independent thoughts on indie rock, alternative, and indie pop music
Nick Pankey and Kaston Guffey, who seem more like brothers than life-long friends, met each other in the Ozark, Missouri middle school equivalent of home economics class. “It was a great class, and of course we met girls,” says Pankey with a laugh. The pair bonded over music in high school, and made basement recordings... Continue Reading →
It’s 1992. I'm too young for a license, but my cousin volunteers to teach me to drive his blue Chevy Cavalier on a dusty dirt road in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. From the tape deck, this gut-punching Southern rock n’ roll music surges into the car, and I am mystified. “What is this??” I think... Continue Reading →
Brooklyn-based indie rock outfit Best Behavior is gearing up to release a new EP, Things That Happened, this fall—an appropriate title given the two-year stretch since their last album, and the events that caused the musical pause. The band had already recorded the EP when a chance encounter changed their trajectory. “We opened up for... Continue Reading →
California-based alt-pop outfit Private Island, currently on their first nationwide tour, will make a stop at The High Watt on July 28th to dazzle the Nashville crowd with their sultry brand of electro-groove. “We bought a school bus for this tour and I’ve been working on it for the last two weeks, night and day... Continue Reading →
Long Beach, California-based alt-rock duo This Wild Life is currently touring in support of their latest release, Low Tides, out last September via Epitaph Records. The tour will bring the pair to Nashville for a show at The High Watt on Sunday, July 23rd—and it’s safe to say that the band has some tricks up... Continue Reading →
“The record’s out, it’s time to dig in and entertain people. How can people resist? I’m bare-chested on the cover. Dad bods are in right? I’m totally rocking the dad bod. I’m trying to show the world you don’t have to be Justin Bieber to pose shirtless,” says the quick-witted Trevor Sensor of his latest... Continue Reading →
Louisville’s beloved post-punk outfit Quiet Hollers, who toured for the greater part of last year, and who will appear at Nashville’s The Basement on Friday, June 30th, will release their new album, Amen Breaks, on July 7th via sonaBLAST!. In keeping with frontman Shadwick Wilde’s penchant for double and triple entendres, the record’s title has... Continue Reading →
I’ll never forget when I first heard “Hacienda Motel,” the breakout hit from Can’t Talk Medicine, the debut album from Seattle-based Pickwick back in 2013; frontman Galen Disston’s soulful vocals carried on a retro-infused layer of reverb-y goodness made that track virtually strut right out of the speakers. I was hooked. Since then, we Pickwick... Continue Reading →
Legendary blues man Muddy Waters once said “the blues had a baby and named it rock n’ roll.” In fact, blues music embodies the roots of all American music; it is the quintessential vehicle for expressing visceral emotion, and touches on something deeply primal in every soul. When ZZ Ward was eight years old, her... Continue Reading →
Nashville-based singer/songwriter Reuben Bidez will be making his Bonnaroo debut on the WHO stage on Saturday, June 10th at 2:00 p.m. In September, Bidez released Turning To Wine, his first complete body of work. “As I’ve grown as a writer and singer, I’ve gravitated to this sound because it most lines up with my message, and... Continue Reading →
