and the way I play guitar and the shape of these new songs to come together with the kind of honesty I was craving.” So much has happened in the world since the release of his previous album One Go Around (heralded by No Depression as “the poetry of America”), and Jeffrey has filled the time doggedly, but happily, touring the US and Europe, watching it all unfold in a stream of small town conversations and city sprawl. In a moment where depth is so often traded for the instantaneous, where tech billionaires are building rockets to escape the planet, where the dead-eyed stare of artificial intelligence is promising to existentially upend our world, and where divisiveness in our culture is breeding delusional levels of certainty, Jeffrey Martin’s new record feels like a hopeful and fully human antidote. The sounds feel warm, close, and refreshingly real, all held up by the richness and rare candor of Jeffrey’s voice. Production is restrained mostly to his guitar and vocals, with flashes of classical guitar for a tumbling wash of melody and low-end color. Martin’s voice sits high above everything, reaching into new melodic territory that goes beyond his earlier work. “I feel like I’ve only just learned how to sing,” Martin said. “Like I’ve been chasing this record since my very first recordings. I wanted to really see what I could do, just my guitar and my voice and little else.” Beloved Portland-based guitarist Jon Neufeld added electric guitar to three tracks. Sticking to the same less-is-more approach, his playing skillfully and subtly elevates the lyrical intention. Neufeld also mixed and mastered the album, and was such a crucial part of the final feel of the record that Martin also credited him as a producer. “Jon and I really produced this album together,” he said. “Me in the shack, and then him in his studio working with what I brought him as he mixed and mastered. It was such a treat to work with him. I brought this pile of rough songs and he was able to dial it in and make up for my complete lack of recording know-how. I love the performances I got, but Jon’s magic is what helped them breathe and truly come to life.” Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube

Katie Alice Greer

Duck, Elora Dash, Dolphin Group

Summer is coming to an end and your favorite bands and vendors are coming together for one last summer party! At this show, you’ll not only be enticed to dance with funk, soul, and pop music by local legends Duck and Elora Dash, and special guests Dolphin Group, but we also have a pop up shop for you! Find fresh vintage clothing, get your mehndi done, get a caricature with friends, and much more! This is a one of a kind show you don’t wanna miss!!!!Elora Dash:Elora Dash is a musician, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist from Chapel Hill, NC who is breaking into the regional neo-soul scene. Elora and her band aim to be a combination of Hiatus Kaiyote, Stevie Wonder, and SZA, blending elements of jazz fusion, neo-soul, and R&B. Although Elora is the lead singer, “Elora Dash” is really a band, with its sound being a culmination of all the members influences: Brady Kennedy (co-producer and drums), Daniel Combs (keyboards), and Nick Williams (bass). and Colin Moser (guitar). Her music is characterized by eclectic instrumentals and soulful vocals.Her newest single was released in November 2022: an acoustic track titled “Disappointed” with a remix to follow in August 2023. In 2020, she released “Self-Actualization”, a 9-track instrumental collaborative lofi mixtape featuring many artists from around NC and the country. This project was her introduction as a solo artist, and after her newest single in 2022, she plans to go back to the studio to record several more singles in anticipation of an EP in 2024.Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTubeDuck:In 2016, 3 friends started playing weekend jam sessions together and Duck was formed, with word spreading quickly about this new Raleigh, NC based band. As the word spread about this funky, soulful, bluesy band, those jam sessions transferred into writing original music. Duck began booking gigs at venues around North Carolina, making crowds boogie to their upbeat sound. In 2021, with the addition of Donnie Tyree on vocals, Duck found their groove both performing and writing originals with a solid assembly of talent: Donnie Tyree on vocals, Mike Swartz on guitar, Chuck Rhew on keys, Chris Holloway on bass and Fred Dees on drums and electric washboard. Opening for talent like Neal Francis and Daniel Donato, and releasing their inaugural EP, MOVES, the band has solidified a loyal fanbase throughout North Carolina. All band members participate in writing music and lyrics. Their most recent EP, MOVES, recorded in Raleigh, NC summer of 2022, can be found on all streaming services. Upcoming plans will have the band touring the southeast starting in 2023, check back for more information as dates are announced.WebsiteDolphin Group:Born out of the collaboration between childhood friends, Dolphin Group is an upbeat and exciting project inspired by the unique energy of 80’s pop music, but with a modern and aquatic update. Residing in their hometown of Chattanooga, TN, every note of Dolphin Group is intricately recorded in their home, Dolphin Studios, which features vintage synthesizers, guitars, basses, and drums.Website

Songs and Stories in Celebration of the Life of Caleb Southern

With music and memories from: Ben Folds, Bicycle Face, Blue Green Gods, Eric Bachmann & friends, John Howie & Laird Dixon, Mac McCaughan & Jim Wilbur, Mind Sirens, Shark Quest, Stella & Jo, The Swedes, and more. Hosted by Tom Maxwell.Ticket Proceeds will be donated to:APS of DurhamGirls Rock NCBlack Girls Code

The Lemonheads – Come On Feel The Lemonheads 30th Anniversary

In the 90s, Evan Dando’s Lemonheads produced hit after hit, pure genius filling the radio waves and taking the stage. Some 30 years on, Evan is still knocking that songwriting thing out of the park, and Come On Feel The Lemonheads sounds as fresh and perky as it ever did, with a string of undoubtedly catchy singles, including “Big Gay Heart,” “Into Your Arms,” “It’s About Time,” and “The Great Big NO,” among many other unforgettable songs. Evan knows a good song when he hears it, as Come On Feel The Lemonheads certainly proved.”Come On Feel was home to some of his best, sharpest writing — fabulous sunny powerpop and beautiful ballads.” — The Guardian”‘Come On Feel The Lemonheads’ is all it purports to be: a chance to dip into Evan’s jumbled-up, dope-smoking love-buggy of a life and celebrate it.” — NMEWebsite | Instagram | Facebook

Husbands

Husbands plays landlocked beach pop that sidequests Krautrock, garage rock, and tropicalia. OKC-based songwriters Danny Davis and Wil Norton got their start directing a Godzilla musical at their college and then began sharing snippets of lofi grunge pop ideas that came together in their first album, “Golden Year.” This album caught local label Clerestory AV’s attention, who assisted Husbands release its first vinyl LP, “After the Gold Rush Party,” on an imprint label, Cowboy 2.0 Records. “After the Gold Rush Party” was featured on NPR’s Heavy Rotation and Spotify’s New Music Friday, Fresh Finds, and Feel-Good Indie Rock playlists. Past performances included an OKC release show that drew 550 attendees and a stint opening for Smash Mouth (what Wil and Danny both likely consider their finest moment as a band). Pre-COVID, Husbands was slated to play bills at SXSW, Treefort Music Fest, Norman Music Festival, and a New York City release show at Baby’s All Right.Not to be deterred, Danny and Wil got back to songwriting and put together their third LP, “Full-on Monet,” released in January ’22. Their single, “Must be a Cop,” released June 6, 2021, has been featured on Spotify’s All New Indie, Today’s Indie Rock, and Grade A playlists (among other editorial playlists), and has received coverage from prominent bloggers including David Dean Burkhart, BIRP!, and Indie Shuffle.Website | Instagram | Twitter | FacebookWork Wife is the indie rock project made up of Brooklyn-based musicians Meredith Lampe, Cody Edgerly and Kenny Monroe. With influences such as Faye Webster, Neil Young and American Football, Work Wife blends melancholy lyrics and folk rock instrumentals to achieve music that evokes their own dark humor. Work Wife’s debut EP was released December 2022 on Born Losers Records, produced by Jordan Dunn-Pilz and Daniel Álvarez de Toledo (TOLEDO) and mixed by Melina Duterte (Jay Som). Their tour history includes stages shared with acts such as Anthony Green and Cafuné, and have been featured in FLOOD Magazine, Rolling Stone India and Under the Radar. Their Audiotree session and sophomore EP are due out in 2023.Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify

Dan Deacon

How do you make something solid, beautiful, and built to last in a time of cultural chaos and personal doubt? With Mystic Familiar, Dan Deacon gives us the stunning result of years of obsessive work, play, and self-discovery. It’s at once his most emotionally open record and his most transcendent, 11 kaleidoscopic tracks of majestic synth-pop that exponentially expand his sound with unfettered imagination and newfound vulnerability.Since 2015’s Gliss Riffer, Deacon has branched out from his core body of work as a popular recording artist into a dizzying array of collaborative projects: scoring eight films, including the feature documentaries Rat Film and Time Trial (both released as LPs on Domino Soundtracks) and HBO’s Well Groomed; collaborating with the New York City Ballet’s resident choreographer Justin Peck on the dance piece The Times Are Racing; performing expanded arrangements of his music with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; and for the first time producing and co-writing an album by another artist, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat’s alt-rock dynamo Riddles.But as varied and fulfilling as these projects were, they all lacked one thing: Deacon’s voice. And in the midst of that whirlwind of activity, he returned whenever he could to a personal oasis — the songs that would become Mystic Familiar, informed by all these collaborations but built from within. Propelled by the unprecedented response to Gliss Riffer highlight “When I Was Done Dying” and the exquisite-corpse animated video that vividly amplified that song’s narrative odyssey of multiverse-traveling post-life energy, Deacon’s writing took an exploratory new direction. He further developed this new material with daily prompts from Brian Eno’s deck of Oblique Strategies and the use of meditation to access that inner well of creativity David Lynch describes in Catching the Big Fish. These techniques, in tandem with his newly adopted therapeutic practices of self-compassion and mindfulness, produced Dan Deacon songs that go places far beyond those his music has traveled before — songs that wield the profundity of a philosopher and the absurdity of a court jester as they paint life as a psychedelic journey brimming with bliss and disruption, darkness and light.Mystic Familiar’s opening track “Become a Mountain” immediately announces itself as something new, for the first time ever on record presenting Dan’s natural singing voice, unprocessed and with only minimal accompaniment. When Deacon proclaims “I rose up” here, it is Dan Deacon singing in the first person as Dan Deacon — a startlingly vulnerable shift in a songbook abundant with characters, metaphors, and distorted vocals. As other ornate voices answer this unadorned I, we’re introduced to the album’s central concept and titular character: the Mystic Familiar, that supernatural other being that we carry with us everywhere in our head, which only we can hear and with whom we live our lives in eternal conversation. “Hypnagogic” takes us deeper into Deacon’s mind, a synth swirl similar to those which have begun his recent performances, absorbing the pulse of the room and extending that abstract moment in which a journey begins.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube

The Moss

$1.00 of every ticket will go to the charity “One Tree Planted.”In a musical landscape with fewer boundaries than ever before, THE MOSS’s exuberant brand of alternative rock spans genres, eras, and even oceans.The Utah-via-Hawaii group was born on the shores of Oahu in 2015, as teenage buddies Tyke James (vocals/guitar) and Addison Sharp (guitar) picked up a gig serenading diners at local taco trucks in between surf sessions. Naturally, their songs took shape in the spirit of the island, imbued with the joyfulness and breeziness of reggae culture yet cut with the introspection and communal spirit of mainland indie acts like Pinegrove and Cage the Elephant.By 2018, the duo had grown, enlisting Willie Fowler on drums and Addison’s brother Brierton on bass, and traded in beaches for the Great Salt Lake. They hit the stage at spots like local cornerstone Kilby Court, live-testing their modern-indie-meets-’60s-blues with a wide-eyed exuberance that translated effortlessly into their 2019 self-released debut, Bryology.Colored by the sound of Stratocasters jamming through reverb-cranked Fender amps, all backed by bouncy rhythms, Bryology marked a big step for the still-young quartet – but, true to The Moss’s nature, was still hard-coded with a DIY ethos. “We basically had no budget,” James remembers fondly. “We bought some nice mics and an interface and I ended up learning how to mix while we were recording.”The follow-up, 2021’s Kentucky Derby, brought a more aspirational, blue-sky tilt to the foundation they’d laid on Bryology, expanding the group’s sonic arsenal while keeping the relatable lyrical style and sun-soaked sentiment at the forefront. “I’m really proud of how we’ve evolved as a band over time,” Addison Sharp says. “It feels like we’ve taken every different influence and mashed them all together to create something that feels really special.”“Bryology seemed like a collection of separate songs we put together to make an album, whereas Kentucky Derby is a similar thought and story coming together to collectively make a more cohesive album,” adds Brierton Sharp says, noting the album’s tracks are sneakily arranged in pairs of two that seamlessly flow into one another. “Each song could be listened to on its own, or you could listen to them all and get a broader sense of our intention.”No matter how listeners choose to interact with The Moss’s music, the band just hopes they feel something. It’s that kinetic relationship between band and audience that makes their live performances – including a pitch-perfect recent set for Audiotree – so compelling. “No matter what we do, we want to make sure the songs are fun to play live,” says Fowler. “We pride ourselves on being a band people want to see live.”“There’s something special that happens when you get an immediate reaction to a song,” says James. “Whether it’s during a live show or even just a songwriting session, if there’s a reaction from people in the room, you know you’re on the right track.” XXWebsite | Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube

Kym Register + Meltdown Rodeo Album Release Show

Sometimes the process of mining for melody in words eviscerates the raconteur, gutting them like a tornado through a trailer park. Sometimes, “the truth” is a revival of shit rather forgotten, igniting a coward’s desire to look away. With “Meltdown Rodeo,” Kym Register foregoes such consolatory diversions for visceral scrutiny and unbroken stares. The result is a body of tunes that forages the American South, dislodging its ducked bullets from pearly white sand. According to Register, “Scottsboro,” the album’s opener, was years in the making. It recounts the little known history of “The Scottsboro Boys,” nine Black men falsely accused of raping a pair of white women in hyperpyrexic 1930s Alabama. One accuser eventually admitted the allegations were bullshit, but, for Black men in the Jim Crow South (as it is now), any assumptions of guilt are soon proven a permanent brand. Register wails against America’s foremost refrains—jury and peers and whole truths—in lyrics hefty with reconciliation and metaphor. “A blind eye, A blind eye is all justice knows / Of the truth of what happened in Scottsboro / Come on now, this story’s not that old.” Contrary to Register’s demand for account, the American South knows no shame. Balancing the album is Register’s odes to white, working class reckoners—Ella May, Maureen, Soni Wolf—that encase their unsung acts of defiance in mid-tempo rhapsodies. The aptly-titled “Blue” is a diagnosis of Joni Mitchell’s unchecked iconoclasm. Little-known fact: the cover of Joni Mitchell’s 1977 album, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter, featured Mitchell in a blaxploitation era pimp suit, afro wig, and Blackface. “Blue”’s gutsy call-out challenges the conditions that still allow Mitchell amnesty, even after she traded her counterculture folk for jive turkey racism. Register’s literary acumen leads to exalting lesser-known white, southern, and queer freedom fighters and allowing leftist liberation struggles the air of legend generally reserved for America’s Wild West fetishes. Even in compositions that most closely resemble love songs (like “Water to Wine,” “Some Boy,” and “Traveler’s Cross”) Register never grabs the artificially colored bouquet or strums an acoustic verse to woo a corseted lover. Register prefers thorny things growing amidst the piss weeds, the fist-high, belligerent ballad that heralds love as the heartbeat of change. Register is also contributing a queer lens to the southern rock ethos. By way of supporting cast, Sinclair Palmer (bass), Joe Westerlund (drums), and Matt Phillips categorically deliver. Check out the title track for a perfect example of the band’s ability to travel between gritty responsiveness and tender reflection at Register’s lyrical instruction. Website | Bandcamp | Instagram

The Handsome Family

The Handsome Family’s new record (released Sept, 2023) began with a scream in the night. “It was a bleak winter during the middle of the pandemic,” says Brett Sparks. “One night around 4 a.m. Rennie started screaming in her sleep. She screamed, ‘Come into the circle Joseph! There’s no moon tonight.’ Scary as it was, I thought, man, that’s a good chorus!”The Handsome Family (songwriting and marriage partners Brett and Rennie Sparks) have been defining the dark end of americana for over 30 years. Brett writes the music and Rennie writes the words. Their work has been covered by many artists including Jeff Tweedy, Andrew Bird and most-recently Phoebe Bridgers. Their song “Far From Any Road” was the opening theme for HBO’s True Detective season one and still receives thousands of Shazams every week from all over the world.Handsome Family songs take place under overpasses and inside airports. Historical figures like George A. Custer and Nikola Tesla appear alongside a flying milkman and the whisper of an air conditioner against a plastic tree.Their eleventh studio album, Hollow (out Sep. 8, 2023) delves into the natural world at the edges of the man-made. It is a record lush with leaves and shadows and echoing with occult mystery. It begins with the dream-inspired “Joseph”— full of Mott the Hoople swagger and electric guitar so overdriven it sounds like an organ run through a vacuum cleaner. Next is the haunting “Two Black Shoes” which filters a Portishead groove through the highway motels, homeless encampments and McMansions of post-pandemic America.“I wanted to get an electronic feel with organic drums, “says Brett, “So I chopped up our drummer’s takes into little bits, quantized the beats, and ran those through an Echoplex. I really like that hybrid of real and fake.”“The King of Everything,” brings Brett’s harpsichord background into the mix plus Rennie’s time on the back porch taking muscle-relaxants and watching the white-winged doves.“Squirrels in the basement / Raccoons in the walls / Centipedes with stingers,” Brett sings on the mischievous and mysterious “Skunks.” The spooky Beethoven-inspired piano and Brett’s eerie whooping create a jingle for an increasingly desperate business. “Call us anytime at night,” Brett sings. “Call us day or night.”“The Oldest Water” is the real story of a primordial sea found deep in a Canadian mine. Dave “Guts” Gutierrez’s trilling mandolin gives the song an old-timey parlor elegance and the rushing feel of flowing water.“Mothballs” is a simple hymn for voice and piano. “A buddhist friend of Aleister Crowley’s always wore this old purple coat,” says Rennie, “and moths were continually flying from its pockets. The man refused to harm even the tiniest wool moth and I think that’s something we should all aspire to.”The softly-strummed “Shady Lake” is based on a real fishing hole hidden in the cottonwoods outside of Albuquerque where soft waves lap the reedy shores as turtles dive from wet rocks into the murky glory.“To The Oaks,” sings of the shady groves of ancient mystery cults while Alex McMahon’s overdriven guitars conjure up more modern tones. Brett sings, “Phantoms fly the forest / Twist up dripping ferns / Spirits in the shadows / In root and dirt and bone.”Website | Facebook

Genre: Miscellaneous