Cat’s Cradle Back Room

Jacuzzi Boys Links: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | YouTube The Cowboys Links: Facebook | Bandcamp

The National Parks was formed by frontman Brady Parks in 2013 in Provo, Utah. To date, the band has independently released three full-length albums (and a standalone single, “As We Ran”), which together have amassed more than 90 million streams and garnered praise from press outlets such as NPR’s All Songs Considered, Paste, CMT Edge, Baeble Music, and Pop Matters. The band’s self-booked touring began in the summer of 2014 and by 2016 the act was filling clubs in every region in the country while also performing at KAABOO Del Mar, SXSW, Canadian Music Week, School Night at Bardot’s, Musikfest, Snowmass Mammoth Fest, and Make Music Pasadena. 2019 brought some incredible sync and memorable performances across the U.S. 2020 brings new heights for the band as they embark on their biggest adventure to date. Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music

Andy Cabic’s musical being is, like many curious 21st century musicians, shaped and sustained by divergent tangents. If he’s not crafting a melancholy folk rock diamond in his Northern California studio, he’s moving a dance floor with bossa nova and house DJ sets, or helping curate a compilation of Japanese City Pop. What’s magic about this new Vetiver LP Up On High is the way these tangents color the ten songs without undermining a distinct move to more elemental, spacious and natural arrangements. At the heart of each of these ten songs is Cabic’s voice: sweet, tender and weathered-a welcome and soothing old friend if ever there was one. There are other familiar friends: the album also features longtime engineer and collaborator Thom Monahan and the same resourceful and versatile band that helped Cabic make the more dense and layered Complete Strangers from 2015. Up On High was written on acoustic guitar. Having moved twice since Complete Strangers, increasingly accustomed to a life in and out of boxes, it was the easiest instrument to reach for in moments of inspiration. The basic tracking of the album took place over a few Spring days at a friend’s house in the high desert of California. This simple set-up captured the organic immediacy of a roomful of friends playing together on the floor. It’s alive and ever so subtly crackling with the intensity of a band working together, teasing out the melody and rhythms of songs with warmth and intimacy. Cabic and Monahan took the fruits of this session to Los Angeles and finished the album at Monahan’s studio over the summer as other friends popped by to lend their talents. This album reflects the world that Cabic created and lives in: Jorge Ben phrasings peek out from behind Tom Petty’s Wildflowers outtakes, a gentle jangle lifts whispers of REM’s Murmur on a breeze up from Compass Point Studios. But Up On High is most clearly Cabic and his band inhabiting the realm the band was born in-sleek, economical, soulful, and sometimes sadness-tinged melodies riding on the gentle choogle and sway of an ensemble moving in beautiful unison. This is an album that breathes with you in real, lived in, natural time. Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

This show has been postponed. This show is All Ages. Mighty Oaks Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | SoundCloud | Spotify | YouTube

Caleb Caudle wanted a down-home, funky sound for his new album. He assembled several Grammy-winning musicians to chase it down in the Cash Cabin, built by Johnny Cash in 1979, a small place with a big history. “It feels like you’re in the shadow of giants,” Caudle says. He emerged from the shadows with Better Hurry Up. Caudle and producer, John Jackson, used the space to create a dramatic, compelling record. “None of us wore headphones,” Caudle says. “It just like we were doing it for the love of music – it didn’t feel like we were making a record. It felt like I was playing with an incredible group of musicians and making art.” The sound suits the songs, which Caudle wrote after immersing himself in the vintage roots-funk of Leon Russell, J.J. Cale, Dr. John, The Band, and Little Feat. Caudle’s critically acclaimed catalog includes features on Rolling Stone’s “10 New Country Artists You Need To Know” and “The 10 Best Country and Americana Songs To Hear Now” along with NPR’s “Songs We Love”. His songs have been featured on CMT’s Nashville and Netflix’s The Ranch. When Caleb isn’t touring the world, he resides in Nashville, TN. “Do not miss him!” – Southern Living “Caleb Caudle’s sound encompasses the wide expanse of America, as the best country rock always will.” – NPR “The musical Equivalent of high-proof bourbon – rich in flavor, with a subtle, satisfying bite.” – Rolling Stone “This is music to be listened to on a porch swing. A lot of it might have been written on one.” – The Washington Post “A worthy new voice in a long tradition of musical storytelling.” – American Songwriter “Caudle has a knack for simple melodies as much as he does unusual arrangements.” – The Bluegrass Situation Links: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify

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Honey Magpie: Known for vocal harmonies, classical string instruments, and nature-inspired lyrics, Honey Magpie is fronted by Millennial singer-songwriters Rachael Hurwitz (guitar, keys) and Pippa Hoover (cello). Their sound invites comparisons to all-female folk groups like I’m With Her, but draws more influence from pop than bluegrass or old time. The band formed in 2015, when all members were in their mid-to-late 20s. Despite what felt like a late start in music, Honey Magpie pursued performing and recording wholeheartedly. They gained early success in the Triangle when they won the band contest at the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival in 2015. They released their debut album Honey Magpie in 2017, and have since been featured in the Oak City Sessions video series and on WUNC’s The State of Things. Their single “Undecided” premiered on Pop Matters in January 2020. Their second album Midnight Morning draws from a richer range of musical influences and boasts a higher production level than Honey Magpie. Listeners will recognize elements of 90s rock, 60s pop, country, and femme-fronted indie pop, supported by a full rhythm section of bass, drums, guitar, and keys. Millennials experiencing a “quarter-life crisis will relate to the album’s mix of joy, angst, and reflection on life, and fans of all ages will love the new depth in the band’s sound. Links: Website | Facebook | Instagram | SoundCloud | YouTube Rodes Rodes is the project of Durham, NC-based musician and songwriter M.K. Rodenbough. Her unique blend of downcast folk, Americana, and rock creates a wistful, melancholic beauty reflective of her heartfelt lyrics. Rodes’ songwriting style is personal, covering topics like living as a queer person in the American South, growing up as the youngest of four, and dealing with the anxieties of being a young person in today’s uncertain world. She released her debut single “The Underground” in October 2019 and will release her debut album in the Spring of 2020. Eno River Rats The Rag Doll Rockabilly Baby of Samantha Castrovinci and Shannon Dawn O’Connor.

“Break the rules you think you are bound by.” That’s the recurring sentiment Lætitia Tamko carried with her through the writing and recording of her second album under the Vagabon moniker. Her first, 2017’s Infinite Worlds, was an indie breakthrough that put her on the map, prompting Tamko to tour around the world and quit her job in electrical/computer engineering to pursue a career in music full-time. Tamko’s self-titled Nonesuch Records debut finds her in a state of creative expansion, leaning fully into some of the experimental instincts she flirted with on the previous album. This time around, she’s throwing genre to the wind. Vagabon is a vibrant culmination of influences, emotional landscapes, and moods; a colorful and masterful statement by an artist and producer stepping into her own. “I was in a pretty tortured headspace when I returned home from touring Infinite Worlds. That album contained some of the first songs I’d ever written, and more people than I could have ever imagined heard it,” Tamko says. “I was proud to become a full-time musician and recognized how rare of a thing that is, but was also debilitated by the very same fact. Fear overtook me and I couldn’t write. I felt stagnant and unsure of what to do next.” That anxiety eventually thawed and gave way to a newfound sense of freedom as Tamko began to focus less on industry pressures and more on honing her craft as a songwriter and producer. “With this album, I wanted to impress myself,” Tamko says. “I wanted to be curious and I wanted to make big leaps as a producer. All I had access to on the road was my computer and Logic, so naturally I started writing songs electronically with what was at hand.” Vagabon was written and produced entirely by Tamko. Guitar-driven melodies are largely absent, and in their place we are treated to a collection of songs buoyed by hybridized analog and digital arrangements. While Infinite Worlds situated the last Vagabon project in the realm of “indie rock,” Vagabon is not easily defined. Grounded by Tamko’s expressive voice and knack for unique melodies, the album flits between genres, never lingering too long on one particular sensibility. Lead single “Flood” exemplifies this growth; the production ebbs like a gentle tide before a cavernous drumbeat kicks in and the tone shifts completely. “I know, even if I run from it I’m still in it,” Tamko sings over and over again, her capacious voice conveying a sense of resignation in the face of an external force beyond her control. The chorus is a hypnotic bit of pop alchemy that lingers long after the runtime. “The drums and vocal forward approach I took on the new album is drawn from my love for rap and hip-hop production as well as R&B and folk storytelling. That’s the music that got me excited about writing again,” Tamko says. In addition to those influences, the West African guitars and rhythms that soundtracked much of her childhood seep into moments throughout this album, in no place more obvious than on “In A Bind.” The song opens with a fingerpicked melody as Tamko sings to someone she’s been orbiting for a while but can’t quite reach. “I know that I was gone a lot last year/ But I hoped you’d still be here,” she sings. After that, words no longer serve, and lyrics are replaced by robust, choral vocals singing the refrain: “Uh-huh, yes, uh-huh.” Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music

Vilray (vill-ree) is a composer and performer from Brooklyn whose original compositions recall the jazz and theatrical songwriters of Tin Pan Alley, authors of The Great American Songbook. With the release of two singles “Even In The Evening / Put Your Hand In His Side” and the album Rachael & Vilray on Nonesuch Records, his sound has earned wider acclaim. Whether solo or in concert with legendary singer Rachael Price (of Lake Street Dive), Vilray’s music is imbued with a singular warmth and an authentic crackle. Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | SoundCloud | Spotify | YouTube

When it comes to playing rock & roll, The Jacks simply don’t have a choice. “It’s what we listen to, it’s what we play,” bassist Scott Stone says, “and when you stick four guys like us in a garage with instruments, it’s just the kind of music we are going to make.” You can hear a primal energy coursing through vocalist-guitarist Jonny Stanback’s gritty howl on “Walk Away,” the lead single from their debut self-titled EP and the rest of the guys match his excitement with driving riffs and infectious melodies. It’s an electric charge that surges through each of the record’s five tracks, guiding Stanback, Stone, lead guitarist Thomas Hunter and drummer Josh Roossin when they play together. “We’re trying to push the boundaries of the rock & roll genre by incorporating modern elements, but still keeping the core structure of a four-piece band,” Stanback says. “We are creating a sound you’ve never heard before, but feels familiar.” The way they see it, playing rock at a time when pop and hip-hop are dominating the charts is an act of defiance. If any band is poised to help bring authenticity back to rock & roll, it’s The Jacks. The quartet has been making a steady ascent since forming in Los Angeles in the summer of 2016, selling out gigs at legendary hometown venues like the Troubadour, Roxy and Viper Room, supporting legends like the Doors’ Robby Krieger (who told them personally that he liked their music) and playing major rock festivals like Aftershock and Sonic Temple. At one gig, they ran into John Fogerty who told them, “It’s cool to see some rock & roll again.” Now the group has recorded their first EP with producer Matt Wallace (Maroon 5, Faith No More) at Los Angeles’ famed Sunset Sound Recorders. But even though they’ve been playing together for only a couple of years, rock has been The Jacks’ lifeblood for as long as they can remember. As Wallace declares, “The Jacks deliver up lean, rugged rock & roll with songs that feel like instant classics that make you want to move, with earworm hooks and melodies that will have you kinda upset when you find yourself unintentionally and inappropriately humming their songs at work, in church, in court, or at wakes. If the Strokes, Cage the Elephant, and the Stones had an equally talented, but more handsome baby, it would be named The Jacks!” Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | SoundCloud | Spotify | YouTube