Bedroom Division with briZB and Liam Martin
Mellow, woozy and romantic indie-rock/pop from Greensboro, NC. Bedroom Division is the recording project from songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dylan Wishon. Fusing mellow, jangly guitar with soft spoken synths, shimmering and dreamy vocals, and themes inspired by the joy and heartbreak associated with young love; Bedroom Division fits nicely in the genre family of dream pop, bedroom pop and indie rock. Creating soundscapes inspired by well known artists such as Mac DeMarco, boy pablo, Rex Orange County, and The Strokes.
Saphron w/ Ins Kino
US singer-songwriter Zoe Anastasia Hardee began using the Saphron moniker in 2014 for a series of quirky and melancholic lo-fi recordings. Over the late 2010s the project expanded into a bombastic 3-piece art rock outfit featuring her longtime collaborators Ari Brewington Moore and Ian Waddill. The group has been lauded for their captivating, deeply emotive live performances, and their genre-defying post-punk sound.Ins Kino, the musical project of Raleigh, NC-based songwriter Evan Farkas, presents his second EP, Ins Kino 2. It presents 4 new tracks, each revealing a new avenue for Farkas’ continued melodic exploration. Farkas started as Ins Kino around 2019, as an outlet to channel and present the songwriting he’d been doing for years on his own. The first two EPs were composed solo by Farkas, with significant input from Zack O’Brien (Yucky Duster, Starstruck, Slonk Donkerson), Farkas’ longtime friend and collaborator. Since 2022, Ins Kino has branched into a dynamic live act composed of himself and N.C. Triangle stalwarts Justin Ellis (Ravary, Easter Island), Kenny Florence (Annuals, Sunfold), Thomas McNeely (Jenny Besetzt, Cor de Lux), and Mike Robinson (Annuals, Sunfold, Lonnie Walker). Farkas takes his songwriting cues from the melody-soaked 60s, while his lyrical and sonic themes pull from all over the audio-visual timeline. Harmonies, strings, and a grand sense of scale pervade each song, but there is an intentional effort to make every song stand on the foundational relationship between melody, chords, and feel. Produced by Zack O’Brien at River Run Recording, Ins Kino 2 expands on Ins Kino’s chamber pop sound with evocative lyricism and arrangments, creating a dynamic offering that falls somewhere between post-Tranquility Arctic Monkeys and Grizzly Bear, with a heavy dose of The Beatles, Scott Walker, and Sinatra.
bedrumor , Between Two Trees, and Scoby
CARCRASHPOOLPARTY with Blankstate. and Moving Boxes
…Of Sinking Ships with Killer Antz + Dai Cheri
The Old One-Two w/ Withdrew and Kit Dean
Amy Martin, Bonnie and The Mere Mortals, and Matt Elias
Originally from Harrisonburg, Virginia, Amy Martin spent the majority of her adult life in her beloved hometown. On her recently released album, “Travelin’ On”, Martin explores the breaking point between investing in a problematic, yet beloved place, and moving on to fully realize one’s self and one’s dreams. . . In 2021, Martin packed up her car and moved to Denver. . . after leaving it all behind, Martin came right back to the Shenandoah Valley for the making of “Travelin’ On” with Grammy-winning producer and musician Chance McCoy, formerly of Old Crow Medicine Show. On “Travelin’ On” Martin displays compassionate confidence, born from years of developing not only a musical voice but a certain outlook on life.Bonnie & the Mere Mortals is a project that equally sounds like something you’ve never heard before and something you’ve been hearing your whole life. A genre bend that draws you in, but is as easy on the eyes as it is on the ears. A project that’s pretty sure Hank done it this way, but Robert Smith was on the money as well, and that’s no problem. A live show that is just as at home with an introspective elegy as a barn burner. An aesthetic that is just as much classic Nashville as it is glam. Blending the earnest songtelling and excitement of a 70s Era Grand Ole Opry performance with the technology and theatricality of a synthwave show, the Mere Mortals find themselves halfway between Dolly Parton and Elvira, and at home anyplace.
Brandon Tenney (full band) w/ Swansgate
Old Heavy Hands w/ The Gone Ghosts & Rebecca Porter
Formed in 2015 in Greensboro, North Carolina, Old Heavy Hands forge a compelling brand of heartfelt southern rock informed as much by the Muscle Shoals tradition as the DIY punk rock of their youth. Their forthcoming album, Small Fires, was recorded at The Fidelitorium and Earthtones studios. With most recent single “Between You & Me” singer Larry Wayne honors the life and legacy of his grandfather. From the first chords, listeners are reminded of the bittersweet combination of love, loss, and grief. The lyrics suggest the heroes in our lives, and the values handed down through generations. Despite the grief that informs it, there’s no question the song is a rocker. This is what truly sets it apart from the pack – the intensely catchy riffs and danceable groove; it does not belong on a playlist of funereal ballads. At its core, Old Heavy Hands is about the bonds of family and the loyalty of lifelong friendships. Born from the ashes of tragedies, theirs are songs by real people for real people — inspired by true events.
The Dead Tongues (Solo) w/ Josh Moore
After five months of not picking up an instrument, The Dead Tongues’ Ryan Gustafsonwanted to get rid of everything that was tied to his identity as a musician. He eventhought about changing his name. He was getting ready to throw out old notebookspacked with years of material but, for some reason, he decided to stop and go throughthem, just to see if there was anything worth saving. And sure enough, he found someimages and lyrics, threads from former selves he didn’t want to lose. Thus was thecatalyst for Dust, his fifth and best album as The Dead Tongues.Gustafson recorded Dust in nine days, the fastest he’d ever recorded anything. It wasthe fastest he’d ever written anything, too – in the past, writing a song would takemonths, but this time he somehow felt freer, and wanted to have fun. The record wasrecorded at Sylvan Esso’s studio, Betty’s, in the woods of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.He built it out with help from a number of his musician friends – Joe Westerlund(Watchhouse, Megafaun, Califone) on drums, Andrew Marlin (Watchhouse) onmandolin, backing vocals from Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Molly Sarlé of MountainMan, among others.Dust is meant to be listened to while taking a night drive, farflung and roving andexistential. Somewhere between the expansiveness of American jamband and thebanjo-centric folk songwriting of Gustafson’s Appalachia home. Gustafson explains thethematic throughline succinctly: “It’s this idea of uprooting and rebirth and cycles, andthe past informing the future, and the future informing the past. There is no single story.Everything is connected.”
