Tag Archive for: atlanta music

RICO NASTY COMING TO ATLANTA’S THE TABERNACLE ON 10/21

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 9/29/25

FALL NORTH AMERICAN HEADLINE TOUR KICKS OFF IN SEPTEMBER 

NEW ALBUM LETHAL

OUT NOW ON FUELED BY RAMEN

J

Last night, Rico Nasty performed the buoyant and radiant “CRASH” for Jimmy Kimmel Live! from her recent album LETHAL out now Fueled by Ramen (Atlantic Music Group). The performance marks LETHAL’s TV debut ahead of her fall tour kicking off on September 19th at Chicago’s Riot Fest and ends Nov 4th in Los Angeles at The Fonda. Recently, Rico and her band performed a stunning, raw set for NPR’s Tiny Desk. Tickets are on-sale HERE. 

Always the rap world’s biggest rock star, Rico Nasty is known for her own particular brand of rage-rap and for her outrageous on-stage, online, volume-up persona. But as she grew up, she started to feel trapped by the character she created. LETHAL is a reckoning of who Rico is at 27 with the trap-pop teen persona she created more than a decade ago. Executive produced by GRAMMY nominated producer Imad Royal, the album still features all the hallmarks of a Rico Nasty record – female rage, heavy guitars, humor – but there are also notes of femininity, introspection and a more complex framing of all the angles of Rico – the performer, the mother, the adult.

Alongside the new record, Rico will make her acting debut in Apple TV+ & A24’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles, created by David E. Kelley and based on the 2024 novel by Rufi Thorpe. Rico will star alongside Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfieffer, Nicole Kidman, Nick Offerman, Lindsey Normington & more.

Tour Dates

Sept 19th – Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest

Sept 21st – San Francisco, CA @ Portola

Sept 23rd – Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo

Sept 24th – Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom

Sept 26th – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex – Rockwell

Sept 28th – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre

Oct 1st – Chicago, IL @ Metro

Oct 2nd – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom

Oct 3rd – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue

Oct 5th – Toronto, ON @ The Opera House

Oct 7th – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre

Oct 8th – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues – Cleveland

Oct 10th – Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa

Oct 11th – Baltimore, MD @ Nevermore Hall

Oct 12th – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer

Oct 14th – Boston, MA @ House of Blues – Boston

Oct 15th – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza

Oct 18th – Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore – Silver Spring

Oct 19th – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall

Oct 21st – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle

Oct 22nd – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl

Oct 24th – Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution

Oct 25th – Orlando, FL @ The Beacham

Oct 27th – Houston, TX @ House of Blues Houston

Oct 28th – Dallas, TX @ The Bomb Factory

Oct 29th – Austin, TX @ Empire Garage

Nov 2nd – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House

Nov 4th – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre

The album is preceded by lead single “TEETHSUCKER (YEA3X)”- a headturning statement of intent that Billboard praised, writing “Rico Nasty has always felt a bit ahead of the times, and this could be the moment the mainstream finally syncs up with her.” Rico followed the track with the sticky, hook-laced trap-pop of “ON THE LOW” and the more recent, playfully sophisticated combination of  “BUTTERFLY KISSES” & “CAN’T WIN EM ALL.” 

From the moment she arrived, Rico Nasty stood out. Since her breakthrough as a teenager from PG County, Maryland with her own signature blend of bubbly melodies, rage raps, and skull-rattling beats, the artist born Maria Kelly has been an iconoclastic presence in the rap game. She’s been drawn from the jump to the juxtaposition of hard and soft, countering her sweet-and-sour Sugar Trap sound with the kind of vocal cord-shredding mosh-rap you hear everywhere today. Back then, label executives called her weird for songs like 2018’s paradigm-shifting “Smack A Bitch,” which kicked open the doors to a dominant new era of “rapper as rockstar.” At a time when female rappers dressed like WWE wrestlers, Rico was serving Sex Pistols meets Rainbow Brite. But for Rico, the aesthetic wasn’t a costume or a phase. It’s one thing to dress like a rockstar — to be a rockstar is another.

Scan your favorite new rap playlist and you’ll hear a generation of up-and-coming artists inspired by Rico’s balance of high-femme trap-pop and nu-metal rage rap. But around the time of her last record, 2022’s Las Ruinas, the innovator felt trapped: “I was caught in the space of wanting to be understood by the masses, but also recognizing that maybe I’m not supposed to be.” She’d started to feel pigeonholed by her own outré persona, which hadn’t changed much since she’d stepped into the role of Rico Nasty as a teen. “I felt like I was living in character,” the 27-year old admits today. “And when I first started, that was the whole idea of it — but that gets exhausting.” Backstage at last year’s headlining tour, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror dressed as a teenage raver. “No shade, but dude, you’re 26,” she recalls thinking. “When are you going to grow up?”

So began Rico Nasty’s year of reckoning, which began as a conscious free-fall. “I just completely let life take me: letting myself indulge in things that made me excited, living real life experiences,” she says. She cleared her closet of the things that made her feel stuck at age 19, ditching the Demonia boots for grown-and-sexy heels. She dove deep into books, deleted social media from her phone, and started taking therapy seriously. For years, she’d withstood label pressure to give her songs more pop appeal or hop on passing trends. Now, working on the songs that would become LETHAL, Rico felt like she had back in the Sugar Trap days, before she’d known how bittersweet the industry could be. In short, she says: “I reconnected to myself.”

Meanwhile she’d parted ways with her entire management team, flying solo until an opportunity to perform with Paramore in summer 2023 introduced her to her new team. Rico had been signed to Atlantic Records since 2018, but dreamed of being “somewhere a little bit more edgy, where I had more space to grow and be whoever I felt like being.” When her new team mentioned Fueled By Ramen, the alternative label who launched bands like Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco into the mainstream, Rico panicked that she’d be misunderstood: “I’m a rapper, and I want to be remembered as a rapper.” Instead, the label instructed Rico to stay true to no one but herself.

Praise for LETHAL

“explosive, expansive and razor-sharp, a sonic evolution that fuses her iconic “sugar trap” roots with searing rap-rock chaos and surprising softness.” 

– Billboard

“Fierce”

– Variety

“One of the premier rappers of her generation”

– Rolling Stone

“Rico Nasty gives us glimpses of a rap rockstar with no intentions of slowing down.”

– Paste Magazine

“Rico Nasty’s new era is shaping up to be electrifying…Full of charisma and unpredictable in a totally unique way, Rico Nasty is at her best when she’s controlling her own destiny.”

– Consequence

“Rico Nasty turns up the heat…reminding fans why she’s an original rage-rap iconoclast”

– BET

“‘Lethal’ is one of her most wide-ranging projects yet, from her rock-oriented abrasion to the sweeter, brighter sounds of her trademark sugar trap, to dark, moody rap songs done in the way that only Rico Nasty can. “

– Brooklyn Vegan

THE FAYE WEBSTER INVITATIONAL RETURNS TO ATLANTA

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 9/17/25

Singer, songwriter, and multi-hyphenate Faye Webster is bringing her one-of-a-kind Faye Webster Invitational back for its highly anticipated second edition—this time in her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. The multi-sport showcase and cultural event will unfold over the weekend of October 25th and 26th, highlighting three of Faye’s favorite pastimes: chess, LVBL (LiveBall) tennis, and yoyo. While the Invitational spans several events, only the yoyo showcase, and concert will be open to ticketed audiences. Details below.

YOYO SHOWCASE & CONCERT – SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26 @ THE EASTERN

On Sunday, October 26, The Eastern will host an unforgettable yoyo exhibition, where twelve of the world’s best yoyo masters will unleash their most daring, intricate, and mesmerizing tricks in a no-rules, no-limitations showcase. The evening will be hosted by Faye Webster and Benét, with a rare solo performance from Faye herself and special guest Erika De Casier.

Presale: Opens Wednesday, September 17 at 12pm EDT. Register at https://laylo.com/fayewebster/m/FWI2025.

General Sale: Begins Friday, September 19 at 10am EDT.

LVBL TENNIS TOURNAMENT – SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25 @ SHARON LESTER TENNIS CENTER, PIEDMONT PARK

The Invitational’s opening day will kick off with the inaugural Faye Webster LVBL Tennis Championship, an afternoon that blends tennis, music, food, and fun. The LiveBall format tournament will be open to intermediate and experienced tennis players. Entry details for participants will be announced on Monday, September 23rd HERE

CHESS TOURNAMENT – SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26 @ THE EASTERN 

For the first time, Faye will host a chess tournament as part of the Invitational. The event will bring together 100 competitors in a Swiss-System with knockout format, taking place on the morning of Sunday, October 26 at The Eastern. Participant application details will also be shared on September 23 HERE

This fall, the ‘An Evening with Faye Webster’ tour will kick off where she’ll be live in concert performing songs from her discography and her most recent fittingly titled album, Underdressed at the Symphony, with full symphony accompaniment. The tour includes a hometown show at the Atlanta Symphony Hall, and shows in Los Angeles at the famed Walt Disney Concert Hall and Oakland at the Paramount Theater. For more information visit fayewebster.com.

Earlier this year Webster arranged some of her most beloved songs with her 5-piece band and a string quartet for NPR’s Tiny Desk, reuniting with musicians who also contributed to her orchestral EP Car Therapy Sessions. Webster’s Underdressed at the Symphony was released last year to wide critical praise and fan adulation. The album landed on year-end lists at Rolling Stone, Vulture, Consequence, The AV Club, SPIN, UPROXX and more. 

Tour Dates

09/27 – Washington, DC @ All Things Go Festival

10/28 – Atlanta, GA @ Atlanta Symphony Hall

11/1 – Los Angeles, CA @ Walt Disney Concert Hall

11/5 – Oakland, CA @ Paramount Theatre

GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING ARTIST MOLLY TUTTLE AT VARIETY PLAYHOUSE IN ATLANTA – OCTOBER 4

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 9/17/25

Grammy Award-Winning Artist Molly Tuttle at Variety Playhouse on Atlanta October 4th.

On the heels of two Grammy-winning albums in succession, with her band Golden Highway—2022’s Crooked Tree and 2023’s City of Gold—plus a nomination for Best New Artist, Molly Tuttle returns with a solo album that’s her most dazzling to date: So Long Little Miss Sunshine. 

Recorded in Nashville with producer Jay Joyce (Orville Peck, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson, Eric Church, Cage the Elephant), the fifth full album from the California-born, Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and virtuoso guitarist features twelve new songs—eleven originals and one highly unexpected cover of Icona Pop and Charli xcx’s “I Love It.” 

Tuttle’s career, which began at age fifteen, has charted a course between honoring bluegrass and stretching its boundaries. On this album—a hybrid of pop, country, rock, and flat-picking, plus one murder ballad—she goes to a whole new place. Her stunning guitar work is more up-front on this album than ever before. (One of the most decorated female guitarist alive, Tuttle was the first woman to win the prestigious International Bluegrass Music Award’s Guitar Player of the Year in 2017, at age twenty-four, and won again the following year, with nominations nearly every year since; she has also won Americana Music Association’s Instrumentalist of the Year award.) So Long Little Miss Sunshine also features Tuttle playing banjo, something she’s never done on one of her albums before. 

“I like to be a bit of a chameleon with my music,” she says. “Keep people guessing and keep it full of surprises.” 

Tuttle has been slowly building this collection of songs over the last five years, while also writing and releasing two hugely successful albums and a six-song EP (last year’s Into the Wild) and playing more than 100 shows each year with Golden Highway. Along the way she’d send songs to Joyce, who she first started talking to about collaborating on the album a few years ago. 

“I’ve been wanting to make this record for such a long time. Part of me was scared to do such a big departure, and that went into the album title So Long Little Miss Sunshine. It’s like, ‘You know what? I’m just not going to care what people think. I’m going to do what I want.’” 

The album was recorded with a group of musicians that includes drummer/percussionists Jay Bellerose and Fred Eltringham, bassist Byron House, and Joyce on multiple instruments. Ketch Secor (Old Crow Medicine Show) also plays banjo, fiddle, and harmonica, as well as singing harmony. 

Tuttle also conceived the artwork for So Long Little Miss Sunshine, which features multiple Mollys, each wearing a different wig except for one with nothing on her head at all. (“I probably own as many wigs as I own guitars,” she says.) Tuttle has been bald since she was three years old due to the autoimmune condition alopecia areata; she acts as a spokesperson for the National Alopecia Areata Foundation.  

“I love raising awareness,” she says. “I talk about it onstage a lot and broaden it to include anyone who’s ever had something that makes them stick out and look or feel different from others. Playing my song ‘Crooked Tree’ live is very meaningful to me, because it’s a moment where sometimes I’ll take off my wig and talk about my struggles with self-acceptance.” 

One album track, “Old Me (New Wig),” is “about leaving all these things behind that don’t serve you anymore,” she says. “Parts of yourself that really aren’t in your best interest, like low self-esteem, anxieties, and not feeling confident. Learning to own these different aspects of my personality but not letting them control me is another theme of the record that inspired the album title and the cover art. Those are all things I’ve struggled with through the years—just feeling like an impostor, like I wasn’t good enough. I like singing this song because there are days when I still have to tell myself to leave that stuff behind.’”  

Most of the So Long Little Miss Sunshine songs were co-written with Secor, who is also Tuttle’s partner. “We spend so much time together, we live together, and anytime I have a song idea, or he has one, it’s just so easy to transition from whatever we’re doing into writing a song.” 

Although they were written in different times and circumstances, Tuttle found to her surprise that the songs were all tied together by interwoven themes. The opening track, “Everything Burns”—a dark, intense, big-guitar song—was written in 2020, during the chaos and division of the start of the Covid pandemic. It might as easily refer to the current chaos and division in America since Election Day 2024, though. In fact, they recorded it the day after the election. 

There are several songs about traveling—sometimes down the open road, like “Highway Knows” and “Oasis”—but also back in time, as on “Easy” and “Golden State of Mind.” 

The record also tells “a kind of coming-of-age story,” Tuttle says. “‘Golden State of Mind’ is one of the songs I feel is a through-line to that. It makes me think about people I’ve been close to in the past that I’ve drifted away from, and about growing up and figuring out who you are.” 

That theme is in turn picked up in the beautiful ballad “No Regrets,” one of the last songs Tuttle wrote for the album. “It’s about looking back on your life and thinking, ‘Well, maybe I could have done things differently, but if I hadn’t made certain mistakes or gone down certain roads, then I wouldn’t be here.’ And I really like where I am now!” 

So Long Little Miss Sunshine closes, as her last two albums did, with an autobiographical song, “Story of My So-Called Life.” “This is me looking back on my life, from growing up to going to school in Boston to moving to Nashville to where I am now—taking stock of all these pivotal moments throughout my life that made me who I am. I feel like after I’ve said so much in all the other songs, it’s just kind of nice to end it on a note of, ‘Here’s how this all came to be,’” she says. 

***** 

Earlier this year, Tuttle played guitar and sang on Ringo Starr’s new country album, Look Up. She also played with him and a host of other stellar musical guests at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and Grand Ole Opry as part of his televised Ringo & Friends shows. She was inspired by his fearlessness in following his passion for country music. “It is cool to see someone like that who has done everything you could imagine doing in a music career and he’s still just so psyched and still has a list of things that he wants to accomplish,” Tuttle says. 

Looking back on her own career, Tuttle admits that she also has pursued what interests her: “It has never been a cookie-cutter thing where I’m just going down a straight road. I always had this crooked path.” 

JANINE COMING TO THE MASQUERADE IN ATLANTA ON 10/16

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 9/17/25

Jane coming to the Masquerade in Atlanta on October 16th

“Everything had been flipped upside down, my heart ripped out of my chest, and I didn’t know how I could keep living.” New Zealand singer/songwriter Janine is no stranger to grief. A few years ago, the kiwi-born, LA-based songstress unexpectedly lost her hero, her father, while visiting back home and opted to stay in her native homeland to take care of her mum. Since then, Janine has been deeply immersed in writing this album, aptly titled Pain and Paradise, which is out today, Friday, August 22nd, on Little Mixtape Records. From soulful ballads to airy house-influenced anthems, Janine wrote and produced much of the album herself and on the focus track “Happy,” she captures the tension between hope and vulnerability over a classic piano-led melody and hypnotic percussion. 

Melding R&B soundscapes with pop sensibilities, the record’s 16 tracks explore the juxtaposition of life’s beauty and its most painful moments. Standing in the stillness of New Zealand’s rugged beauty, Janine experienced heartache in solace. “I knew I was so lucky to be in such a beautiful place and most importantly, lucky to have loved so deeply that the weight of loss could be so heavy. I stood there and thought, wow this is the most unbearable Pain and Paradise. I decided that the album would be named ‘Pain and Paradise’ because I believe that they always coexist.”

Janine has been on the charts since her debut release in 2014. With several Billboard charting singles & albums, a New Zealand Critics Choice nomination, a 2015 win for Best R&B album for New Zealand Music Awards and numerous sold out tours between Australia, Europe, New Zealand and the US – Janine’s impact is universal. 

Janine will kick off her North American headline tour next month! Starting in Ferndale, Michigan at The Magic Bag the tour will make notable stops in New York with a show at Music Hall of Williamsburg, D.C, Los Angeles at Terragram Ballroom on October 22nd and close out with a final show in Oakland at Crybaby on October 24 – find a show near you and get tickets HERE. Full list of tour dates below. 

Tour Dates

9/28 – The Magic Bag – Ferndale, MI

9/29 – Subterranean – Chicago, IL

10/1 – Music Hall of Williamsburg – Brooklyn, NY

10/3 – Howard Theatre – Washington, DC

10/6 – The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA

10/10 – The Social – Orlando, FL

10/12 – House of Blues – Houston, TX

10/14 – The Studio at The Factory – Dallas, TX

10/16 – Last Exit Live – Phoenix, AZ

10/21 – Constellation Room – Santa Ana, CA

10/22 – Teragram Ballroom – Los Angeles, CA

10/24 – Crybaby – Oakland, CA

Pain and Paradise Tracklisting

 1. Fit 

2. Loving Me 

3. Happy 

4. Make You Proud 

5. Dad’s Interlude 

6. UP 

7. Thank You For Breaking My Heart 

8. Meet Me 

9. How Did I Find You 

10. Saved Me 

11. Best Thing 

12. If I Call

13. Good Vibes 

14. Broke Me Down 

15. Pain and Paradise 

16. Rockstar

LA INDIE-ROCK BAND GOON HEADS TO ATLANTA – SEPTEMBER 25 AT THE EARL

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 9/6/25

 Los Angeles indie-psych-folk-rock band Goon is headed to Atlanta on 9/25 at The Earl

Photo: Mallory Turner

ABOUT GOON: San Diego-born, LA-based frontman Kenny Beckerhad a record’s worth of new songs ready to record, studio time booked, and a vision for how it would all play out. But weeks into the recording, life hit him like a lightning bolt in the form of the sudden dissolution of his marriage and his subsequent psychic spiral. Blindsided by heartbreak, the music Becker had written for the record began to take on new meaning. What had come from joy was now something closer to agony. In the friction of that moment, Becker pushed his band—and his songwriting—into stranger territory. Facing down the pain and disappointment of life, the band created a masterpiece with their new album, Dream 3.

DREAM 3 ALBUM BIO

We always think we have a plan. We will walk into a situation with a purpose and an idea, only to find that life has other things in store for us. Goon frontman and creative mastermind, Kenny Becker, had a record’s worth of new songs ready to record, studio time booked, and a vision for how it would all play out. But weeks into the recording, life hit him like a lightning bolt in the form of the sudden dissolution of his marriage and his subsequent psychic spiral. Blindsided by heartbreak, the music Becker had written for the record began to take on new meaning. What had come from joy was now something closer to agony. In the friction of that moment, Becker pushed his band—and his songwriting—into stranger territory. Facing down the pain and disappointment of life, the band created a masterpiece with their new album, Dream 3.


Goon began 2015 as singer and multi-instrumentalist Kenny Becker’s solo project, releasing a compilation of his best home recordings, the 2016 EP Dusk of Punk. With a full band in tow, Goon released the band’s first full-length, 2019’s Heaven is Humming on Partisan Records. Becker recruited a new band—Andy Polito on drums, Dillon Peralta on guitar, and Tamara Simons on bass—and recorded the self-released Paint By Numbers 1. A second LP, Hour of Green Evening, and another EP, Red Ladder, soon followed in 2022. To support Hour of Green Evening, Goon hit the road hard, touring and playing shows with Built to Spill, Jadu Heart, Slow Pulp, Teethe, Squirrel Flower, and many others. Amidst all this, the band signed with Philadelphia label Born Losers and began recording their next LP with Claire Morison at Wild Horizon Sound in Los Angeles. Dream 3 melds the intimate, lo-fi stylings of Goon with the live-band sound of Hour of Green Evening; a veteran band exploring every aspect of their sound, pushing themselves into new musical and emotional realms.


“I began this record so excited,” says Becker. “The songwriting was less scripted, letting me loosen up the reins and follow whatever idea seemed most interesting. It started as a joyful recording process. Then came the most devastating time of my life.” The result is an often darker, more introspective album, built on personal loss and the chaotic crumbling of the outside world, without losing Goon’s signature sense of strangeness and wonder. Weaving lyrics about personal and ecological collapse with references to baseball, aliens, and Tony Soprano, the record expands Goon’s sound while holding close to the band’s core identity. Dream 3 offers an exquisitely crafted sonic world, full of heartbreak and pain, but also brimming with color and life, the hope of better days to come. “Begin Here” is the gateway into the record. The song emerges in a dreamy, reverse-guitar haze, Becker’s voice hovering over Braden Lawrence’s drums like a bird in flight, surveying the green wreckage of his world. “With ligaments split at sunrise/Bubbling dirt from my mouth,” Becker sings, “I’m open, scraped, and doe-eyed.” It’s the sound of a band discovering new life after torment, the way cataclysm brings its sufferers closer. Becker drops the surreal imagery for something more direct, referencing his bandmate as he sings, “Let me cry to Tamara.” “The song started as a little reversed guitar progression that I had kicking around for a while,” says Becker. “I showed it to our bass player, Tamara, who had a strong reaction to it and insisted we flesh it out. When I sing, ‘Let me cry to Tamara’ at the end, that’s because it’s what I was doing all the time we were recording it. To me, that song has this sunny, upbeat melody, but it’s coming from a place of total despair. I like that tension.”

GOON – DREAM 3

 BORN LOSERS RECORDS

1. Being Here

2. Closer to

3. Patsy’s Twin

4. For Cutting The Grass

5. In The Early Autumn

6. Apple Patch

7. Fruit Cup

8. Toluca

9. The Morning Six Rabbits Were Born

10. Sunsweeping

11. Bottle

12. Fine

13. Jaw

RISING STAR JAKE MINCH PLAYING VINYL ON WEDNESDAY 8/20!

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 8/13/25

HEADLINE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR KICKS OFF IN AUGUST

“Jake Minch is Your Favorite Songwriter’s Songwriter”—TMRW Magazine

“Love this so muchhhh”—Gigi Perez on “Fingers and Clothes”

“My favorite”—Chelsea Cutler on “Fingers and Clothes”

“best song I’ve heard in a while”—Daniel Seavey on “Fingers and Clothes”

“Soundtrack of my summer I feel”—Billianne on George

“Love this one soooo much”—Ella Jane on “Say Uncle”

“This has been on a loop for so long im so obsessed and scared”—Sadie Jean on “For Leaving”

“Brilliant”—Noah Kahan on “handgun”


George, the highly-anticipated debut album from rising singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Jake Minch is out today via 2for2 projects/Mercury Records—listen HERE.

“George is about my two years in LA and my experience falling victim to my ‘middle-of-the-country-syndrome,’” says Jake. “It’s about being a martyr with nothing to die for and needing to fuck up some great things in order to see that.”

In celebration of his full-length debut, Jake will embark on an extensive run of headline shows this August, with stops at Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right, Los Angeles’ Moroccan Lounge, Chicago’s Schubas Tavern, Toronto’s Velvet Underground, Nashville’s Cannery Hall and more. See below for a complete list of dates and purchase tickets at shop.jakeminch.com.

Recorded and produced between Los Angeles and Connecticut by Jake and Tony Berg (Taylor Swift, Boygenius) with contribution from Mason Stoops (Lizzy McAlpine, Role Model), George finds the 22-year-old storyteller exploring grief, guilt and identity through the complexities in his personal relationships. Titled after Jake’s birth name, George captures the angst and discomfort of growing up and leaving home with a disarming vulnerability that traces the album’s 12 tracks—including previously shared singles “Fingers and Clothes” and “Drawing a Tattoo,” released earlier this summer to critical acclaim.

Born and raised in Connecticut, Jake Minch burst onto the scene in 2023 with his hit single “handgun” racking up 1.3 million views on the song’s initial teaser and earning support from the likes of Noah Kahan, Lizzy McAlpine, Zach Bryan, Gracie Abrams, Fletcher and many more. Over the last few years, the 2for2 projects/Mercury Records artist has garnered a dedicated fanbase through his deeply personal lyrics on love, growing up and grief. Jake has toured the world over, sharing stages with the likes of The Head And The Heart, Jeremy Zucker, Ben Abraham, Holly Humberstone, Grace Enger and Sadie Jean. He’ll set off on an extensive North American headline tour this summer / fall.

GEORGE TRACKLIST
1. Nostalgia Act
2. Drawing a Tattoo
3. Fucked Up
4. Fingers and Clothes
5. Dad’s Song
6. Unicef
7. First I Was
8. Say Uncle
9. Changed Things
10. For Leaving
11. A mistake you only make once
12. Twice

JAKE MINCH LIVE
August 3 /// Constellation Room /// Santa Ana, CA
August 4 /// Moroccan Lounge /// Los Angeles, CA
August 5 /// Cafe Du Nord /// San Francisco, CA
August 7 /// Madame Lou’s /// Seattle, WA
August 9 /// Polaris Hall /// Portland, OR
August 12 /// Lost Lake /// Denver, CO
August 15 /// 7th St Entry /// Minneapolis, MN
August 18 /// Schubas Tavern /// Chicago, IL
August 19 /// Cannery Hall /// Nashville, TN
August 20 /// Vinyl /// Atlanta, GA
August 22 /// Songbyrd /// Washington, D.C.
August 23 /// The Lounge at World Cafe /// Philadelphia, PA
August 25 /// Velvet Underground /// Toronto, ON
August 27 /// The Middle East – Sonia /// Cambridge, MA
August 28 /// Baby’s All Right /// Brooklyn, NY

WAR ON SLEEP CELBRATES DEBUT EP COOL SUMMER WITH RECORD RELEASE SHOW AT SMITH’S OLDE BAR ON JULY 18

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 7/6/25

Atlanta-based indie rock band War On Sleep will celebrate the release of their debut EP Cool Summer with a full-band performance at Smith’s Olde Bar (Atlanta Room) on Thursday, July 18, 2025. The show will feature support from fellow Atlanta artists Warfather and Ole Fateful. Doors open at 7 PM. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.

War On Sleep, the latest project from Eric Michaels (formerly of Paper Thick Walls and SAYERS) and guitarist Jacques Hebert, combines intimate songwriting with textured guitar layers and pedal steel. The Cool Summer EP was produced by multi-instrumentalist and longtime collaborator Ross Harrell, whose subtle, cinematic arrangements help bring the band’s nostalgic vision to life.

Their sound has drawn comparisons to The National, Wilco, and Pedro the Lion, and has already gained critical attention in the indie blog world. MP3hugger praised the band’s recent single “Some Men” as “a lovely statement, put together with a warmth that makes it even more accessible,” noting that “it was as if The National were at the controls and things were never going to get too hot and heavy.”

The Cool Summer EP explores themes of nostalgia, aging, and the quiet beauty in moments we once took for granted. Songs like the title track and “Some Men” reflect on friendships that fade and the struggle to balance art with adulthood. This release show marks the band’s first full live set and will include tracks from the EP and new material from their forthcoming full-length album.

Listen to the Cool Summer EP on Spotify on July 18th here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4l2FIlaqlnZj7SIIxuSclF?si=QQ0jW6asTomjLLpw21ZH1A

Eric Michaels – Lead Singer and Songwriter

Sam Britt – Lead Guitar

Dale Nacke – Drums

Jacques Rene Hebert – Lead Guitar

Bass – Max Heeden

Producer – Ross Harrell

EVENT DETAILS:
War On Sleep EP Release Show
with Warfather and Ole Fateful
Thursday, July 18, 2025
Smith’s Olde Bar – Atlanta Room
Doors at 7 PM | $12 advance / $15 day of show
Tickets: https://www.sobatl.com/events/war-on-sleep-debut-record-release-with-warfather-and-ole-fateful

OYE FEST 2025

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 6/18/25

Lineup Includes: Álvaro Diaz, Alexis y Fido, Snow tha Product, Macario Martinez, pablopablo, and more GA and VIP Tickets Options On Sale Now

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With all the robust energy, excitement, and flavor you’ve come to expect from the cultural movement known as OYE Fest, organizers are excited to announce details for this year’s event, taking place on October 04 in the heart of the city at Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s most well-known pre-game tailgating spot- ‘Lot 432.’ Featuring top-level production across multiple stages, the lineup will showcase a full spectrum of Latinx performers, including local, regional, and emerging talent. Returning to its indie-based urban roots that began in 2018, headliners for OYE Fest 2025 include Puerto Rican rapper Álvaro Diaz; reggaeton duo Alexis y Fido returning to Atlanta for the first time in ten years; Mexican-American singer, rapper, and activist Snow tha Product; street sweeper turned TikTok phenom musician Macario Martinez and Latin GRAMMY-winning sensation pablopablo.  

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By intentionally curating a platform for local and emerging Latinx artists, encouraging community cohesion and cultural pride- De Atlanta Pa’ Atlanta, OYE Fest has further expanded its lineup to reflect this inclusivity, with such artists as Grupo Rye; Calderoky; Uriel U.M.C.; DJ EU; Lilly Yan; Butch Vega; Felicita; B.Bruja; Jui; Dzuan Fresh; Rob Session; Montsy; Lizion; Eduardo Franco; Venez; Maria Ferreira; El Colmillo; El Cézar; Markez; Johnny Juelz; Gente de Noche; Ruthless Geo; DJ Noise, and Julio Van Bustos.  Luis Trevino and Julio Angel will host the one-day event.

Curated by co-founders Randall Ruiz and Margarita Rios, OYE Fest is more than just a music festival, blending music with art, culture, and progressive activism to provide representation and pride for Latinx creatives. Passionate about supporting causes vital to the Latin community, the festival gives immigrant advocacy efforts, such as DACA and organizations like United We Dream, a platform to be heard by a wider audience. It builds environments that are welcoming, inclusive, and safe for all — particularly emphasizing the voices of Afro-Latinx, queer, and women-identifying individuals. Additional details on represented programs, artists, vendors, and food will be announced in the coming weeks.

“OYE Fest creates spaces where Latin culture is celebrated and uplifted — because visibility leads to representation, and representation leads to change,” says Margarita Rios, co-founder of OYE Fest. “Since we began this in 2018, it’s always been more than just a music festival — it’s a cultural movement rooting Latinx identity firmly into Atlanta’s creative and social landscape.”

All ticket options for OYE Fest go on sale Wednesday, June 18 at 12p EST, starting at $65 before fees. General Admission tickets include access to the festival grounds, vendor market, and installations. VIP passes- 21+ include express entry, main stage VIP viewing area with first-come-first-served seating options, VIP bar, and air-conditioned restrooms. For full details and all ticket options, visit www.OYEFest.com. A ticket-carrying adult must accompany guests 16 years or younger, and children under 9 are free. OYE Fest is an All Ages event. 

Visit www.OYEFest.com to sign up and for the most up-to-date information on OYE Fest and all related events. Stay connected on Instagram and TikTok at @OYE.Fest and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OYE.Festival. 

HELMET AT THE MASQUERADE ATLANTA ON SUNDAY MAY 12 WITH GUESTS CRO-MAGS

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 3/19/24

Playing in Hell at the Masquerade

Sunday, March 12 Doors are 7pm, all ages

$27.50 Advance. Tickets here.

Helmet, an American Alternative rock band out of New York join forces with guest Cro-Mags, a hardcore band, for an evening that will blow you away. Maybe literally.

HELMET

Helmet is an American alternative rock band from New York City formed in 1989 by vocalist and lead guitarist Page Hamilton. Since 2010, the band has consisted of Hamilton, drummer Kyle Stevenson, guitarist Dan Beeman and bassist Dave Case.

Helmet has released eight studio albums and two compilation albums. After releasing their debut album, Strap It On (1990), on Amphetamine Reptile, Helmet signed to Interscope Records and released three albums for the label, including the highly successful Meantime (1992), Betty (1994) and Aftertaste (1997). Helmet broke up in 1998, but reformed in 2004, and has since released four more albums ― Size Matters (2004), Monochrome (2006), Seeing Eye Dog (2010) and Dead to the World (2016).

In June 2021 the band released via their website only a limited edition box set entitled “Move On” featuring 4 x 7” singles including the following covers and live tracks:

  • Move on (David Bowie) w/ More Bad News live
  • Mercy (Wire) w/ Rollo live
  • ETI (Blue Oyster Cult) w/ Blacktop live
  • I’m only sleeping (The Beatles) w/ Crisis King live

2023 saw the band return to the studio for it’s ninth album Left which was released by earMusic in November 2023.

CRO-MAGS

“It is 1981 in New York City: a distant planet, hard to see now. Beastie Boys is just being embryonically formed in a rehearsal space somewhere. Elsewhere, Butthole Surfers, Cro-Mags, Motley Crue, Napalm Death, Run- DMC, Sonic Youth, and Wham! are likewise coagulating.”

-Luc Sante “Beastie Revolution” introduction to Beastie Boys Book (2018)

The history of the Cro-Mags is integral to the history of Hardcore, it’s evolution from Punk and the development of alternative music genres such as thrash, cross-over, thrash metal, post punk and grunge to name a few. Numerous iconic bands from Metallica to Green Day, and individuals such as Dave Grohl have credited Cro-Mags with having a primal influence on their development.

The brain child of a very young Harley Flanagan back in 1981 (at the time 14 years old) when still playing with the Stimulators, Flanagan set out to start his own band. By 1982/83 he recorded the very first Cro-Mags demos consisting of 4 songs that would become the blue print for the seminal 1986 “Age of Quarrel.” He wrote all of the music, played each instrument and sang. Before long he was joined by Parris Mayhew and the two started writing music and auditioning band members. 

After several line-ups, 6 album releases (beyond the original demos) and 40 years of tours around the world, Cro-Mags remains one of the most iconic hardcore bands with tremendous reach and influence beyond the genre.  

HIGHBALL ATLANTA

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 11/27/23

On a beautiful autumn weekend in October, Atlanta music lovers descended on the Pullman Yards to be mesmerized and moved by the Futurebirds carefully curated line-up at the first annual Highball Atlanta! Featuring headliners like indie rock gods Band of Horses, indie folk sensations The Head and the Heart, and of course two nights of psychedelic country rockers Futurebirds this was one high energy rock fest!  On top of that, they boasted a local food truck park featuring Grindhouse Burgers and a large “High, There” activation from our friends The Georgia Hemp Co with CBD seltzers to try! Plus, opt for VIP for access to lounge area, separate restrooms, and bar!  


On Saturday, we arrived to get our passes and roamed the grounds, but we so glad to catch a new, American rock band, Wednesday. Out of Asheville and formed in 2017 by lead singer Karly Hartzman, they incorporate great reverb guitars, strong lyrics, all with that rock edge. The last song brought me chills as it was reminiscent of Deftones. Next up was Futurebirds, a band out of Athens, GA that formed at the University of Georgia between King, Womack, Johnson, and Miles. They are a high energy indie rock, psychedelic country mashup band with their first album, Hampton’s Lullaby, in 2010.  

Of the headliners, Friday was Band of Horses. This is a band that John and I listened to a lot when we first got together and when we first bought our home, so they are special to us! Lead by Ben Bridwell, they had a unique sound that no one was really tapping into at the time, an indie, alternative rock for sure but with long, soft, mellow, mesmerizing interludes that followed by classic rock guitar or piano!  We have their first album that came out in 2006, Everything All The Time and fell in love with “The Funeral” and “Is there a Ghost.” The second headliner was The Head and the Heart that performed on Sunday. ️ Lead by singer Josiah Johnson, they’re a lovely, energetic, indie folk band! Out of Seattle, they boast albums like their It’s, the Head and the Heart and most current is Every Shade of Blue. The singer jumped into the pit and engaged the crowd!   

The night before the big two-day festival, Highball threw a pre-party at the Loft in the Center Stage complex with the Jerry Garcia Cover Band out of Athens, GA.  Starting with a VIP band meet and greet and special lounge area, we got to hang out with the band for a while. The music started and the band covered famous Garcia tunes for eager fans. It was a fun night of psychedelic rock. 

We can’t wait to see what next year holds.