BONNAROO 2024 ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: MEDIUM BUILD

As the countdown to the 2024 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival continues ticking away, East of 8^th is also continuing its new spotlight series highlighting just a handful of the many acts playing at this year’s festival.

One of the reasons we love our (nearly) hometown festival is because of the opportunity for music discovery. While most of the names playing at Bonnaroo each year have been put on our radar, the fest gives us a great reason to dig in to some emerging artists and find a few acts we just haven’t given enough attention. Thus, we turn our attention to Medium Build, the creative project of Nick Carpenter, who will be playing Thursday, June 13 in That Tent at Bonnaroo.

Medium Build has seen rapid growth in both industry recognition and listener acclaim. There can be no doubt that part of this growth can be attributed to his ability to connect to music lovers across multiple genres. His works contain elements of pop, folk, and traditional country…with a touch of singer/songwriter balladeer added into the mix. A quick look at his touring schedule highlights his genre-defiance as he recently toured with one of this blog’s favorite rising pop singer/songwriters, Holly Humberstone, and more recently shared dates with one of the giants of modern traditional country music, Tyler Childers. However, another part of his growth must be attributed to his ability to relate to fans across the continent. His songs are clearly influenced by him splitting his “hometown” time by living in Anchorage, Alaska and Nashville, Tennessee. His music shows that he is not beholden to a regional way of thinking or sounding.

As we prepare to watch Medium Build take over That Tent at Bonnaroo, we can get more acquainted with his sound with his latest album, Country. Released this month, the album serves as a proper sampling of the artist’s influences. Jumping into the track list to the hit, “Crying Over U,” we get a perfect example of Medium Build’s genre diversity. The noticeable acoustic guitar and gentle vocal approach delve into the realms of folk and country influenced pop music, while the emotive grit in his voice paired with the overall sound of the song evokes memories of alternative rock from the late 90’s/early 2000’s. While “Crying Over U” is the song you’re most likely to hear on a friend’s playlist, the album has plenty more to offer. Part of what keeps Country interesting is its sonic diversity. “Knowing U Exist” is a pure singer/songwriter acoustic guitar track with slight hints of folk. Contrast this with the album’s closing track, “Stick Around,” and you will find that Medium Build is an artist exploring every inch of modern music. For as much as “Knowing U Exist” will appeal to the fans of Noah Kahan and perhaps even Zach Bryan, “Stick Around” takes us in a completely different, top-40 direction, replete with part-sung-part-spoken vocals that tiptoe on the edge of pop-friendly hip hop.

Since we have been listening to Country so much recently and because we know that Medium Build has so much musical space to explore in a live setting, we have definitely added him to our schedule for the 2024 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. We hope to see you at the show!

Listen to Medium Build: