Carson McHone’s dad was a local beer distributor in Austin and knew every bartender on the circuit. In turn, that networking helped her land gigs at honky tonks and dives across the city, until she, with only a handful of biographical songs and no record deal. McHone wound up opening for Shakey Graves in 2015, […]
In the months leading up to the pandemic, the typically carefree dudes in Twin Cities-based indie-rock outfit Hippo Campus hit their breaking point. They’d been touring for more than six years straight, with no more than two-month breaks between shows at any given time. “We were straight-up burnt out,” guitarist Nathan Stocker admits, noting how […]
“People always ask me why I chose country music,” Lavender Country’s Patrick Haggerty says. “The truth is, there wasn’t any genre in 1973 that was ready to embrace a queer Marxist!” Lavender Country, his self-titled debut, was the first-ever country record by a gay artist. Selling only 1,000 records at the time, a copy now […]
“I hope I can actually sing and tears aren’t just streaming down my face,” Beach House‘s Victoria Legrand says with a giggle. Over Zoom from their headquarters in Baltimore, Legrand and bandmate Alex Scally appear relaxed and eager for things to return to normal. They haven’t played in front of a live audience in nearly three […]
It’s popular for artists to say these days that they don’t care about genre, but Frank Turner really doesn’t care about genre. We’re not talking about going from indie to alternative or something here, but a punk rocker (who’s often bridged the gap between folk, punk, and other forms of Englishman-with-an-acoustic-guitar) releasing an electro-pop album […]
Two years into Zoom becoming a mainstream method of communication, it’s clear that the assortment of books, artwork and knickknacks that decorate the shelves in the background of a video call say a lot about the person appearing in front of them. Sure, some folks opt for a shelf-free background, but unless you’re in a […]
“We knew that people weren’t going to like it,” says Black Country, New Road‘s Lewis Evans. “And [now] I know that people won’t like it.” It doesn’t read like a ringing endorsement of Ants From Up There, the recently issued second album from the British sextet. But the saxophonist correctly insists it’s the “best thing […]
Though the ideas behind Bastille’s fourth album, Give Me the Future, were mostly conceptualized during the pre-pandemic time, it’s hard to deny the album’s parallels to the world as it’s developed over the last couple of years. At the time, the multi-platinum pop-rockers were fresh off the success of 2019’s Doom Days, and Bastille were […]
“Raw,” “free,” “loosey-goosey” — these are adjectives no one would use to describe Animal Collective‘s Painting With, an album so bright and intense it often feels like staring into a solar eclipse without the proper eyewear. Six years later, Animal Collective has returned with Time Skiffs, which feels more like gazing casually into a psychedelic forest […]
If you’ve been a fan of David Bazan’s music for the past few decades, you know that releasing a surprise album is a sign of personal growth and acceptance. The veteran indie rocker has released numerous albums — both under the Pedro the Lion moniker and as a solo artist — that have dealt with […]