HUGE THANKS TO OUR 2019 SPRING ARTISTS
GALLERY
Amy has since toured over 18 countries and 45 cities with her music, sharing the stage with artists such as Joe Purdy, Jamie Lawson, M. Ward, and Postmodern Jukebox. Her first full-length record Strawberry Moon debuted at #3 on the iTunes singer/songwriter charts and has been described as “delicate, powerful, and full of heart.” Read more on her artist page | And here’s our writeup
"The album I want to gush over is the Limited Release EP by Bear Cub. This band consists of pop-punk vocals and folk-y instrumentation. If someone were to say that to me, I would ask “How does that work?” but it does. The lyrics are full of emotion, and every song tells a story. I have never heard such a strong fulfillment of every musical criterion…" - KMNR Radio … Read more on his artist Page | And here’s our announcement!
Cameron McGill is a writer, instructor, and musician from Champaign, IL and the poetry editor of Blood Orange Review. He holds an MFA in Poetry from the University of Idaho. He is the recipient of a scholarship to the New York State Summer Writers Institute, a Centrum Fellowship to The Port Townsend Writers’ Conference, and a 2018 Summer Fishtrap Fellowship. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The American Poetry Review, Mid-American Review, Willow Springs, The Harvard Advocate, Grist and others… Read more on his artist page | And here’s out announcement!
To see an Eric Hutchinson show is to be fully entertained. Hutchinson and his band, The Believers, have toured extensively, building a reputation for a high-energy live show, full of four-part harmonies, incredible musicianship, humility, and humor. A show for any music lover, Eric brings the audience to him, playing his unique songs and telling the funny, moving and one-of-a-kind stories that made him the artist he is today. Read more on our artist page | And here’s our announcement!
Although I often write music from a personal perspective, I write music to tell stories, sometimes fictional, sometimes based on brief encounters with 7/11 employees, sometimes written in sensory deprivation tanks. These are stories that I want to use to promote things I believe in, and things I want to see changed in this world and sometimes these stories are just used as entertainment, like a four minute movie…. Read more on his artist page | And here’s out write-up!
“…The crunchy guitar-monies layered behind the falsetto phrasing of “Take the Wheel”, the marimba-sub synth combo of “Everything is Starting to Make Sense”, the frantic pacing of “The Light Years” — this cast of songs puts the spotlight on a band that is growing increasingly comfortable with loosening its roots in the past. “Memories are not meant to be kept inside a frame, so before we drive out to the coast tonight, I will drive myself insane,” McMillin sings on lead single “Building A Wall.” Read more on their Artist Page | Or Read our Artist Announcement!
Formed in Brooklyn, NY, Fort Gorgeous is the musical moniker of songwriter/guitarist Billy Libby. As a person sitting on a see-saw of optimism and pessimism, Billy creates pensive and atmospheric songs based heavily on intricate guitar melodies with lyrics that contemplate themes like death and the severity of all choices made in life. When not slipping into the darkness of all of life's "what ifs", Billy is often excited about life like a kid at an arcade with $30. More on their Artist page | And here’s our take!
Hollis Brown is an American Rock ‘n’ Roll band. Named after a Bob Dylan song (“The Ballad of Hollis Brown”), the band was formed by Queens-natives and songwriters Mike Montali (lead vocals/guitar) and Jonathan Bonilla (lead guitar). Both 2nd-generation immigrants (Italian-American and Puerto Rican-American, respectively), they soon found their musical brethren across America, recruiting Andrew Zehnal (drums) from Cleveland, Adam Bock (keyboard/vocals) from St. Louis, and Scott Thompson (bass) from Boston. Read more on their artist page | And here’s our writeup!
The singer-songwriter moniker has long caused him discomfort, as he felt that it connoted a very specific sound, namely “acoustic guitars and shitty coffee shops.” In past records such as Javelin (2016) and Repentance (2013), Klassen strived for a cinematic sound, avoiding drum kits and anything that sounded like a band. In Big Intruder, Klassen confronts those prejudices. He spent a lot of time listening to the greats—Harry Nilsson, Paul McCartney and John Lennon, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell—and broadened his own understanding of the singer-songwriter concept. Read more on his Artist Page | And here’s our write-up!
Jules and The Jinks is the brain child of first-generation native New Yorkers Julissa Lopez and Erik Rosenberg. Despite their different backgrounds (Dominican from The Bronx and Jewish from The Upper West Side) the two were united by their love of James Brown, Etta James, and Led Zeppelin. Though they flirt with various genres from Blues, to Funk, to Afro-Pop and Jazz, the music of Jules and The Jinks is best described as Soul… Read more on their artist page | And read our write-up here
Maria Taylor is a singer/songwriter and half of the duo Azure Ray. She has also performed and/or recorded with Bright Eyes, Moby, Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Joshua Radin and more. Taylor’s recent solo effort, “In the Next Life” was released in December of 2017 on her new label, Flower Moon Records. Read more on her artist page | And here’s our welcome piece!
She moved from New York City to Philadelphia, toured with Julien Baker, Slingshot Dakota and Kevin Devine, and chose to come out and live openly as queer, just to name a few. Still, the good wasn’t able to outweigh the bad, and in early 2017, Lotz found herself hitting a breaking point. Ultimately, she made the difficult decision to move back to her hometown to enter intensive treatment for her mental health issues. It was that duality - the valley between the positives and negatives of life that she’d experienced - that inspired Magic Gone and its two halves. Side A, titled Tightrope Walker, features songs Lotz wrote before entering treatment, while Side B, Miracle Clinger, is comprised of songs she wrote in recovery. Learn more on our artist page | And here’s our welcome!
Hailed as “Midwestern rock heroes” by American Songwriter, Red Wanting Blue has spent the last twenty years establishing themselves as one of the indie world’s most enduring and self-sufficient acts, notching appearances everywhere from Letterman to NPR and reaching #3 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, all while operating largely outside the confines of the traditional music industry. Read more on their Artist Page | And here’s our write-up!
Roan Yellowthorn front woman Jackie McLean, supported by producer and multi-instrumentalist Shawn Strack, delivers ethereal indie rock songs with a singer/songwriter heart. Listeners find themselves singing-along to the catchy melodies while simultaneously becoming immersed in the story behind each song. More on their Artist page | And here’s our take!
“Ryan Hamilton. Singer. Songwriter. Harlequin Ghost. I'm from Texas, but my band is from the UK. Go figure!” See more of Ryan on his artist page | Or let Andy tell you about him
Taylor’s resume boasts well over 1,000 performances and six full-length records released; his two most recent, "With Innocence" 2013 and "Go Amaze" 2016 both debuted in the Top 10 on the iTunes charts. 2017 was a studio year for Carson. Thanks to that, Carson released his 7th full-length record, "After the Tamer Has Gone" to critical acclaim in December 2018. "Tamer" debuted at #2 on the iTunes charts and has Carson getting back to his roots. Read more on his artist page | And read our announcement!
Wild Pink are one of those wonderfully rare bands that sounds instantly familiar upon first listen. Yet trying to draw parallels to their influences or similar bands proves to be incredibly difficult. That remains the same as Wild Pink continue to chart their own unique course. These are deeply personal songs about freedom, or lack thereof, about growing up and leaving your youth behind while still clinging to those scars we hold dear. Often exercising a stream of conscious lyrical style, Wild Pink has a remarkable way of transporting you to those moments in time where the smallest detail remains etched into your being. There is a sincerity that echoes throughout these songs that is intoxicating and speaks to what makes the band so special. Wild Pink chooses the road less traveled and it has served them well. Read more on their artist page | And here’s our writeup!!
Urban pastorals unfold in the music of Gabriel Birnbaum, the multi-instrumentalist, singer and writer behind the songs of Brooklyn’s Wilder Maker. Wilder Maker’s songs keenly observe landscapes of desire and abandon, filled with colorful characters and street revelations, in a musical setting as boldly diverse as their NYC home base… Read more on their artist page | And read our write up!