Flock of Dimes

I did not enter this world afraidAnd I refuse to leave it this way.  Flock of Dimes – the solo project of multi-instrumentalist and producer Jenn Wasner – releases her third album, The Life You Save, worldwide on October 10th, 2025, on Sub Pop Records. Across the last few decades – whether it be as Flock of Dimes, as half of beloved duo Wye Oak, or via one of her many collaborations with Bon Iver, Sylvan Esso, and a sprawling list of other musical juggernauts – Wasner’s extensive catalog displays her gift for balancing authenticity and directness with an unmistakable left-of-center sensibility. Her songwriting has always found her as a keen-eyed observer, a deeply empathetic and thoughtful storyteller with a skill for probing memory, heartbreak, and unhealed trauma, a shroud of syncopation or off-kilter guitar taking a song somewhere quietly prodigious. Her last solo album, the critically-lauded Head of Roses, took on heartbreak from a dualistic perspective, following a winding thread of intuition into the unknown and into healing. Her new album, The Life You Save, takes that a step further; put simply, it’s the most honest, intimate and personally revealing record of Wasner’s career. As heart-wrenching as they are hopeful, its twelve tracks delve the depths of addiction and codependency, inherited and experienced trauma, and the process of finding peace in the face of others’ suffering. The Life You Save is resonant, unflinchingly exposed – like a missive from the eye of a storm. But while it somehow manages to feel both viscerally raw and vulnerable, above it floats a sense of quiet peace, a sheen of hindsight, or perhaps of acceptance. It is the story of how it feels to be trapped between two worlds—the one you came from, and the one you’ve escaped to; about the belief that somehow, you can take the ones you love with you to this place; about the grief of realizing that the only person you can save is yourself. The Life You Save was produced by Jenn Wasner and recorded at Betty’s in Chapel Hill, NC, and Montrose Recording in Los Angeles, CA, and includes the highlights “Long After Midnight,” “Defeat,” “Afraid,” “Keep Me In The Dark,” and “River In My Arms.” The Life You Save also features additional production from Nick Sanborn (tracks 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11), is engineered by Adrian Olsen & Alli Rogers, mixed by Adrian Olsen, and mastered by Huntley Miller.  Jenn writes on The Life You Save: “My previous records, generally, have been a summary of things I had already been through— experiences I had observed and reflected upon, reporting back from some amount of distance. But this record is different. It is an attempt to report from inside of a process that is ongoing and unfinished, from which I will likely never fully emerge as long as I am alive: my struggle within the cycles of addiction and co-dependency. “I set out trying to make a record about other people. “Their problems, their struggles, their addictions.   Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

Vandelux

Vandelux spins a kaleidoscope of emotions into a myriad of sounds, refracting happiness, sadness, confusion, and clarity through a prism of pulsating beats, glistening keys, and iridescent melodies.   Website | Instagram | Facebook | Youtube | Spotify | Bandcamp

Baby Bugs

Baby Bugs is an alternative music project founded by Bowie. Raised on bluegrass guitar and church hymns, Bowie spent years held under the weight of religious trauma and emotional abuse before discovering that writing their feelings in the form of a song or poem was the only way to express themselves clearly. In 2021 at the age of 18, Bowie released their first song “Hey Bunny”. Surpassing 2 million streams in its first 60 days and receiving an outpour from fans encouraging Baby Bugs for more, Bowie decided to continue to write and record songs with the goal to help others who have experienced similar hardships feel less alone.   Spotify | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok     Abigail Osbornis an indie/alternative singer-songwriter based in Nashville, TN. Originally from Colorado, she brings a baby twang sound to the indie world. Abigail is getting ready to release her debut record titled ‘i don’t need to know how this ends’ — co-produced and written by her from start to finish. With a fresh perspective on love, loss, friendships and the coming-of-age experience, Abigail has a unique way of stringing together words that leave you hanging on every last one. She’s been featured as the cover of Spotify’sNext Gen Singer-Songwriter playlist and is building a growing fanbase drawn to her emotional depth and honesty.

Petey USA

Website | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube

General Purpose, Act of Love

General Purpose is a Progressive Rock Band based in Greensboro, NC. The group utilizes classical instruments such as clarinet and violin and puts them into a rock context. Drawing influence from 70’s acts such as Jethro Tull, Yes, Genesis and others, combined with Classical and Jazz influence, songwriters Xul Rutty (Bass/Vocals) and Uno Dos Santos (Guitar) create a symphonic experience through the large instrumentation. General Purpose is dedicated to creating a unique and interactive concert experience to demand the audiences full attention, even collaborating with visual artists. Website     Durham-based singer and composer Bella Nona has over a decade of deep roots performing in the Triangle area. Her performances can be heard busked in the streets of downtown Durham or on the stages of the Cat’s Cradle and the Haw River Ballroom. She is currently part of the artist collective OnlyUs and performs her original material with her Carrboro-based band. A songbird of many different genres, her sound spans neo-soul, bossa nova, indie rock, and dark folk. Her debut album Goddess Complex can be heard on all major streaming platforms. LinkTree     Indie Cult Classic is a Michigan-born singer-songwriter now rooted in North Carolina. Blending raw emotion with acoustic soul, Don writes songs about love, loss, and life’s turning points. A father of six and a lifelong musician, he’s been playing guitar since age seven and performing heartfelt original music that speaks to the quiet battles we all face. Don’s sound is intimate, reflective, and unfiltered — offering a space where pain meets purpose, and healing begins. Instagram

A Tribute to the Beach Boys for the benefit of Lynn & Ecki

GoFundMe   Friends and fans of Lynn, Many of you have already learned that Lynn received the news we all hoped so hard she wouldn’t: that there has been a recurrence of her cancer and that she will need to undergo further treatment. Concurrently, Lynn’s husband Ecki has been diagnosed with colon cancer and will begin treatment soon himself. This is cruel timing and the couple will need a great deal of support in order to manage caring for one another and covering the expenses of living and of cancer care. The first edition of this campaign netted about 22k, and I am trying to help them have a solid cushion this time around, thus the 52k goal. (GoFundMe shows the entirety of the money raised after both phases.) Lynn and Ecki very much hope that she will be able to continue her work toward a degree in Peace & Conflict Studies at UNCG and that both of them will be able to write and perform music together as they always have. But the course of treatment for both of them is indefinite, and so are its effects. This fundraising is a “big group” project, so no amount is too small and every penny will be deeply appreciated. Since lots of people have left social media of late, I would appreciate you spreading this by more old-fashioned means to people you know who care about Lynn and her stolen German. The Blakey-Heins family (and I) are so grateful to those of you who lent your support last time and may be able to again–what a generous lot you are, and what a help it was and will be to them. May every grace attend you all. With all my gratitude and with earnest hope & prayer for the health of our friend, I thank you for considering and sharing. Fondly, Caitlin Cary

Boyscott

Punctuating wistful, daydreamy indie rock with surfy guitar hooks, Boyscott approaches their songs from a hazy, lighthearted perspective as gentle as ocean breezes. The project first took shape in college dorm rooms and grew into a loose collective. Boyscott finished recording their whimsically drawn 2015 debut Goose Bumps before ever playing live, and continued developing their upbeat, nautical sound on 2024’s Spellbound. Boyscott began in 2015 as an outlet for singer/songwriter Scott Hermo’s recording experiments while he was attending college in Nashville. Hermo recorded in his dorm room and sometimes enlisted friends to help flesh out his soft-edged indie tunes. Fellow schoolmates and musicians Emma Willer, Tiger Adams, John Lewandowski and Noah Miller joined him to bring a live energy to Hermo’s recordings and together, the five musicians completed debut album Goose Bumps and self-released it in late 2015. When Boyscott began playing live, school commitments kept a solid lineup from forming, but Hermo enlisted a rotating cast of friends and musicians to play shows and go on tours. The band’s acclaim grew organically through consistent touring and their album, which caught on in a grassroots fashion. A physical release of Goose Bumps arrived in 2019 as a joint release from Top Shelf Records and Babe City Records. The most popular songs from Goose Bumps accumulated tens of millions of plays on streaming services, which took the group to entirely new audiences both in terms of listenership and attendees at their concerts. Boyscott released a second album, Spellbound, in October of 2024, continuing to explore their beachy indie songwriting style. ~ Fred Thomas   Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify

No Chief

NO CHIEF=Rhythm as Visual.Visual as Rhythm.Percussion as Melody.Interactive and Presented as ONE. No Chief is a new solo project from Sebadoh / Fiery Furnaces drummer, Bob D’Amico.   Part One will be performed as a complete piece called “Il Contadino” — a humble homage to the work of Gertrud Gruner and Carlo Levi.   Instagram | YouTube | Bandcamp | Facebook     UltrabillionsThe sum of all vibrations in an area as conducted by Sean Thegan.   Bandcamp | YouTube | Instagram

AJ Lee & Blue Summit + East Nash Grass

Bluegrass is hot, and AJ Lee & Blue Summit and East Nash Grass are two of the hottest collections of young bluegrass talent you’ll find anywhere in America. Part of bluegrass’ fourth wave, these are musicians who’ve grown up at the feet of the bluegrass masters, but see the genre through a wider lens, incorporating not just Americana and stringband sensibilities, but rock, pop, R&B, and other flavors that take their music far beyond traditional bluegrass fare, without losing the essence of what gives bluegrass its heart. Best of all, when you put two groups like this together on the road, you can be sure they’ll cook up something special for every show — musicians of this caliber just can’t help but be inspired by each other. Might as well start getting excited now.

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