On Thursday, May 31st Red Wanting Blue will be performing at the Blueberry Hill Duck Room along with support by Liz Brasher. This show is presented by Pagan Productions. The doors open at 7:00 pm. The concert lasts from 8:00 pm to 11:45 pm. Tickets are $15.00 in advance and $18.00 day of show. Visit HERE for the event details on Facebook. Continue on below to visit the artists online and to check out their music. Follow on for the latest on Red Wanting Blue.
Meet amazing Midwestern rock band Red Wanting Blue. They released a new album called The Wanting on April 27th. The 2 main themes that make this band so unique is being “Connectors” and “Lifers.”
They are connectors by how their music is so relatable and the storytelling they showcase in each song. Every song is unique in a special way for the band. Their fans are die hearts especially in Ohio where most of them are from. They will go far and wide to see the band live everywhere.
They are “Lifers” since they overall are a DIY band who have been doing this for so long and every decision the lead singer Scott Terry makes somehow goes back to him playing music and being in RWB. He is lifer and that is all he know and you can hear that in the entire album.
Produced by acclaimed singer/songwriter Will Hoge, the new album The Wanting is the next level to finally put this band on the map and in everyone’s ears. The band’s hunger remains after 20 years and the hunger has been their fuel, their motivation, their essence. Hunger has steered every step of the group’s extraordinary journey, and now, it’s at the heart of their most powerful record yet.
I hope you will dive into it. The 3 singles we are focusing on is “Ulysses”, “High and Dry” and “Younger Years”
Red Wanting Blue has released ten full-length albums to date: Velveteen (1996), Image Trigger (1998), Model Citizen (2000), Sirens (2001), Souvenirs of City Life (2002), Pride: The Cold Lover (2004), The Warehouse Sessions (2006), These Magnificent Miles (2008 & re-release, 2010), From The Vanishing Point (2011) and Little America (2014).
Throughout their career, they landed in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Heatseekers chart and at #1 for the band’s home region. They earned raves from Rolling Stone to Esquire and made appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, VH1’s Big Morning Buzz Live, and NPR’s Mountain Stage.
On Tuesday, May 8th Mt. Joy comes to town with support by Wilderado and Dr. Slappinstein. The concert is brought to you by Pagan Productions and will be at the Blueberry Hill Duck Room. The doors open at 7:00 pm and the music goes from 8:00 pm to 11:45 pm. General admission is $13.00 in advance and $15.00 day of show. It is all-ages and minors incur a $2.00 surcharge. Visit HERE for the event details on Facebook. Mt. Joy's debut album is out now. Wilderado releases their "Flavors" EP on May, 25th.
On Wednesday May 9th Wilderado will be in Kansas City, Missouri at the Uptown Theatre with FOXTRAX and Whitacre. The doors open at 7:00 pm and the show starts at 8:00 pm. It is an all-ages concert. Visit HERE for the event details on Facebook. Continue on below to visit the artists online and to check out their music. Follow on more more on Mt. Joy and also the latest on Wilderado.
These dreams are more than paper things,” sings Matt Quinn on Mt. Joy’s infectious folk-rocker “Astrovan,” a warm, yearning bit of road-trip philosophy that posits the existence of a Deadhead Jesus cruising the dusty highways of the countryside, nursing a roach on his way to only He knows where. It’s an auspicious line from a band predicated on the revival of teenage dreams.
Mt. Joy started off as a rekindling of shared musical ambitions between Philadelphia high school friends Matt Quinn (vocals, guitar) and Sam Cooper (guitar). Reunited in Los Angeles thanks to the ebbs and flows of adult life, the pair met multi-instrumentalist Michael Byrnes through a Craigslist ad. They named themselves Mt. Joy as an ode to a mountain in Valley Forge National Park near Sam’s childhood home, and together, with Byrnes’ roommate Caleb Nelson producing, they recorded three songs and sent them out into the world, hoping for the best. “I knew I still wanted to write songs, but the realities of life made that dream seem pretty impossible,” Quinn says.
Much to the band’s amazement, “Astrovan” accomplished the impossible. Without initial promotion or fanfare, the song took off on Spotify, racking up 5 million streams to date. “The irony of ‘Astrovan’ was that song was really about being stuck in a life and wanting to have the opportunity to pursue a dream, and in an instant it gave us that opportunity. ” Quinn says. Mt. Joy quickly transitioned from a part-time calling into a full-fledged band rounded out by Byrnes on bass, Sotiris Eliopoulos on drums and Jackie Miclau on keyboard.
Come 2017, Mt. Joy hit the road, and hit it hard: They played tour dates alongside the likes of The Shins, The Head and The Heart, The Lone Bellow, and Whitney, and popped up at some of the summer’s biggest festivals, including Bonnaroo, Newport Folk Festival, Lollapalooza and Made In America. “We were put on some big shows very quickly,” Quinn says. “The growth for us has been exponential - we’ve really just become a family that’s constantly pushing each other and the live show to be great.” They eventually caught the attention of Dualtone Records and began work on their debut album.
Steeped in folk-rock tradition and powered by the intuitive creative connection between Quinn and Cooper, the songs on ‘Mt. Joy’ depict Quinn wrestling with his own conscience, where the mundane and the fantastic collide as he processes tragedy, society, and love. Opener “I’m Your Wreck” describes “monsters in (the) closet, using up the wi-fi” as it cycles from its desperate, spiraling verses to its swinging, stubbornly optimistic coda, while the loping, plaintive chords of “Younger Days” meditate on a frayed psyche and the fear of choosing the wrong path. “Sheep,” with its collapsing, hoarse-voiced cry of “freedom was paid in blood,” is a post-Trump salvo on the responsibilities of the fortunate to overcome political and social despondency. And on “Silver Lining,” perhaps the album’s brightest moment, Quinn surveys the damage of hard drugs and the vicious cycle of addiction, as the song’s melancholic sentiment kicks into its fervid, defiant chorus, all shout-along vocals and trilling guitars.
Taken together, the self titled ‘Mt. Joy’ LP is a startlingly open document, wracked with the anxieties and fears that come just as life seems to start working out. It’s a natural reaction from a wary band like Mt. Joy - the result of a sort of professional vertigo, as they’ve gone from virtual unknowns to hot young commodity in little over a year. But there’s a sense of hope underlying everything, girded by the fact that the Mt. Joy LP is an impressive, honest portrayal of a young band facing that moment where dreams become reality, and finding beauty in the exhilarating uncertainty of it all.
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Wilderado releases first single "Sorrow" from forthcoming EP Favors - out May 25
“Sorrow is one of those songs that really feels like it’s a part of our band. It fell out of us one day and we played it for hours. We’ve been playing it on the road for over a year now. Finally releasing it feels amazing.” - Wilderado
As Wilderado is currently out on a Spring tour that will culminate at Sasquatch! the band is pleased to announce their forthcoming EP Favors with the release of the first single, "Sorrow". Favors was produced by Phil Ek (Father John Misty, Fleet Foxes, Vance Joy, Band Of Horses) and will be available on May 25. For more information please visit wilderado.co.
About:
Wilderado has a sound that is familiar and dreamy, combining elements of folk, pop, and rock to make a distinctive quality of music all their own.
Born and bred in Texas and Oklahoma before curing in the canyons off the Pacific Coast Highway, these boys are equal parts southern spirit and southern California levity. And frankly, their natural level of positive energy and charm is as impossible to believe as it is enjoyable to watch. Each of their shows seems to be imbued with the intimacy of a living room set put on for friends but large enough to fill a summer Amphitheatre or festival stage.
On Tuesday, April 17th Wild Child will be coming to the Blueberry Hill Duck Room along with Stelth Ulvang. This show is presented by Pagan Productions. The doors open at 7:00 pm and the show starts at 8:00 pm. General admission is $15.00 and minors incur a $2.00 surcharge. Visit HERE for the event details on Facebook.
Also, on Wednesday, April 18th 102.3 BXR presents Wild Child with Stelth Ulvang at Rose Music Hall in Columbia, Missouri. The doors open at 7:00 pm and the show is scheduled to start at 8:00 pm. Visit HERE for the event details on Facebook. Continue on below to visit the artists online and to check out their music. Follow on for the latest on Wild Child.
Austin’s Wild Child are excited to share two new singles from their their new record, Expectations, out February 9th on Dualtone Records. “Sinking Ship” and “Back & Forth” were produced by Max Frost and Delta Spirit’s Matthew Logan Vasquez respectively, and make their debut via Consequence of Sound’s Origins feature. Kelsey Wilson describes solace found in a Shel Silverstein book and the use of a recorded heartbeat for “Sinking Ship”, and Alexander Beggins explores the pair’s creative process behind “Back & Forth”, for which they drew inspiration from songs by Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin (read more). This February, Wild Child played a string of record release shows across Texas before embarking upon a massive North American tour throughout March, April, and early May.
In addition to recording with Vasquez and Frost, the Austin, Texas-based band traveled far and wide in order to work with multiple producers (and accomplished musicians in their own right) on Expectations including; Chris Walla (formerly Death Cab For Cutie), Chris Boosahda (Shakey Graves), Scott McMicken (Dr. Dog), and Adrian Quesada (Grupo Fantasma).
For seven years now the Austin-based ensemble Wild Child has carried its infectious melodies across the international music scene, charting viral hits and wrapping their arms around a diverse and dedicated fan base. But earlier this year when the band set out to make their fourth studio album, they found they had their hands full: After half a decade of maturation, the group had grown beyond its traditional writing and recording process.
“We had too many ideas for how we wanted to make this record” says Kelsey Wilson, the group’s lead vocalist and violinist. She shrugs. “So we said, ‘Why not just do all of them?’”
The group realized this offered an exciting opportunity to make a kind of record bands rarely get right: To take a new, multispectral approach to writing and recording that went beyond simply trying to engineer success. The band made a list of their favorite musicians who were also great producers in their own right — choosing ones they thought would shine a new and unique light on specific compositions — and then Wild Child set about chasing their album from studio to studio all over the world, never saying no to an idea.
The result — the band’s fourth album, Expectations — is Wild Child’s most creative, colorful and intellectually engaging album to date.
Now a seven-piece pop mini-orchestra (Wilson on violin and vocals; Alexander Beggins on ukulele and vocals; Sadie Wolfe on cello; Matt Bradshaw on keyboards, trumpet, and harmonica; Tom Myers on drums; Cody Ackors on guitar and trombone; and Tyler Osmond on bass), Wild Child formed in 2010 when the group’s core duo of Wilson and Beggins wrote and released their first album, Pillow Talk.
Wild Child shaped their last record, Fools, in the shadows of more than one failed love, and Expectations, as the title suggests, is a continuation of that personal experience into an awakening. Wilson and Beggins, whose voices fit each other as naturally as any family act, pushed their boundaries as writers, drawing freely from the stories they’ve lived as well as the artists around the world that have inspired their growth. Their rate of output over that last year got them thinking differently about producing, focusing on one track at a time. “We’ve always focused on the record as a whole. We wanted to think about each track as it’s own piece- but somehow it all fits together,” Wilson says of the approach.
That route took them around the world — from Chris Walla’s studio in Tromsø, Norway, where the Northern Lights are the brightest in the world, to a home-built warehouse studio on the outskirts of Philadelphia, where Scott McMicken picked up the bass and “joined the band for a week,” arranging harmonies and sharing living and recording space. Back in Wimberley, Texas, Matthew Logan Vasquez set up a makeshift studio in Kelsey Wilson’s beloved childhood home — abandoned since the floods of 2015 — where they found the muses were eager to resurface. The group also tapped the talents of frequent tour mate Chris Boosahda, Atlantic Records recording artist Max Frost, and Grammy-winning producer Adrian Quesada.
The result is a theater of possibilities, with arrangements that reflect the range of tastes of the producers, from scruffy lo-fi tape hiss, to smoothed out precision-cut electronic pop sounds. And the more you listen to Expectations, the more the many worlds of this project begin to cohere around you. After all, one of the great joys of traveling the world is discovering surprising connections: A skyscraper in Barcelona reminds you of a spire in the Utah desert; the Northern Lights in the Norwegian sky look like an oil slick on the Philadelphia pavement. Expectations, an album which can by turns be bitter, wistful, angry, and flirtatious, is rich with these surprising rhymes across the record.
Indie Rock singer-songwriter Liza Anne will be headling two of the three concerts in the area listed below including Roll Call Records newest family member Valley Queen. The first is on Saturday, April 7th at The Record Bar in Kansas City, Missouri. The event goes from 7:00 pm to 12:00 am. Visit HERE for the event details on Facebook. The second is in St. Louis, Missouri on Sunday, April 8th at the Blueberry Hill Duck Room. The doors open at 7:00 pm and the show goes from 8:00 pm to 11:45 pm. This is an all-ages concert. Minors incur a $2.00 surcharge. This show is presented by Pagan Productions. Visit HERE for the event details on Facebook.
The third show takes place on Tuesday, April 10th at The Space in Evanston, Illinois. Valley Queen will be there and Jessica Mindrum is sharing the stage with them on bill. The show begins at 8:00 pm. Visit HERE for the event details on Facebook. Continue on below to visit the artists online and to check out their music. Follow on for the latest on Valley Queen.
Roll Call Records are excited to introduce the newest addition to their family Valley Queen. The LA-based band, fronted by Natalie Carol, released their 2017 Destroyer EP to widespread critical acclaim, with the track "Stars Align" even named one of Bob Boilen's Top 50 songs of the year on NPR's All Songs Considered.
As they gear up to share their debut album on Roll Call later this year, Valley Queen have offered fans a preview with a new track titled "Chasing the Muse" – out everywhere now.
The song premiered just the other day via Stereogum, who compared it to a fantasy of "Florence Welch fronting a retro rock band with traces of Jefferson Airplane, Fleetwood Mac, and the Pretenders."
A little while back Dorothyspread a grassroots initiative to summon worthy upcomers from all over North America in support of her tour and new album. The results are in and the two concerts in our area are quickly approaching. If you missed the original posr you can find it HERE. The first show takes place on Monday, March 5th in Kansas City, Missouri at The Record Bar and is presented by Mammoth Live. Sharing the stage with her and the band will be Vigil And Thieves from Lawrence, Kansas. This is an 18 and up event. The doors open at 7:00 pm and the show starts at 8:00 pm. Visit HERE for the event details on Facebook.
The second one is in St. Louis, Missouri at the Blueberry Hill Duck Room and is presented by Pagan Productions. Modern Gold will be joining Dorothy and this is a hometown show for them. This is an all-ages event. The doors open at 7:00 pm and the show starts at 8:00 pm. It will be finished by 11:45 pm. Visit HERE for the event details on Facebook. Continue on below to visit the artists online and to check out their music. Read more about Dorothy further down the page. *Addendum on 3/2/18. The St. Louis show is now sold out.*
Dorothy was built around Dorothy Martin, a singer who was born in Budapest but raised in San Diego. As a child, she started singing early and eventually made her way to Los Angeles. Her latest EP earned attention from L.A. Weekly and Rolling Stone - the latter named Dorothy one of the best 50 Best New Artists of 2014. All the chatter was enough to earn the attention of Jay-Z's Roc nation who signed Dorothy in 2015. She got together a new, high level, and powerful band including guitarist Nick Maybury, guitarist Leroy Wulfmeier, bassist Eliot Lorango, and drummer Jason Ganberg. Dorothy is managed by We Are Hear and represented by Roc Nation.
Los Angeles-based alternative rock band Dorothy have released the new track "Flawless", the first single from their forthcoming sophomore album 28 Days in the Valley, out March 9th. It's a vulnerable message that begins with heartbreak and ends as a vindicated feel good anthem of self-love.
"It's about an ex who really did a number on me," reveals namesake and frontwoman Dorothy Martin. "This one came fast to me. It was very subconscious... like I'm channeling them. Linda Perry pulled the lightness out of me, both personally and musically. This record is definitely still bold, but it's happier. It's kind of like the butterfly coming out of the cocoon."
"Flawless is the best song ever and if you don't think so, you can fuck off," says Perry.
The new album has the in-your-face bluesy, gritty rock and roll fans loved on 2016's ROCKISDEAD, and their recent standalone single, "Down To the Bottom", which debuted at #1 on Billboard's Heatseeker's chart and Rolling Stone called the "perfect mix of blues thunder and alt-rock guitar crunch." But, added to that thunder this time around are more layers of emotion fueled by less metal, more California desert rock vibes.
"This was a spiritual journey and very healing, and because of that it's an unapologetically honest record," says Martin of the new album. "Somehow Linda [Perry] knew I had more to give as a singer and writer. I used to hide behind the tough girl sound, but she taught me that there is power in my vulnerability and that's what you get on this record."
London's relentless live performer Robyn Hitchcock comes to town Tuesday, November 14th at Blueberry Hill's Duck Room. Chicago's own Tristen will be playing, as well. The doors open at 7:30 pm and the show starts at 8:00 pm. It will be over by 11:30 pm and it's an all-ages event presented by Pagan Productions. Visit HERE for event details on Facebook.
Robyn Hitchcock is scheduled to play at 9PM and Tristen at 8PM.Set times are approximate and subject to change without notice. Visit the artists below and also continue on for more more on the latest by Robyn Hitchcock
(New York, NY) Yep Roc recording artist Robyn Hitchcock continues his seemingly endless live schedule with the announcement of a wide-ranging array of upcoming dates.
ROBYN HITCHCOCK, the legendary British artist's acclaimed 21st studio recording and first-ever eponymous release, is available now at all music retailers and streaming services.
North American solo dates were resumed in September, including a two-night stand at Toronto, ON's The Drake (September 21st and 22nd) and two sets at New York's City Winery, one was an all-request set. Additional U.S. dates will have continued in November, with shows already scheduled through February 2018.
Hitchcock recently toured the States with the Psychedelic Furs, and performed at Happy Valley and Pickathon as well as the 2017 Edinburgh International Festival, where he paid homage to "The Music of The Incredible String Band" in an extraordinary tribute concert curated by Joe Boyd and featuring ISB founding member Mike Heron and bassist Danny Thompson.
Hailed by Uncut as "the psych maverick's loudest, liveliest album in decades," ROBYN HITCHCOCK is also available via at the official Yep Roc Store. The album has drawn some of the most ecstatic press notices of Hitchcock's four-decade career. "Witty, moving and seriously catchy," raved Paste, "ROBYN HITCHCOCK is a glorious return for a man who wasn't really gone in the first place." "Astonishing evidence of a creative force that refuses to tamp down," declared A.V. Club. "Four decades as a musician have only deepened, not lessened, Hitchcock's legendary imagination and witty asides as we all trudge through reality." "The bendy mirror through which (Hitchcock) refracts experience offers a sharper view year upon year," noted Record Collector. "If his impishly sardonic persona implies disengagement from reality, even a cursory glance at his lyrics betrays the preoccupations of an individual familiar with the abyss." "As random as a Frenchman's hat," wrote David Quantick in Classic Rock. "Songs like 'Mad Shelley's Letterbox' and the superb '1970 In Aspic' couldn't be written by anyone else. A worthwhile ball to put in his canon." "These 10 gems slither, rock, roll, glide and shapeshift, coalescing around Hitchcock's typically anxious, strained but striking and immediately identifiable vocals," raved American Songwriter. "Hitchcock not only hasn't lost his edge, but has sharpened his knives on this superb set. Newcomers can start here to get a whiff of one of music's most pungent, eccentric and lovable journeymen doing what he does best, knowing they have plenty more to explore from where this came from." PopMatters agreed: "Ifyou're a Robyn Hitchcock fan, this album is an affirmation of his continued skill and talent. If you're a newbie, buy this album and then buy all the others. It's a wonderfully twisted ride."
The album was heralded earlier this year with the acclaimed first single, "I Want To Tell You About What I Want." The track premiered exclusively via NPR Music where it was hailed as "pungently playful... (Hitchcock) sounds renewed, refreshed and irascibly rambunctious." "Hitchcock isn't one to shy away from a political statement," noted Nashville Scene. "In that spirit...('I Want To Tell You About What I Want') shares a little bit of DNA with (The Soft Boys') 'I Wanna Destroy You.'" "Hitchcock's sense of humor shines through the darkness," declared Stereogum.
105.7 The Point's New Music Showcase continues it's next installment with Arkells (Hamilton) witb IRONTOM (LA) and Freeze Tag (STL) this coming Saturday night at Blueberry Hill's Duck Room. Tickets are $15.00 in advance or $18.00 the day of show. It is all-ages, minors incur a $2.00 surcharge at the door. The doors open at 7:00 pm and the show starts at 8:00 pm. This is a Pagan Productions event. For the event details on Facebook visit HERE. Set Times: Arkells - 10PM, IRONTOM - 8:50PM, Freeze Tag - 8PM. *Set times are approximate and subject to change without notice. Visit the artists on this show below and continue on for more about the latest on Arkells.
Their hit single "Knocking At The Door" has lived at number one on the Canadian Alt Rock Charts for 14 weeks (and counting), and has now broken into the US Top 50 Alternative Chart.
It didn't take long for Arkells' neighbors to the south to borrow the anthem for one of the hottest sporting events of the summer - The US Open. In addition to being featured during the US Open, “Knocking At The Door” has also been licensed stateside by both the NHL and MLB.
Also caught up in the excitement, HITS Magazine adds their praise: “as they say up north, every record has a shot at going #1 in Canada, but it’s unheard of for a song to stay there for as long as this one has! “Knocking at the Door” is an unmitigated smash.”
“Knocking At The Door” is continuing to gain more streams each week with over 3.2 million streams across all digital streaming platforms. Recently, Arkells sold out their headlining show at The Budweiser Stage in their hometown of Toronto, Canada to 16,000 fans.
Arkells have just announced a US Fall tour and will be making stops across the country, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, DC and NYC. Fans might be familiar with the band as they took the U.S. festival circuit by storm this past summer and performed at some of the biggest US festivals including Coachella, Sasquatch!, Shaky Knees and The Meadows Music & Arts Festival.
Last Gang is a music company founded in 2003 and credited with launching the careers of Metric, Death From Above 1979, MSTRKRFT and Crystal Castles. The company is also well known for its work with Arkells, Ryan Hemsworth, Purity Ring, Lights, Ryan Hemsworth and Chromeo. Last Gang is an Entertainment One company.
Slothrust (Boston, MA) are currently touring in support of their long awaited third album "Everyone Else" and they are stopping by our region with two select dates. And The Kids (Northampton MA ~ Ottawa, ON ~ New York, NY) are touring along with them on some dates and will accompany them at both events happening around our area. The first is part of the ALT 104.9 Discovery Series on Saturday, March 11th at the Blueberry Hill's Duck Room in the Delmar City Loop. That show is all ages and the general admission is $12.00 at the door. Minors incur a $2 surcharge at the door. The doors open at 7PM and the show is at 8PM. Tickets are also available in advance and the rest of the info. is included in the event page on Facebook HERE and is a Pagan Productions event. The second show is the following day on Sunday, March 12th in Kansas City, MO. at The Tank Room. The cost is also $12.00 for that show and is all ages. The doors are at 7PM and the rest of the info. is included on the event page on Facebook HERE.
Slothrust deliver ten riveting anthems that reward repeated listens. The songs grab the ear and pierce the psyche with complex arrangements and lyrical depth intensified by guitarist/vocalist Leah Wellbaum’s penetrating vocal delivery.
Slothrust is Wellbaum, Kyle Bann (bass), and Will Gorin (drums). The trio first staked out their unique strain of jazz- and blues-afflicted rock as students at Sarah Lawrence College. The band’s 2012 debut Feels Your Pain, and its successor 2014’s Of Course You Do, established the band as a breed apart, serving up deceptively clever epics that veer satisfyingly between incandescent riffing and pop hooks, winsome anxiety and powerful heft.
“People have always had trouble comparing us to other bands, but someone recently described us as Nirvana meets Wynton Marsalis, and I loved that,” says Wellbaum. Even the band’s name inspires a beat of thoughtful consideration as the eyes take in the letters and the brain makes its snap judgement: Slo Thrust? Slot Rust? Slo Trust? Sloth-Rust.
We all studied jazz and blues, so I often use chords and voicings that aren’t quite as conventional for contemporary rock,” she continues. “Certain harmonic movement can get stale, so I try to incorporate colorful notes to give it more depth. The improvisational spirit of blues music is also something we try to always keep with us, even in more composed playing. I am drawn to musicians a bit further outside of the rock tradition, such as John Fahey, Elizabeth Cotten, D'Angelo, and Portishead. Growing up I listened to a lot of R&B and classical music. And musicals."
They've received a lot of press relating to their recently released LP 'Everyone Else'. NPR said, “Listen to songs by Slothrust, and you'll hear aggressive sounds that hearken back to early-'90s rock bands like Nirvana and Dinosaur Jr. Listen more closely, and you'll also hear elements of the blues that the band’s members learned when they met in their college's jazz program."
Village Voice also praised their aesthetic saying, "Tender finger-picking passages lurch into crashing speed-metal crescendos, loping country-western equestrian odes edge into menacing horror-movie pizzicato and back again."
Visit Slothrust on the website HERE and on their socials: Facebook or Twitter.
Growing up, often the safest haven to plot your dreams and get a handle on your identity is within the confines of trusted friendships. For the musicians in the critically acclaimed band And The Kids, these bonds have been a life raft. But as friendships evolve from adolescence to young adulthood, sometimes the lines between friends, lovers and all that comes in between can grow murky. On the Northampton, MA-based band’s latest, "Friends Share Lovers" the group And The Kids examines blurred boundaries in close-knit relationships.
“The friends we grew up with were troublemakers, lost souls, dropouts, and mother figures,” says And The Kids guitarist and vocalist Hannah Mohan. “The title references the incestuousness of friend groups and how things get messy.”
And The Kids channel existential crises into pop euphoria. With this sleight of hand, the quartet manages to conjure chunky indie rock, blissful new wave, chamber folk, jarring avant-garde, and brawny classic rock.
Mohan navigates this expansive creativity with aplomb. Effortlessly she swoops heavenly for high tones, digs deep for swaggering rock n’ roll low tones, and manages to mash up sweet sass with new wave bliss for a vocal feel that masks sage wisdom beneath sweet innocence. In addition to Mohan, And The Kids is Rebecca Lasaponaro on drums, Megan Miller on synthesizers and percussion, and bassist Taliana Katz. The quartet’s beginnings couldn’t be better scripted: Mohan and Lasaponaro met in band class in seventh grade. A few years later, the duo dropped out of school and found themselves at a learning center that provided them with a free rehearsal space. There they practiced everyday, inspired by such diverse artists as Modest Mouse, Rilo Kiley, The Doors, and The Police, among others. Those formative moments in friendship and music have been everlasting.
In 2012, the fledging duo met Meghan when the three were interns at the Institute for the Musical Arts in Goshen, MA, and soon after welcomed her into the band. Recently, Miller has battled visa problems as a Canadian citizen and has been forced out of the United States for five years. To show the strength of their bonds as friends and artists, And The Kids chose to record Friends Share Lovers in Montreal so that Miller could participate. Recently, the trio added bassist Taliana Katz, a close and trusted friend who also attended IMA, to maintain a full sound live in Miller’s forced absence from American touring.
Pagan Productions presents The Wild Reeds (Los Angeles, CA.) and Blank Range (Nashville, TN.) at Blueberry Hill's Duck Room on Tuesday, March 7th. This is an all-ages event. The doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 8pm. It will end by 11pm. General admission cost is $12.00 and minors will incur a $2.00 surcharge at the door. Visit HERE for the official Facebook event page for more info. on the show. Let's get acquainted with the bands music and then get to know them a bit better below.
(The info. on the Wild Reeds is taken from the event page on Facebook and as is follows below:)
The Wild Reeds can be defined by one word: Harmony. The sound from this LA based band fronted by Kinsey Lee, Mackenzie Howe, and Sharon Silva dips in and out of multiple genres - some ethereal folk, some rock and roll rhythm and a hint of country twang (from Nick Jones and Nick Phakpiseth), but it all comes back to the root of this bands power: harmonies that create an instrument in and of itself.
The Wild Reeds released their formal debut album Blind and Brave, in August 2014 at The Troubadour in West Hollywood. The album, produced by Raymond Richards at Red Rockets Glare Studios (Local Natives, Parson Redheads, Honey Honey, Dustbowl Revival), expounds on loss, love, growing up, and the experience of artists and workers pursuing their dreams.
The Wild Reeds spent most of 2016 on the road with stops at SXSW, Nelsonville Music Festival, Pickathon, Summerfest, Winnipeg Folk Festival and support and headline tours throughout the USA and Canada. In May, the band released a 3 song EP called Best Wishes that continues to display the growing and maturing artistry from the 3 unique songwriters. The EP was recorded by the band at NRG Studios in Los Angeles and was mixed by Doug Boehm (Girls, Dr Dog, Twin Peaks). The band are finishing 2016 in the studio working on their next album...
Visit The Wild Reeds on their website to purchase music and merchandise HERE.
Blank Range formed in Nashville in 2012 and released their debut EP Phase II in 2013. The band was met with great acclaim early on in their career, with Rolling Stone stating “It's inventive rock & roll free of prefixes and modifiers...an imaginary Lou Reed-Mac Demarco punk band, packed with so many clever, catchy riffs and rip-rolling percussion." Consequence of Sound said, "No idea how they captured the whole Mitch Ryder vibe, but their soulful Detroit scruff is uncanny, adding a little more fuzz to the base than, say, Merge darlings Reigning Sound...I haven’t squeezed in a Big Star comparison yet, but the way Blank Range bounce off their scales is definitely akin to Alex Chilton’s best work. Band rules."
Recently, American Songwriter premiered the band's first official music video for their song "Circumstances."
