Secret Stages 2019

“With a soulful country sound, this singer songwriter combines her storytelling abilities with natural musical talent in order to create beautiful music.”
— BHAM Now


Taylor Hunnicutt is a singer/songwriter based in Birmingham, Alabama. With roots in Blues, Soul, Country and Americana, Taylor’s performances cross genre lines and give audiences a unique and authentic storytelling experience. Michael Tomberlin of Alabama News Center says, “With a voice that sounds like Stevie Nicks if she had been raised in the Black Belt, Hunnicutt bends genres between country, soul, blues and rock but settles sweetly in the Americana style of Tift Merritt, Ryan Adams or Amanda Shires.”


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My name is Michael Kure. I’m a Hip-Hop artist that loves to interact with the crowd. I write songs about my life, current and past events that people can relate to. My message is to uplift and to give hope that no matter what we are going through or have been through, we can still find joy and happiness in the times we’ve survived.


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“With a project that is beyond doubt metaphorical in many arenas, AC Carter is highly influenced by the past, the future, and the past’s vision of the future, all wrapped up in their individualistic standpoint, iterating concept with a batty and quirky playfulness.”
— Wussy Mag


Lambda Celsius (or Λ°C) is the musical avatar of AC Carter: visual artist, musician, producer, and costume designer currently working in the Tri-City Southern Region between Athens, GA, Nashville, TN, and Birmingham, AL.


Λ°C performs in self-designed garments alongside Alexa (yes-Amazon’s home device) as their DJ. They produce and perform original elf house and synth blop music inspired by 80’s goth and synth wave genres. When living in Nashville, TN, they originally conceptualized their music as the alias Lavender, only having Lambda Celsius came into fruition (as every trans-identity does) once finding their more earnest androgynous-self through the goth and experimental queer communities.
Now in Athens, bridging off the the likes of The B-52’s, and inspired by the futurism of Sun Ra, this Athen’s based (and Birmingham born) artist makes a stance for queer artists, for gender equality, and reminding the larger network of musical acts that the South too can harness experimental and note-worthy talent.


AC has performed at Big Ears Festival 2018, Athens Popfest 2018, has opened for artists such as John Maus, Molly Nilsson, Algiers, Hatchie, and Girlpool, and has worked with artist R. Stevie Moore.


In addition to their musical work, AC has made costumes for Jennifer Vanilla for her performance at MoMA PS1, and for the of Montreal music video “Plateau Phase-No Careerism No Corruption”.


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“Beats crafted from well chosen samples, seem to expire before complete satisfaction is reached, creating a desire to press rewind and re-listen.”
— BamaLoveSoul


Suaze is a Musician, Hip Hop Producer and Vinyl Enthusiast. Suaze has had the pleasure of working with rappers /singers who have used his music as a backdrop as well as contributing live instrumentation for fellow producer’s projects. Suaze is recognized for his grassroots vinyl DJ sets, conjoining sounds including but not limited to hip hop, funk, soul and Jazz.


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“Kirby strikes a perfect lyrical density served up on a platter of sweet, driving indie-rock.”
— The Wild Honey Pie


Katy Kirby is an artist and songwriter from Nashville, TN. She bears a wide range of writerly influences from Bill Callahan to (Sandy) Alex G to Amy Grant. Drawing on the sonic templates of contemporaries like Lucy Dacus and Haley Heynderickx, she’ll be following up her 2018 EP “Juniper” with new music throughout 2019.


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“Caleb Caudle’s sound encompasses the wide expanse of America, as the best country rock always will.”
— NPR


Growing up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, singer-songwriter Caleb Caudle was raised on rock n’ roll and Southern hospitality. Influenced by bands like The Clash and Velvet Underground, Caudle was playing North Carolina’s punk rock circuit by the age of 15. Naturally, his music matured with his age and he became more lyrically driven, adopting a love for music history and collecting vinyl.
In 2012, he decided to quit his day job and focus solely on music — seven years and four albums later, Caudle is gaining the traction he deserves. He was recently dubbed one of “10 New Country Artists You Need To Know” by Rolling Stone. He’s played Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion, Nashville’s famed AmericanaFest multiple times, showcased to a sold out crowd at AmericanaFest UK in London, and has just returned from his month long Scandinavian tour. “Borrowed Smiles” was featured on the 2017 dramatic season finale of CMT’s Nashville and “Crushed Coins” was featured on Netflix’s The Ranch in 2018.


In 2019, he’s not slowing down. Touring over 150 dates per year, Caleb stays busy on the road sharing the stage with John Paul White, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Elizabeth Cook, Lera Lynn, Drivin’ N Cryin’, Courtney Marie Andrews, Corb Lund, Aaron Lee Tasjan, and The War & Treaty. Caleb currently resides in Nashville, TN.


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“The guys in Young Valley do a fantastic job of blending rock and country influences on their forthcoming self-titled album. Think of them as a more Southern-sounding Deer Tick or a rootsier T. Hardy Morris. The guns-a-blazing rock of the vengeful ‘Hope It Kills You’ and the Baptist guilt-ridden ‘Howlin’ offer up Southern roots music for people searching high and low for real rock ‘n’ roll.
— Wide Open Country


Jackson, Mississippi’s Young Valley offers points of view from songwriters Zach Lovett, Dylan Lovett, and Spencer Thomas with a trading of styles from traditional country to southern-tinged rock ‘n roll. With the addition of Kell Kellum and Ethan Frink, the 5-piece group lays out a catalogue of catchy melodies, harmonies, and plenty of guitar shred all packaged into well-crafted tunes. “We serve the song. Wherever the song takes us, that’s where we need to go.” This mantra has kept them honest in their approach, and just like their hard-to-look-away kind of stage show, you don’t quite know what to expect next from Young Valley.


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“An urgent, raucaus affair, The Harmaleighs’ new single “Sorry, I’m Busy” captures the paralyzing power of social anxiety through intimate lyrics and raw indie rock.”
— Atwood Magazine

The Harmaleighs have crafted a sophomore record that exists beyond the boundaries of any one genre. At times, the album is loud and tenacious while other moments require a more vulnerable cadence. It’s a new path for the Nashville pair, but it remains rooted in their respective roles. Haley Grant who takes on lead vocals and guitar, often pushes melodies to a more raw and tender edge while Kaylee Jasperson, on bass and backup vocals, guides the heartbeat and overall structure of the music.


Past versions of the band have been sparser, but the group’s newest album calls for a bigger backing. The record, titled She Won’t Make Sense explores new territory in sound and subject matter. The latter deals directly with Haley’s mental health, documenting the many forms depression can take. Opening tune, “Anthem for the Weak”introduces Haley’s anxiety, which she named Susan. It’s a preview of what’s to come, as the record continues like a conversation between the two. “The whole album is me talking to Susan or Susan acting on my behalf,” says Haley. “It’s that dialogue with your inner self and how at times it feels like that inner voice has more control over you than you do.” Musically, the track opens with a Wurlitzer-esque melody that feels bright yet disconcerting. That kind of juxtaposition is found throughout the entire arc of the record, and is something the two intentionally played with: “We definitely wanted the musical aspect of it to make you feel anxious.”


What comes next is the lead single for the record and one of the more powerful tracks on the album. With a pulsing rhythm, “Sorry, I’m Busy” drives into the listener an impending sense that a tipping point is near. The dialogue between Haley and Susan is on full display with lyrics like, “You’re holding my breath, making me red, I want to go to bed, is it night yet? Cancel the plans, they’ll understand, until they don’t understand.” It is a full on rock song, but the more hushed moments before the big drops are a reminder of The Harmaleigh’s dynamic range.


Musically, The Harmaleighs have evolved from their acoustic beginnings, bringing in synths, strings and an overall heavier sound to parallel the emotional weight behind the album. “We use to tour just the two of us, and do more of an acoustic thing,” says Kaylee. “We’re going to lean more towards a full band with a bigger sound.” It’s a natural progression for a band to experiment, but Haley and Kaylee attribute much of their transformation to producer (and Lucius drummer) Dan Molad. Kaylee describes working with Molad as “amazing” and you can hear throughout the record the many ways that both Haley and Kaylee pushed the confines of their instruments and aesthetic. Many of the tracks contain an almost vintage, horror pop quality and this is no better displayed than on “Don’t Panic.” Driven almost entirely by a retro sounding synth, the tracks feels both spacious and distressing with lines like “I’m biting my nails till they bleed, as I’m watching my love sleep comfortably.” It is beautiful and eerily dissonant, and requires more than one listen to fully absorb.


At the heart of the record, is the act of letting go and most poignantly addressed in album closer “I Don’t Know Myself.” It asks a bigger question about whether the darkest parts of ourselves are vital to who we are. Haley describes seeking treatment and the prescriptions that followed. “As I started taking all of this stuff, it was like all of the parts of my personality that I really enjoyed, were no longer there. I didn’t feel creative, I wasn’t dreaming. So when I wrote that last song, it was like do I need this aspect that makes my life so difficult but also so rewarding, or do I let that go and live more peacefully? It’s still an openended question.”


It’s one of many questions the duo wants to address with their audience. Known for their stage banter, the two hope they can open up a larger conversation about mental health. “It’s important for us to explain a lot of this, especially with this topic,” Kaylee says. “It’s something that a lot of people deal with but not a lot of people talk about. We want to make sure that when you come to our show, we talk about these things and it’s open. We want everyone to feel like they all belong. This happens and we’re going to shed some light on it.”


She Won’t Make Sense is out August 2 (2019) and signals a real period of growth and evolution for The Harmaleighs. Relationships ended, a bigger sound was discovered and ultimately, the album reaches a more nuanced level of emotional depth. Requiring a remarkable amount of openness from both Haley and Kaylee, the two have started a new conversation with their audience — for all of the unease the album transmits, a sense of resilience shines through, even in the most vulnerable of moments.


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“If this is your introduction to Detroit’s Noveliss consider yourself a lucky human…It’s important to note his authenticity. And evident passion, with a seemingly open-door policy as to what he allows to inspire his craft.”
— Respect Mag


Formerly known as J-Roc, Noveliss is apart of the legendary Hip-Hop collective, Clear Soul Forces. That collective earned themselves a record deal with Fat Beats in the mid 2000’s and set the world ablaze with their single “Get No Better”. With much success the group was able to perform domestically and soon after the decision was made to seek more experience overseas in Europe!After extensive touring, Noveliss decided he wanted to give fans a piece of himself that they didn’t get to hear in the group. That pursuit quickly paid off and he earned the opportunity to speak at several pop culture events in every corner of the United States.Influenced by his love for everything Nerd culture, the decision to focus on his own brand of Nerdcore was a simple one. His diverse taste, and unique hobbies, fused with his experiences living in the Motor City naturally makes Noveliss one-of-a-kind.


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“…Sweeping, bold, ethereal, lush, driving, haunting, commanding, dreamy, layered, methodical, atmospheric, triumphant, glassy, and lovely. In the end, the best way to describe [Easter Island] is, simply, damn near perfect.”
— Flagpole


Formed in Athens, GA, Easter Island is a dreampop act fronted by guitarists Ethan Payne and Ryan Monahan, whose sound has been likened to Explosions in The Sky, My Bloody Valentine, DIIV, Pedro the Lion, and more. The band’s falsetto vocals and panoramic guitars are countered by its muscular rhythm section – Asher Payne (keyboards), John Swint (drums), and Justin Ellis (bass) all serve to add gravity to an otherwise weightless sound.


The band has traveled as far as Japan to work on new material and to film their latest music video, “Island Nation”, which was recently premiered by Paste Magazine . Produced and engineered by Ryan Monahan, the songs have received additional engineering, mixing, and mastering from Mike Albanese at Espresso Machine Recording. The band’s followup single, “Always Room For Another”, premiered on Billboard in fall 2018.


The past three years have seen the band working in various studios on their new record while touring the U.S at large, including appearances at SXSW, CMJ, Treefort, and Athfest in their hometown of Athens. The band’s debut record Frightened (2012), led to a number of television syncs, including ABC’s “Off The Map”, MTV’s “Awkward”, and a recent live appearance on CW’s Dynasty which aired in early 2019.


Throughout Easter Island’s near 10 year career, the band has had the opportunity to share the stage with David Bazan, Cindy Wilson (of The B5s), The Low Anthem, Bully, Wild Nothing, White Rabbits, Valley Maker, and more. The band plans to release their follow LP, Island Nation, in 2019.


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“Burch is a trained jazz vocalist, but the music on her fine new LP First Flower elides styles, and even centuries, blurring classic country, torch-y ballads and Latin-tinged rhythms into a style that might feel Lynchian if her songs weren’t so personable and warm.”
— Rolling Stone


Molly Burch burst onto the music scene in 2017 with her debut album Please Be Mine, a ten-track ode to unrequited romance that she wrote after studying Jazz Vocal Performance at the University of North Carolina in Asheville. Please Be Mine earned praise from critics for her smoky, effortless vocals and bleeding-heart lyrics. Burch’s sophomore album, First Flower, is a walk-through her most intimate thoughts. Unlike Please Be Mine, which focused on the contentious depression of heartbreak, First Flower explores broken friendships, her relationship to her sister, and more importantly, how Burch learned to fight overwhelming anxiety. Burch is a soft-spoken, careful person who shoves her nervousness away on a daily basis. First Flower is a bright, beautiful album peppered with moments of triumph. Burch’s voice is as strong and dexterous as ever, displaying her incredible range and professionalism as a vocalist. Opening track “Candy” is a swinging, playful hit, while “Wild” deals with pushing away fear. Songs like “Next to Me” and “Dangerous Place” examine failure and distance, and the title track “First Flower” is classic Burch, a simple love song that makes your skin raise with goosebumps when she breaks into the chorus. But the album’s true stand-out is “To The Boys”, a courageous, sassy fuck-you to her own self-deprecation where she learns to love all the things she hated about herself. “I don’t need to scream to get my point across/I don’t need to yell to know that I’m the boss,” she coos over a sparse guitar riff. “I’ve always been told my whole life to speak up,” explains Burch. “I needed to embrace that and not care what people think.” The album closes with “Every Little Thing”, a haunting, airy ballad that sounds like something Judy Garland would have sang while drowning her pain in pills and alcohol. First Flower is a shapely sonicstage to let Burch shine on. The composition and production carefully constructed to compliment and not over power.


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“Its closest parallels are Weezer or Best Coast at their most retro-rock classicist, except when Deezy Violet kicks into high gear she brings a guttural fire that’s more like Kurt Cobain or Charly Bliss’ Eva Hendricks.”
— Stereogum


Sad Baxter’s latest EP, So Happy, is a collection of sonic contradictions. The duo of Deezy Violet (guitar/vocals) and Alex Mojaverian (drums/vocals) thrive in the space where seemingly at-odds elements converge—sludgy fuzzed-out guitars blended with pop structures, gritty vocals that propel sugary melodies, and some of the most buoyant rock songs this side of the ‘90s containing some truly heartrending words. If confrontation breeds catharsis, Sad Baxter are soon to be listeners’ new favorite form of release.


The band’s origins have an unassuming Cameron Crow-esque charm: Deezy and Alex met in college while living down the hall from one another. They’d go on to date, start a band, break up, eventually end up in the same town, and, after some initial nerves, continue the band with the kind of bond that only two truly close friends share. After settling in Nashville, Tennessee, the two continued to hone their songs with their first release, Weirdy, in 2016.


Now with So Happy, Sad Baxter don’t just achieve a perfect amalgam of noise and pop that’s reminiscent of the ‘90s, they also refine it. The EP was recorded over three days with engineer Steven Page on an eight-track reel-to-reel setup, giving it a raw and lean sound. The resulting spontaneity elevates each song into distorted euphoria while bolstering Deezy’s voice, which packs the rare ability to be effortlessly tuneful and gravelly at the same time.


The lyrics on So Happy take a purposefully more confrontational approach. Whereas Weirdy revolved around secretive thoughts and feelings, So Happy finds Deezy more directly addressing the positive and negative figures in her life, as well as herself. Songs like “Baby” and “Sick-Outt” document the collapse of a toxic relationship and grapple with the desperation of needing to split from that corrosive and controlling presence, while “Love Yew” is an open-hearted appreciation for newfound honesty and happiness with someone else. As its sardonic title implies, So Happy also maintains a touch of wit even in its darkest moments, a trait that’s as much part of the band’s identity as the emotional core of their songs. Sad Baxter have tapped into the often overlooked soul that made their ‘90s forebears so powerful, and in doing so they’ve created something that pays tribute while transcending nostalgia.


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“With a tremendous amount of swagger, [Hiatt] wields her guitar like a weapon while that distinctly southern accent of hers delivers vocal melodies that are in turns deep, bluesy, fearless and sweet.”
— The Line Of Best Fit


Trinity Lane isn’t all an expression of anger, but it is an emotional, honest confrontation of Hiatt’s feelings and her past, like how she’s processed her mother’s suicide over the years. Hiatt lost her mom when she was just one year old and was raised by her father, John Hiatt, and his wife Nancy, struggling her whole childhood and adult life thus far with how to process that resentment and grief. And it’s a chronicle of overcoming heartbreak and addiction: “Different, I Guess” is a slow folk ode to losing love, and “Imposter” is about the difficulties her father faced raising his daughter, and the sparks of her mother that still shine through.


“I’ve been thinking a lot about my dad and the strength it took him to keep me going and to bring me to Nashville,” she says about “Imposter.” “Just to keep us together and keep us going, that’s always meant a lot to me. For a long time I felt pretty angry with my mother. But through maturation, I feel like I understand her more these days.”


“She’s never coming back, I think we both know that,” sings Hiatt before cooing with her steady twang, “I count on you.” It’s an incredibly vulnerable and intimate family diary, but never at the expense of a rich and stirring melody perfectly in tune with the modern pulse of Americana. It’s an offering of sonic salvation that Hiatt hopes will do as much for the listener as it has done for her own personal healing.


“It’s really cool to be honest with yourself,” she says. “When I have a clear head and a peaceful mind, that process of looking back at things is so much easier. It’s a very empowering feeling. It has literally saved my soul, songwriting. I would not be here without that and without that outlet of writing.”


The songs on Trinity Lane have even helped Hiatt process things like the death of David Bowie, which functions as a metaphor for a lost lover. On the heavily nineties-tinged “The Night David Bowie Died,” she bids farewell to a relationship and to a musical genius while also evoking Veruca Salt-style vocals and guitars. It was a track written entirely in one stream-of-consciousness, where Hiatt didn’t edit or write anything down – she just sang and played. “That was David Bowie’s little gift to me,” she says with a laugh.


Trinity Lane is full of gifts and full of guts – an album that is a healing process and a road map forward, filled with Hiatt’s wildly expressive approach to songwriting and stark, honest lyrics. To get there, she finally had to put her faith into something she couldn’t see. But to hear that  journey, all you have to do is listen.


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“If witch house truly died and was buried, then Sniffle Party exhumed the genre’s body and pumped it full of stadium-pop steroids.”
— Dimestore Saints


Sniffle Party’s one-of-a-kind witchy pop music is a dream within a dream. The duo’s sleek and poignant songs were made in a bedroom in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, but contain multitudes. Serena Wagner’s distinctive songwriting and soul-stirring vocals paired with Eric Christenson’s dreamy, minimalist electronic production combine for a rich sound that’s fresh and invigorating. Their lo-fi sincerity and heart-driven lyrics twist together into songs that pack an emotional punch. And it resonates. A handful of DIY recorded songs have racked up a couple million streams worldwide and found the band featured on HBO, multiple Spotify playlists, film scores, blogs, and compilations. Where modern pop music generates a hollow kind of flawlessness, Sniffle Party thrives in the rough at the edges.


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“…the ease and vigor of john.AVERAGE’s flow here is something to behold, not to mention his mental agility. He’s the rare rapper who can can casually toss out lines for laughs and then swing back with something deep or introspective.”
— Immersive Atlanta


john.AVERAGE. a Hip-Hop artist hailing from Northeast (Neast) Atlanta, is an artist who’s style could be defined as anything from boom-bap to alternative. Having started making music around the age of 16, john prides himself in his pronounced and complex lyricism, as well as his endearing stage presence. Fresh off the release of Leftover Snacks, his first official project in 6 years and the followup to 2013’s Doobie Snacks, john’s artistic future seems brimming with promise as he looks to re-mobilize his fanbase, reinvent his image, and re-surface as one of Atlanta’s most talented up and coming acts.


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Squirrel flower is the alias 22-year-old Ella Williams adopted for herself when writing songs and poetry as a child. Coming from a professional musical family spanning generations, Williams has always been surrounded by music. By 14 she started writing more seriously and released her first EP of folk music under her own name. After immersing herself in the DIY scene of her Boston hometown before moving to Iowa to study Art + Gender, Women’s, & Sexuality studies at Grinnell college, she found a more experimental sound, linking her choral roots, classical harmony and ethereal chord structures, and released her first EP as Squirrel Flower, “Early Winter Songs From Middle America.” her second EP, Contact Sports, is a perfectly formed collection of songs about relationships; intimacy, dependency, betrayal and geography, set to the backdrop of the American Midwest. The songs represent push and pull of love and intimacy while also being meditations on place. From the fulsome guitar and visceral, cathartic breakdown of lead single ‘Conditions’ to the carefully layered beauty of ‘Hands Melt’, this varied collection frequently impresses with its maturity and craftsmanship. Tracks like the fuzzy, dimly-lit euphoria of ‘Daylight Savings’ are spellbinding in their turn of phrase as Williams sings “I know we’ve gained an hour, but I feel like we’ve lost two”.


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“The most powerful debut album I’ve heard in years… encompasses the best of The Who when that band was at the top its game.”
— The Pulse


Holiday Gunfire began in 2017 when longtime friends and seasoned Birmingham, Alabama musicians, Lester Nuby III (Verbena, Vulture Whale), Jason Hamric (Twinside), Craig Ceravolo (Great Lakes) and Michael Williams (13 Ghosts, Nowhere Squares), were enjoying an Independence Day celebration. Some celebrate with copious libations and vittles, others shoot off fireworks and sparklers, still others take to the backyard with their trusty firearm of choice. A quaint pull of the trigger of your favorite 12 gauge emits a raucous festivity of sound and exuberance — a cacophony of gun powder-fueled bliss, much like the debut offering from Holiday Gunfire.


A warm yet familiar rattle and hum of heavy bass licks with relentless trap slapping drenched in two guitars and comforting vocals, just good ol’ wholesome rock’n’roll like your Momma was always scared you’d be into. Pop ethos with ample smatterings of indie fuzz and Southern Gothic scuzz, Nuby and Hamric’s guitars create a barrage of melodies and multi-layered soundscapes while Williams’ thunderous drums and Ceravolo’s bass form the band’s music into perfectly digestible pop nugget… and solos for days, I might add!


Throwing back to Fugazi-esque on “Fake It” and reaching forward to new sonic soundscapes at the same time with the follow up “She’s Got A Machine”. Touching on razor sharp hooks and shoe gaze solos Holiday Gunfire is nostalgic with a brand new car smell. These 8 songs are a new beginning for some veteran South Eastern rock and rollers, fortuitous and melodic, a powerful record that seems sweet until it punches you in the face and steals your wallet, but not without a wink and smile, polished and politely unapologetic. It’s every bit intriguing as it sounds.


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“Bent on frenzy and full of personal flair Datenight’s Comin Atcha’ 100MPH proves their album’s name over and over again. This music isn’t self-conscious at all. Balancing heavy strums with wrist-breaking flails these guys give hope for the future of punk music. The longest song comes in at blistering two minutes and twenty seconds, the shortest at a minute and twenty-two. There’s no hiding behind effects boards or post-production. They don’t go ham on guitar pedals and the vocals are nearly bone dry. These guys had to just write fast catchy punk songs and they sure as hell did.”
— Post Trash


In a high-school music classroom in Nashville, Tennessee, guitars are falling from the ceiling. During a break from teaching the jazz compositions of Wes Montgomery, high-school guitar teacher Doc makes a fatal mistake and walks out of the classroom, leaving the students of Nashville’s School of the Arts completely unsupervised. As the story goes, while he was away three students opened up the ceiling tiles and laid all of the school’s acoustic guitars up there, covering the ceiling like a wooden blanket. When Doc re-entered the classroom ten minutes later he heard two things: the sound of “Janie Jones” playing over the loudspeakers and a rumble that any ordinary person might describe as an earthquake with a magnitude of at least 4 or higher. Fortunately, the ceiling collapse didn’t hurt anyone as bad as an earthquake might have, but it did get the three students responsible suspended for two and a half weeks. So, what did those three do with their 13 days away? They formed DATENIGHT and never looked back. Boredom breeds Rock’n’Roll.


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“Avoiding flagrant confessionalism for narrative detail, Simpson can project anger or irony or uncomfortable intimacy with equal ease…”
— Paste Magazine


Janet Simpson has been a part of the Birmingham music scene since transplanting from Atlanta to Alabama in 1999. Janet fronted and wrote the songs for the Fairport Convention-esque indie-folk band Delicate Cutters from 2002-2015, touring the Southeast and East Coast with albums Some Creatures and Ring (Skybucket.) Her participation as a collaborator in bands such as the pop/psych-punk outfit Teen Getaway and dream-folk duo Timber demonstrate Janet’s flexibility as a songwriter and performer, while her contributions as a recording and touring member (keys,vocals and bass) of the band backing the legendary freak-folker, Wooden Wand ( Briarwood, Blood Oaths of the New Blues, WWIV ) gave Janet a channel to exploit her love for jazz and blues.


Janet has lent her vocal and instrumental touches to numerous albums over the past several years (Will Stewart, Jason Slatton, Broken Letters) as well as scored original instrumental pieces for film and television. Now, Janet is set to record and release her first solo album in more than 20 years, featuring some of her most straight-forward, bare-bones songwriting to date. Featuring tinges of country recalling early Lucinda Williams and Iris Dement, but with stranger, darker swagger.


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“The latest album from the oblique strategist of New York rap is an urgent attempt to give order, in small increments, to an orderless time.”
— Pitchfork


ELUCID is a Black American rap artist, producer and cultural worker based in New York City. His extensive solo output materials “are little marvels about living on the fringes of a society that hopes to devour you, to lessen you, to destroy your body and soul, while you press forward just the same. His music is about existing while black as a political act, and speaking truth to power as an enlightened one.” (Pitchfork – October,2018) Additionally, ELUCID has collaborated on critically acclaimed projects with milo as Nostrum Grocers and billy woods as Armand Hammer.


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The Bouquets are a group of friends from Birmingham, AL, who formed in Spring of 2018. They were founded on the idea that no influence should go ignored, and so the band enjoys incorporating a variety of musical spices into their songs. The band’s current favorite flavors are 60s garage and proto-punk groups mixed with surf and new wave. Lovers of Joe Meek, Dead Moon, Monks, Devo, CCR, Link Wray, and The Shangri-Las will be pleased. Name-dropping aside, The Bouquets want to make you dance. Love from Alabama.


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“Once the vibe has worn off and the post-Busch delirium sets in, switch on “Good Ol’ Days.” Oddball baroque psychedelia broadcasted from a basement on the east side. This is a bonafide earworm thanks to a loose piano melody and singular vocal stylings. Nice to find the kids that aren’t afraid of writing a hook. Play the demo again and again until the tape wears out or the sun comes up.”
— Aquarium Drunkard


Start grooving and drooling over a casserole of jangle pop and high jinks made by some of Nashville’s finest – Michael Brudi, Jared Hicks, Shane Perry and Sam Silva. The Medium entertains and endears with an audible, suspicious grin and shoulder-shaking melodies. The four have been playing shows together since 2016. This past October, the Nashville Scene debuted the band’s first single “Good ol’ Days” which Aquarium Drunkard deemed a “bonafide earworm.”


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Faye Andrews or “Deku” is an Atlanta producer who makes genre-bending experimental electronic music. Being very fickle and constantly infatuated with some new sound, instrument, or technique results in the producer covering a wide palette of styles and genres. Her self-described “primitive” methods give her music a unique texture and flavor all it’s own. As such, many of Deku’s works are littered with a variety of sources covering the spectrum from field recordings and noise pollution to found sounds, traditional samples, and hand-crafted (and recorded) instrumentation. She produced for and performed with the Atlanta-based band, Waking Astronomer and helped birth their self-titled EP in 2016. She is a member of the Atlanta-based Controllerise, Psych Army and VLSC collectives as well as the Asheville-based BEAT LIFE collective. She has also had the pleasure of sharing the stage with fellow Atlanta producers and bands HeRobust, 10th Letter, Stefan Ringer, Divine Interface, The Difference Machine, Higher Learning and STLNDRMS and many more. In addition, she has also had the honor of playing alongside and opening for Big Gipp, Dabrye, Shigeto, Odd Nosdam, Blue Sky Black Death, Bob Moses, Taylor McFerrin, Samiyam, MONO/POLY, MNDSGN, James Blake, Astronautica, Lord Raja, Daedelus, Young Fathers, Prefuse 73 and Free the Robots (among others). New stuff coming soon and often with her latest release (Golden Being).


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“At one point Cakes brags that he can, “spit that shit that make a homophobe a hypocrite,” and I don’t doubt that he could. There’s something very compelling not only about the way he raps, but also about aggressive strain of hedonism at The Eulogy’s heart, this idea that simply making pleasure seeking the center of your existence can be a statement, even an art, and if anyone thinks differently then fuck ’em.”
— Pitchfork


Cakes Da Killa is a Brooklyn-based rapper & writer hailing from Teaneck, New Jersey. His signature 90s flow and cutthroat wordplay has garnered praise from HOT 97’s own Ebro & Peter Rosenberg to Anthony Fantano of the Needledrop. His sound is a mixture of hardcore technical lyricism marinated with heavy club beats. With a few mixtapes under his belt & a killer live show Cakes quickly became a must-see act on many festival lineups around the world.


This signature sound has kept Cakes touring glabally since he burst on the scene in 2012. Cakes is a key player in the recent conversation of LGBT visibility in the urban market and has been featured on various media outlets sharing his journey as an openly gay MC. In 2016, his much anticipated debut album Hedonism was released on RUFFIANS.


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“Esther Rose’s honest, gorgeous country songs are steeped in tradition.”
— The Fader


“I’m always changing,” Esther Rose sings at the top of her sophomore album, ‘You Made It This Far.’ The line is at once a promise and a plea, a concise distillation of her commitment to evolution as well as her dogged determination to meet every challenge in her path with unconditional acceptance. Laid-back yet deliberate, her delivery here marries old-school country and rural folk with a plainspoken philosophy that’s thoroughly modern, and the end result is a record that’s as joyful as it is restless, one that weaves fiddle and lap steel around profound revelations, late night conversations, and all the moments in between.


“There’s this theme of radical acceptance running through the whole album,” explains Rose, who recorded the album live to tape in just four days. “I didn’t realize it until after I’d finished writing the songs, but they all came from this place of trying to understand and truly accept myself and others in our most vulnerable moments of confusion or despair.”


A New Orleanian for the last decade, Rose first gained national prominence with the release of 2017’s ‘This Time Last Night,’ an intoxicating debut that prompted Fader to praise her “honest, gorgeous country songs” and rave that “her voice has a pitched-up June Carter quality, her melodies are simple like Jimmie Rodgers’s, and her tone is reminiscent of bluesy, lovelorn greats like Rex Griffin and Patsy Cline.” The record earned Rose festival performances from Savannah Stopover to AmericanaFest alongside dates with The Punch Brothers, Pokey Lafarge, and The Deslondes, and it even caught the ear of fellow Detroit native Jack White, who was so taken with the music that he invited Rose to duet with him on his ‘Boarding House Reach’ album and to share the stage for a live performance at Jazz Fest.


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Skinny Dippers is an indie/folk band based out of Birmingham, AL. With warm melodies and thought provoking lyrics, Sarah Bretz shares past experiences and emotions through her music. The songs are written in collaboration with bassist John Sims, guitarist Abby Anderson, keyboardist Jackson Gafford and drummer Seth Brown.


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“Rife with hooks and snarled twang, “Other Minds” is an ear pleaser. Opening with storming piano riff, the lo-fi home recording feels anthemic from the outset. The weariness in Mouton’s voice is earnest as he’s self-aware of his introvert tendencies.”
— Cereal and Sounds


The eponymous rock and roll project of Pete Mouton stays busy. Aptly listed as one of the “Hardest Working DIY Bands on Tour in 2018” by Audiofemme, the band played nearly a hundred shows last year while also demoing songs for an upcoming debut LP. Deviating from the two post-punk leaning releases, the sound draws heavily from Big Star and Tom Petty, but with an energy and brevity more akin to late 70’s budget rock and power pop à la The Nerves.


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Soul Desert is a 5-piece transcendental rock-and-roll band from Birmingham, AL who bring the space grooves that make you move.

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“Hollywood Gold…demonstrates a considerable breadth in Ragsdale’s writing, ranging from Laurel Canyon folk rock and Americana to echoes of vibey new wave and power pop.”
— Billboard Magazine


Formed in 2015, Nashville-based rock band The Prescriptions have quickly become a “must see” act in the southeastern regional music scene. Following the release of their EP “Either Side” in 2016, The Prescriptions have maintained a healthy performance schedule while continuing to move forward musically. On April 5th, 2019 the band released their first full-length LP “Hollywood Gold” on Single Lock Records.


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The last time we heard from Preston Lovinggood was with his stunning 2014 album, Shadow Songs. The soundscape of songs showcased Lovinggood’s intricately-detailed, and low-key funny tales of love, longing, and loss, even spawning a lo-fi companion album, Sun Songs.


Consequences,  Lovinggood’s new album, is his best, most concise, and hook-laden album to date, which manages to conjure a unique soundscape of its own: sun-kissed, modern pop that pulls off the neat trick of appearing straightforward when, upon further inspection, the music often trails off into subtle psychedelic curls.


Lovinggood’s music is properly cinematic, sustaining moods, characters, and themes, and Consequences is, in a sense, a “break-up” record, but the storyline resists linear narrative and opts for a cut-up approach – its two lovers unstuck in time.


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New Love Crowd is the music/design project of Travis Swinford. New Love Crowd’s project is to raise the question: How do you love the world? It’s a weird place, and a tough task, but it’s the only thing to do.


Before forming NLC in Brooklyn, Swinford was making music in several bands in Birmingham, AL, his own being Plains (Happenin Records/Lolipop Records/Noumenal Loom, now available on Spotify, etc, and also performed with Holy Youth, Drew Price, Dommel Mosel).


NLC’s first full-length, self-titled album (recorded at home by Swinford with longtime collaborator Drew Price on keys) takes a lot of moods & lessons and puts them into one tripping body strolling down planet Earth street. It’s available from Earth Libraries and Maintenance Records.


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“Ford’s bass bristles beneath David Swatzell’s guitars, which burn and glimmer with the hot intensity of a sparkler, and Matt Putman’s plodding drums are bolstered by Colin Blanton’s second rhythmic layer.”
— Terrorbird


With over 20 years of music under his belt, Johnathon Ford, the visionary behind Unwed Sailor, presents a new offering in his expansive interpretation of instrumental music.


Throughout the band’s career, Ford has leapt in a myriad of instrumental directions, from angular post-rock rhythms, to dreamy ambient soundscapes, to the sound of homemade instruments playing storybook nursery rhymes. Though all these directions vary in style, all of the albums share a certain melodic sensibility, a flavor that’s undeniably Ford’s, yet each has its own unique place in creating the sound and vision of Unwed Sailor. In effect, the band’s discography feels like a collection of postcards from different times and places.


One such postcard is 2004’s The Marionette and the Music Box. Ford, inspired by Profokiev’s Peter and the Wolf, created The Marionette and the Music Box by using a variety of organs and pianos, electric and acoustic guitars, wind instruments, and swaying time signatures to create a musical story with characters and conflicts through melodic motifs.


2006’s The White Ox, on the other hand, is less narrative, and more sparse; on songs like “Shadows” and “The End,” the melody gives way to echo and space, a sort of emotional infinity that stretches endlessly in every direction. Almost in response, 2008’s Little Wars is busy and complex, a hive of buzzing bass lines and tiptoeing guitars, of breathy organs and rhythmic cartwheels.


Ten years since Little Wars, Unwed Sailor has recorded Heavy Age. It too displays an image different from its predecessors—its leaden beats land heavier and bass churns harder. “With Heavy Age,” Ford says, “I wanted this to feel like an Unwed Sailor live record. Like if you came to an Unwed show, this is what you’d hear—heavy and bombastic, like grabbing someone by the shirt.” It’s an effect achieved in songs like “Thunderbird.” Here, Ford’s bass bristles beneath David Swatzell’s guitars, which burn and glimmer with the hot intensity of a sparkler, and Matt Putman’s plodding drums are bolstered by Colin Blanton’s second rhythmic layer. Likewise, on the title track, Swatzell’s guitars cut streaks across the song’s landscape, a menacing, overcast setting, stirred up by Ford’s murky bass, that match’s the album’s ponderous artwork.


Still Heavy Age also contains glints and sparks of the albums that preceded it. Songs like “Indian Paintbrush” and “ACAXAO,” for example, feature Little Wars’s wavering momentum, it’s swarming effervescence; others like “Nova” feature The White Ox’s vast expanses. Though nothing quite captures the aesthetic of The Marionette and the Music Box, the album possesses a similar sense of narration, as if each track feels like a chapter in an epic story.


In effect, Heavy Age feels like the culmination of everything that Unwed Sailor has released—and a touchstone toward which the band has been building for years. But the only way to understand their sound and style, to truly comprehend the breadth of their depth, is to pick up their stack of postcards—starting with Heavy Age, the darkest and densest—and flip through them one at a time.


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“Over years spent in the city’s underground hip-hop scene — eight records put out at a deliberate pace, a combination of full-lengths, EPs and mixtapes that stretch in every stylistic direction — Handy has become an improbable crossover success. His new six-song EP, Summer Sauce, burst onto the iTunes and Amazon charts when it launched in late July.”
— The Pitch Magazine


Providing soulful & empowering tunes, Kansas City native, Sauce, guarantees a live performance that will inspire everyone. On top of his unique storytelling and use of jazz, he is a go-to voice for the mid-west region—working with youth through Hip-Hop based initiatives. His music has charted on iTunes, Amazon, and Billboard, and he has toured through Chicago, Atlanta, Austin, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, and more. He is available for performing, speaking, teaching (Hip-Hop education/creative writing/storytelling) and has taught at colleges like the University of Kansas and Washburn University.


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“Blurs the lines between humanity and technology […] A fusion of vastly different elements, Partials thrive on this dichotomy, an artistic liaison that perpetually surprises.”
— Clash Magazine


Partials is a psychedelic dance band from Athens, GA. They combine electric and electronic instruments with dance beats and catchy, paradoxical vocals. Collaborating with producer / engineer Drew Vandenberg (Kishi Bashi, of Montreal, Toro y Moi), they released their debut EP, Glossolalia, on his record label True Blue last April. Their second EP, also produced by Vandenberg, is scheduled to drop near the end of summer.


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“The dynamic duo avoided the sophomore slump and cranked out a thundering collection of hip-shaking rock, soul, and pop.”
— Democrat Gazette


If you’ve ever had the desire to quit your day job, pack a suitcase, shelve your cares, and hop on the nearest interstate to chase your dreams, then Dazz & Brie should be added to your road trip playlist.
A funky blend of rock ‘n’ soul, the duo combines drums and heavy guitar instrumentation with soulful melodies and harmonies that dance between the lines of sarcastic, charismatic, and inspiring as they croon about their journey to rock stardom, as well as the perils that accompany them.


Through unapologetic creativity, fearlessness, “off the wall” approaches, and the desire to live the fullest lives possible, they seize every opportunity to share their story with others in order to dismantle stereotypes, break boundaries, and encourage authenticity. Their “take me as I am” energy speaks to fans of underdogs as they pave their own path in a society who’s history is deeply rooted in the oppression of people like them. Rock on.


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“A rare entity and a genius story/songsmith.”
— John Dwyer of the Oh Sees


Over the past few years Los Angeles has been privy to the ever evolving, revolving creative cosmos that is jack name. Fluid future punk at home space boa , or surly sweats a real treat and bender of archetype and expectation but consistently fantastic and thoughtful. Having seen every rendition since weve been compatriots im always left with my ears and eyes in love. Painting a neon drizzled scape in his smithing, He takes a hazy and true freak approach to the live setting. His band has always a miasma of ringers and corner oddities that compliment each other in live action. Worth the trek the brackish wasteland to your local libations sound hall. Go get some.


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“Wes’ vocals are effortlessly cool, and his mid-gruff delivery matches the whole thing perfectly.”
— Flagpole


Lover of sounds. Maker of wavs. Hip Hop and weird stuff.


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At this juncture, I feel like I’ve run out of superlatives to throw out at Athens’ finest fuzz-punk exports Eureka California. The duo’s latest high-octane platter, Roadrunners, is yet another frenetic blast of massive riffs and terminally contagious hooks played with we’re-all-gonna-die-so-fuck-it-let’s-GO intensity.
— Immersive Atlanta


Eureka California began as Jake Ward’s bedroom project in Raleigh, NC, in 2007. On a whim he moved to Athens, GA, soon after that and the band expanded to a five-piece. The lineup changed over the years as Ward’s songwriting began to find its footing — graduating college during an economic recession, the anxiety of time passing without realizing you’ve made any progress, on to sobriety in a drinking town and its accompanying isolation, and maybe that’s not the only reason you feel isolated, and now on to frustration at the music industry and looming threats of nuclear war. The band slimmed down to a two-piece with drummer Marie A. Uhler in 2012. Over a decade in and four LPs, a lost CD, and several 7″s and cassettes later, anxieties over the years flying by while workdays last forever are still at the forefront of the mind of Eureka California — wanting to make moves but being too broke to go anywhere, the low-wage jobs that take up all your time and keep you too exhausted to enjoy your days off, those people that waste the time you do have, or is it your fault for procrastinating? Maybe that’s why their songs are so short; most hover around the two-minute mark, and everything live is played almost twice as fast.


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“Both King I Divine & ScienZe have worked separately on their music since their first collaboration album released back in March 2012, but now they’re back together on their latest collective with relatable raps and some amazing production.”
— The Source


Born and bred in Brooklyn, ScienZe is a multi-dimensional emcee who mixes and masters more than his vocabulary. With home grown inspiration from Hip Hop and influences gained from the culture of worldwide independent artistry, ScienZe began garnering faithful fans from his debut mixtape “The DOPEness, Vol.1” (2009). Ever since, ‘Hall Pass’ (2010) ‘When Skies Fall’ (2011) and ‘Ella’ (2013) are a few of his most celebrated albums, with eclectic visuals as his trademark.


King I Divine, a Queens native, is a name firstly synonymous with MPC’s, secondly with sounds of authentic head-bopping Hip Hop, original compositions and soulful samples. Whilst uploading beat tutorial videos and gaining a substantial, international following, he began producing in 2008. His music was fuelled by a fresh love for Hip Hop and his early production influences included RZA, DJ Premier and Pete Rock.


After two successful collaborations and supporter requests, ScienZe and King I Divine communally created the hard-hitting, hailed ‘Divine ScienZe’ hosted by 2DopeBoyz (Released March 13th 2012). Having performed together throughout the USA – California, Massachusetts, Ohio, New York, Washington DC- and the United Kingdom- London, Berlin, Paris- their success and fans reiterated the need for Part Two. April 8th 2014 saw the successor: ‘Divine Scienze 2: The Wake Up Album’ a 14-track compilation executing their renowned classic quality in musicality to lyrical variety. Both albums received endless praise via blogs, official Hip Hop websites, airplay and Bandcamp.


Further tours, videos, collaborations and power moves are en-route. This is the Wake Up.


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“Southern whimsy and fuzzy, melodic rock.”
— NPR


Sun Seeker has drawn applause for their unhurried breed of Cosmic American Music and with BIDDEFORD (Third Man Records), their 2017 debut EP, the Nashville-based band more than affirm their promise. The EP – which follows Sun Seeker’s widely acclaimed Third Man debut single, 2016’s “Georgia Dust” b/w “No One Knows” (TMR322) – sees Alex Benick (guitar, vocals), Asher Horton (bass guitar, vocals), and Ben Parks (drums, vocals) exploring nostalgia, melancholy, and emotional turmoil via laidback psychedelia pollinated with tight harmonies, classic folk songcraft, and country rock spirit, an ageless approach that is simultaneously archetypal and now utterly their own. Sun Seeker has toured extensively, supporting acts such as Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Peach Pit, The Districts, and Jessica Lea Mayfield. 2019 will see their long awaited full length album release (produced by Pat Sansone – Wilco, Autumn Defense), accompanied with much more touring and festival plays soon to be announced.


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“The set’s silky productions were followed by an expressive stage presence, held on by The Lioness’ delicate care for each syllable being thrown out into the crowd.”
— Girl Underground Music


Shaiwna Adams, known as The Lioness, is a native of North Minneapolis, Minnesota. Having started her hip-hop career 15 years ago, she has inevitably become one of the Twin Cities’ premier homegrown artists. AThe concious lyricist speaks to the souls of marginalized populations by addressing issues of racial inequalities and social justice, in efforts to encourage and empower youth, women, people of color and indigenous communities across the country.


The Lioness projects include: The Most Anticipated (2011); Lost Tapes (2012); Queen (2013); Growing Pains (2016); and her latest, Greater Vision (2018). Her creativity, originality, and captivating sound has earned her opening spots for headliners, such as: I Self Divine, Brother Ali, Astral Blak, Doomtree, Dem Atlas, Eve, Doug E. Fresh, and Dej Loaf. In 2017, she toured with Metasota on the #BlackExcellenceTour and Atmosphere on the Welcome to Colorado Tour. She also commanded the stage at Soundset 2018.


Taking her passion and skills to a broader audience, The Lioness is currently touring with Atmosphere on the Mi Vida Local Tour, which includes a European tour. With her rapidly growing fanbase and mission to encourage and inspire, is is only a matter of time before she becomes a global headliner.


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Whatʼs good world, my name is Dolo Fibonacci. A Southern-bred artist from Birmingham, AL, I got my name Dolo from always being comfortable being myself. Fibonacci came cause itʼs a sequence that is never ending. So itʼs like “Dolo Forever” plus Iʼm good with the “numbers”. Musical influences growing up would be OutKast, UGK, 8ball n Mjg, Master P, Lil Wayne, TIP, Jay-Z, Nas, Pac, and Biggie. Iʼm a fan of that G shit man but the “conscious” music stirs my ear too.

“The sound: Icy “Lost in Translation”-soundtrack-style underground rock.”
— AL.com


Formed from the scattered ashes of garage rock nobodies, Alabama’s 4 piece SNACKS bring primal, violently catchy, unschooled jams to a thirsty southern market. The hypnotic, Spacemen 3-esque end of times single, “Kingdom” keeps an infectiously doomed view on life as we know it. Songs like “Anthem of the Dogs” and the Bundy-influenced grunge jam “Bunny” could end up somewhere in the ending credits of a True Detective episode. These unknown gum shoes are doing something worthy of your wet 5 dollar bill.


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“Birmingham’s K.L.U.B. Monsta are a fine example of the unsung talent in Bama.”
— Hiphopdx


Knowledge learned under Birmingham. The acronym embodies the hip hop trio made up of J. Dotta, Joshua and Kel Ricks. The three close friends initially turned heads with their Wally Sparks-hosted project Canvas. Properly defining and pushing Southern rap forward with a concocted blend of sharp lyricism and hypnotic production. The mixtapes stood as a testament to the sounds and philosophies of the Birmingham natives. Now the three MCs are back in true form, enhancing the voyage with their debut album When Gawd Ready, as well as a batch of visuals, an illustrative art gallery and enough bars to have you studying and rewinding each and every track. Grab some headphones or some oversized speakers and stick around for the world of K.L.U.B. Monsta.


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“The 21-year-old singer-songwriter’s third album is serene folk-pop with a mellow soul tinge and the melancholy clarity of someone twice her age.”
— Pitchfork


Faye Webster isn’t afraid to tell you how she feels. Rooted in a familial lineage of folk, 21-year-old songwriter Webster’s forthright, exposed lyricism pays homage to the great Americana traditions of songwriting while drawing from Webster’s own experiences immersed in Atlanta’s hip-hop scene. Her carefully-cultivated sound organically mingles that inherited country and folk with her time immersed in rap collective Awful Records, injecting the traditional with a clandestine jolt.


A decorated photographer as well as a musician, Webster’s artistic mediums don’t intertwine, instead running parallel to one another. The through-line is her exceptional knack for direction, an assured confidence in her own point of view.


“Kingston,” the first new song since her 2017’s sophomore self-titled LP, is quintessential Faye Webster. Awash in the haze of a humid Georgia summer, all lovestruck and dewy, “Kingston” glimmers with a hushed glitz: a mellowed punctuation of brass, the twang of pedal-steel, feather-light vocals unfurling like a sigh, and slinking hues of R&B.


In the accompanying self-directed video for “Kingston,” we move through a blushing tangle of flamingos and lush palm trees, the sheen of red silk, a glimmering ice-rink. At the center of it all stands Faye Webster, in focus, gazing directly into the camera with a wide-eyed, unflinching gaze: the sharp, confident conductor in control of a dreamy haze.


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“GRLwood have created a self-labeled “scream-pop” sound injected with brash queer punk attitude. ”
— Billboard


Made up of guitarist/singer Rej Forester and drummer Karen Ledford, the self-proclaimed “Kentucky-fired queerdos” met in August of 2017 when Karen saw Rej performing GRLwood as a solo project. Since then, the duo have been playing nonstop and have formed a strong following in their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. They have been praised for the community they’ve cultivated, their explosive live performances, and most of all for their fearless and tireless gusto when it comes to dismantling the patriarchy and other toxic heteronormative ideologies through their music. GRLwood has been featured by the likes of Billboard, NPR, AV Club, BTRtoday, Nylon Magazine, Wussy Mag, and many more.


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“…the Muscle Shoals singer-songwriter unfolds with the wariness of a social and spiritual outsider who broods his way to graceful defiance.”
— NPR


Dylan LeBlanc knows second chances don’t come around often. But, neither do voices like his.


Overwhelmed by the speed his gift would take him, from Applebee’s server to “the new Neil Young” in a matter of months, he walked away from an unlikely major label deal after releasing two critically acclaimed albums. He slipped into a blur of booze and self-doubt. Exhausted and damaged at just 23-years-old, Dylan came home to Muscle Shoals, Alabama to write a new life for himself.


In between the moments of clarity and a few familiar falls, he also wrote a new album, Cautionary Tale: a collection of shimmering, arresting songs with the same haunting vocals that caught the attention of Lucinda Williams and Bruce Springsteen, now with a sharpened edge honed by hastened maturity.
“This record is about me getting honest with myself,” says Dylan. “I had to let the guilt about the past go and find a new truth within myself. This time, I felt like I really had something to say.”


To help him say it, he sought out long-time friend Ben Tanner, the same guy who had secretly helped Dylan record his first songs after hours while working at fabled FAME Studios. (He also introduced a 16-year-old Dylan to Wilco, George Harrison, and Ryan Adams by way of an external hard drive). In between touring with Alabama Shakes, Ben was beginning to engineer records again at the label he started with another friend of Dylan’s, Grammy Award-winning musician John Paul White, formerly of the Civil Wars. The two both produced and played on Cautionary Tale.


“They prevented me from burying my words,” says Dylan. “Doubt can often be my first instinct, and I’ll try to cover things up with more elements to hide my voice, but I made up my mind to trust them. I heard Merle Haggard say once that the singer is secondary to the song, and they both helped me build a strong foundation for the emotions I was feeling.”


The stripped down aesthetic that John Paul and Ben have made their label’s calling card sets Dylan’s voice in a light bright enough to see the patina the last few years has left behind.


“I spent a lot of time writing about programming and conditioning and the idea of ego,” says Dylan. “I don’t want to rely on my circumstances or the past to say why I am the way I am anymore. A lot of my songs like ‘Cautionary Tale’ and ‘Look How Far We’ve Come’ are about trying to break out of a vicious cycle. I was wondering if I could find my solutions from within—if I could believe in something beyond the present.”


If Dylan was wandering through a cemetery with his first album Paupers Field (“Songs are like headstones to me,” he told The Guardian), Cautionary Tale is an abandoned desert town. He reflects on what once was, and if anything could be again. At times, he wonders if the signs of life he sees on the horizon are real or just a mirage. Phantasmic, warbling voices in the background rise to meet his own and fade into the ether; ghostly guitar riffs echo in the emptiness around him.


Finding the right arrangement and words was a more deliberate effort for Dylan this time. After feeling lost in the “mania” of recording his first two albums, he relied on Ben and John Paul to help him collect the pieces of his vision.


“I’ve definitely become more disciplined. I don’t count on things like inspiration anymore,” says Dylan. “I learned so much from putting songs together with John Paul. Anything he does, it’s always going to be well-thought-out and well-placed. I’m naturally an improv guy, but now I see how that can be more limiting than planning your next move.”


That new-found discipline shows. Never one to write out parts, Dylan methodically scored the stunning string sections with violinist Kimi Samson and cellist Caleb Elliot. To form the polished rhythm section he wanted to drive songs like “The Easy Way Out” and “Beyond the Veil,” he paired drummer Jeremy Gibson with Alabama Shakes bassist Zac Cockrell (“I wanted it to feel like a Bill Withers record or Al Green—soulful, but tight.”)


While Dylan will be the first to admit he wasn’t ready to stand on the stages he played early in his career, there’s no doubting he is now. With a recalibrated compass, he’s back on the road opening sold-out shows for British singer-songwriter George Ezra, another artist praised for a wizened voice beyond his years.


Dylan will continue to support George through September 2015, including a show at Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium. Next, he’ll embark on his solo tour with dates throughout the South, Midwest, and New England.


“After everything I’ve gone through, I still love putting records out and singing for people, no matter how big or small the crowd,” says Dylan. “It’s the only thing I want to do, and now I get to keep doing it as a more well-rounded person. I guess I’m blessed or whatever the hell you want to call it.”


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Born in Nashville, TN, Teddy and The Rough Riders have created a unique, genre bending version of Country Rock. Songs focus on close-harmony influences, soaring pedal steel, and grooving rhythms, modernizing the sounds of Little Feat, The Band, or Flying Burrito Bros, and always tending towards Country artists like The Louvin Bros, Buck Owens, and Billy Joe Shaver. Cutting their teeth in the hometown Honky-Tonk scene, as well as the garage/punk rock clubs throughout the south, TRR plays modern country rock that has seen them opening for such bands as Margo Price and Soccer Mommy. With a scheduled 2019 single release on Third Man Records, full LP release in the wings, and a full US tour, 2019 will be the year of the Rough Riders.


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“The band describes their sound as “lush punk,” and lush, indeed, is an apt descriptor for everything about Leggy’s music, from their shoegaze-y sonic abundance to the richness of the melodrama their lyrics frequently evoke.”
— Nylon Magazine


A lot of guitar rock bands with two female vocalists garner comparisons to Sleater-Kinney these days, but Cincinnati trio Leggy might be the only band who truly deserve the mantle. Like the mighty S-K, Leggy’s scrappy songs oftentimes feel like they’re being held together by sheer force of will: harmonies all akimbo, lyrical patterns unhinged from whatever the guitars are doing, and song structures that shift like quicksand with only a locked in rhythm section serving as a safety rope.


On the band’s latest release, the grimy and compelling Let Me Know Your Moon, Leggy’s unconventional approach to garage pop proves to be a powerful one, especially when they let their freakier tendencies out to play, which (lucky us!) is pretty much on every song. While the band can do a bubblegum-chewing rebel girl “I’m no good” jammer with the best of them (try “Bad News” or “Already Gone”) and know their way around a good hook, Let Me Know Your Moon shines most brightly in its weirdest corners, as on the atonal avant-rock of “Eden” or dissonant love song “Taffy.”


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“Paul Cherry’s Smooth and Psychedelic Debut Album Is a Weirdo-Pop Gem”
— Noisey


Paul Cherewick, monikered Paul Cherry, came up during Chicago’s garage rock golden age of 2014. Despite being in the thick of the DIY scene with up and coming bands such as Twin Peaks and The Lemons, Paul would abandon the all too familiar lofi rock sound of his first EP “on Top” and spend the next 2 years exploring the nuances of jazz and pop, finding his footing with a new sound. Paul Cherry has completely reinvented himself on his upcoming LP, Flavour.


The first single, “Like Yesterday” sets the tone for the record as a brilliantly written, mid-tempo pop ballad. It would fit nicely as a modern addition to Paul McCartney’s “Ram” or Todd Rundgren’s “Something/Anything,” or even Player’s “Baby Come Back.” Paul Cherry crafts melodies on Flavour that sit at the intersection of 1970s yacht rock and Ariel Pink’s lo-fi dream pop. Lyrically, Cherry touches upon millennial culture with references to love in the modern age, phone culture, and giving a conceptually new light-hearted twist to age old old themes of love lost, missed connections and polar political climates.


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“‘Devil N Me’ is thematic kin to Florence + The Machine’s ‘Shake It Off’ but shares sound qualities with the latest from Gary Clark Jr.—that’s to say, it’s pure, hot blues…There’s that sludgy guitar, smug harmonica… but there’s also weird pedal effects and a synthetic organ. Hollingsworth sings the blues in his gritty, old-school alto, repeating “I’ve got the devil in me” until it sounds like he’s finally expunged the evil from his insides.”
— Paste


Following the Mystic Valley Band’s recent reunion shows and a cover of his 2013 song “Dominos” on the critically acclaimed Better Oblivion Community Center album (which was the only one non-original Oberst/Bridgers composition), Taylor Hollingsworth’s (Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band, Dead Fingers, The Dexateens) new LP Tap Dancin’ Daddy is out August 2, 2019 on Flower Moon Records (the LA based label founded by Maria Taylor of Azure Ray). TDD is his first solo release under his own name since 2011, and coincides with his West Coast run with Better Oblivion Community Center this August. Pre-order bundles (available now) include a limited run 7” single on colored vinyl, tour exclusive cassettes, and (for those that are familiar with Taylor’s on stage mannerisms) limited edition bobble heads. Hollingsworth plays The Observatory in Santa Ana August 8th and the Wiltern in Los Angeles on August 9th, in support of Better Oblivion Community Center.


Hollingsworth’s solo recordings date back to 2003, ranging from weird lo-fi blues-pop (2003’s You Know That Summers Comin’ and 2011’s Where to Go, How to Get There and What You Should Know in Advance), to whiplash-shredding, 70’s-era sing-alongs (2005’s Tragic City), to flawlessly-fingerpicked-acoustic avalanche-of-tear ballads (2009’s Life With a Slow Ear). In 2007, Hollingsworth ended up in Tepoztlan, Mexico to work with Conor Oberst on what would become Conor’s self-titled solo debut. Taylor contributed several original songs to Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band’s (COMVB) 2009 Outer South including “Air Mattress” and “Snake Hill,” and “Central City” on 2012’s One of My Kind. Hollingsworth and his wife Kate released two records as Dead Fingers (recorded by Bruce Watson and released on Fat Possum records) and he’s has also recorded and/or toured with Maria Taylor, The Felice Brothers, The Dexateens, Monsieur Jeffrey Evans, Jack Oblivion, SDX and more.


Ten years on the road culminated with the Tecate-blur of a never-ending world tour with the Mystic Valley Band. When it was over, Hollingsworth went back home to Birmingham, Alabama to start a family, buy a home, and play local gigs around town to make ends meet. This is where Taylor rediscovered what truly made him happy was just the simple creation of art and songs – free of striving for “success.” He found comfort in the old school punk-rock DIY ethos and studied the minimalist folk & blues players who mastered playing to small rooms for the sole purpose of entertainment. Hollingsworth evolved his faster-than-hell-fuzzed-out style to be more folk-blues inspired finger-picking, preferring just a duo (guitar and drum) and incorporating a loop guitar pedal to keep the party atmosphere going late nights at local gigs. “I loved how the old blues guys used to be the house band somewhere, and they’d just play all the time, and go all night long. You can really get lost in the music that way.” It became even more fulfilling, plus it paid the bills and he got to sleep in his own bed every night. Tap Dancin’ Daddy was recorded and produced by Taylor in his humble wood-paneled basement studio in Alabama full of old gear he’s collected over the years and decorated with his weird and eclectic art. He still plays regularly in Birmingham at Marty’s PM, Little Italy, and Parkside, and you can often find him happily busking on downtown sidewalks for tips at local farmers markets, events, or parties.


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“…the trio doesn’t pull punches. It’s sludgy. It’s bluesy. It tells an edgy story, dark in tenor and penetrating in substance. Think The Stooges’ vigor, The Cramps’ attitude, and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s modern savvy”
— New Noise Magazine


Formed when members – Grant Curless, Wils Quinn, and Shawn Reynolds – were freshman in high school, Johnny Conqueroo’s early EP’s saw them writing long, grungy blues jams, spiraling in and out of swampy dirges as the band played what they felt, acting on instinct in a fervent rock’n’roll endeavor. The trio naturally shied from prototypical indie or hipster leanings, focusing instead on downtrodden street stories inspired by Southern surroundings.


The band’s 2018 EP, Haint Blue, was a mature expansion, without abandoning their roots. Challenged by producer Duane Lundy (Ringo Starr, Vandaveer) to pursue a collection of thematically similar material, Haint Blue tells an Appalachian tragedy of sorts, twining together stories of men and women in downward spirals, becoming homeless, being falsely accused of crimes and knocking on the door of purgatory like a ball of barbed wire.


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“about as dreamy as it gets … hints of mellow Siouxsie and the Banshees a la “Return” with the emotional depth of Kate Bush. A lot of that aura lends itself to their lead singer, Gina Barrington. As she performs, she exudes an organic mysteriousness as she croons the lyrics.”
— Blurred Culture


Rose Of The West is the brainchild of Milwaukee artist Gina Barrington, and represents a lifetime spent collecting lyrics, melodies and musical ideas, waiting for the right people to help bring her vision to life. Formed in 2017 with Cedric LeMoyne (Remy Zero, Alanis Morissette), Thomas Gilbert (formerly of GGOOLLDD), Erin Wolf (Hello Death), and Dave Power (The Staves), Rose Of The West has found the emotive dream pop Gina was searching for.


Evoking the sound and spirit, the fragility and catharsis of muses like The Cure, Siouxsie Sioux, and Kate Bush, they have quickly begun winning music fans hungry for poetry and sonic adventure. Their single ‘Roads’ is getting airplay on radio across the country and their song ‘Hunter’s Will’ was featured in the hit Netflix series YOU. They have supported artists as diverse as Warpaint and The Church in concert, and their debut album is available now on Communicating Vessels.


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“The sound is diverse but unified, held together not just by the voice of Lady Midnight but by her sensibility, a political thrust that’s still luxurious, rejecting the sense that hardening or austerity is necessary to take a committed stance.”
— City Pages


Lady Midnight, she is an experience. She is an ethereal vocalist and performance artist who draws upon her multidisciplinary background in visual art, dance and Afro-indigenous roots to create work that timelessly reflects our collective lives. Lady Midnight is one half of the group Parables of Neptune, a duo with Afrokeys (former keyboardist of Atmosphere) and was named Best Twin Cities Vocalist of 2017 by The City Pages. As Lady Midnight, she has recorded with international touring artists Bon Iver, P.O.S., Brother Ali, as well as performed with internationally acclaimed icons Common, Moby, Andra Day, and Aloe Blacc, among others. Lady Midnight  has dedicated her life to using the arts as a power for change and confronting trauma.


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