Tag Archive for: the earl

WIDOWSPEAK AT THE EARL ON JUNE 23RD

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 6/14/26

WIDOWSPEAK

SHARE NEW SINGLE & VIDEO “SOFT COVER”

NEW ALBUM ROSES OUT JUNE 5TH 

VIA CAPTURED TRACKS

US HEADLINE TOUR THIS SUMMER + 

UK/EU TOUR THIS WINTER

Coming to Atlanta on June 23rd at the Earl

NYC duo Widowspeak have shared “Soft Cover,” the third single from their highly anticipated new album Roses, due out June 5th via Captured Tracks. The track is achingly gorgeous, featuring one of the album’s most sweeping hooks, buoyed by a driving rhythm section and vocalist Molly Hamilton’s saccharine voice. 

“Soft Cover” is about infatuation: wanting and daydreaming about someone as you’re going about your day… even if, and maybe especially if, you’ve been with them a long time,” says Hamilton. “We brought in a Rhodes for this one, so it came in a car from Athens, then took a boat, then a donkey carried it up to the studio,” Hamilton adds, describing the unique recording conditions they experienced at the Old Carpet Factory on the Greek island Hydra.

The longtime duo of Hamilton and Robert Earl Thomas, Roses arrives as Widowspeak’s seventh album. One of many bands to crop up in a fertile New York City music scene over 16 years ago, they started out shuffling gear between venues now-since shuttered (Glasslands, Cake Shop, 285 Kent, Death By Audio to name a few) and their practice space in Monster Island Basement (now a Trader Joe’s). Widowspeak is now a married couple, working day jobs in their own off-season. Robert is a carpenter, Molly a waitress. Roses is populated not with dramatic overtures but with the backdrop of the minutiae and repetition of daily acts.  Small observations before, during, and after work: the ritual of pouring water for customers, catching a cold on your day off.  Daydreaming about winning the lottery, or maybe realizing you already won.

They recorded the album last January at a studio on the Greek island Hydra, tucked away in an old house upon the village’s steep hills.  It’s quiet there in winter, when the tourists have all gone home. Longtime touring members Willy Muse, John Andrews, and Noah Bond serve here as the players.  Roses was then taken home and slowly, lightly tinkered with, before being deftly mixed by Alex Farrar at Drop of Sun Studios, and mastered by Greg Obis at Chicago Mastering. 

“The video is the last in the world of the trilogy, where the Singing Telegram Girl is dreaming about an idealized Renaissance Faire Guy while waiting around, reading a pulpy novel,” shares Hamilton. “Rob was incredibly enthusiastic about this one because he loves medieval history and we got to pick out some fun costumes from Adele’s of Hollywood.  He’s a star!”

W

The band announced Roses with lead single “If You Change,” a song that captures everything that’s made the long-running group a staying force, from its breezy guitars to the impossibly rich chorus, there’s a timeless quality imbued with the twang of a Lynchian roadhouse band. The single was praised by Stereogum, Consequence, Brooklyn Vegan, Rolling Stone, Under the Radar + more.  Recently they shared “No Driver,” a lush and widescreen pop gem complete with a blistering guitar lead that feels like an instant classic.

The band recently announced a run of US tour dates this Summer, kicking off in their hometown of New York and crossing the country, concluding on the West Coast. This winter they’ll embark on a run of UK & EU dates kicking off in November and taking them through mid-December. 

Tour Dates

Tickets

June 16th – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

June 18th – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s

June 19th – Washington DC @ DC9

June 20th – Mount Solon, VA @ Red Wing Roots Festival

June 22nd – Raleigh, NC @ Pour House

June 23rd – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl

June 24th – Nashville, TN @ Third Man Blue Room

June 26th – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry

June 27th – Milwaukee, WI @ The Argo

June 28th – Chicago, IL @ Schubas

June 30th – Ferndale, MI @ Magic Bag

July 1st – Toronto, ON @ Sound Garage

July 2nd – Montreal, QC @ L’Esco

July 3rd – Boston, MA @ Arts at the Armory

July 30th – Seattle, WA @ Barboza

July 31st – Aug 2nd – Happy Valley, OR @ Pickathon (Festival)

Aug 4th – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill

Aug 7th – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room

Aug 8th – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room

Aug 9th – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar

Aug 11th – Santa Fe, NM @ Tumbleroot Brewery

Aug 12th – Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive

Aug 14th – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge (Psych Lake City Festival)

Aug 15th – Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club

Aug 16th – Spokane, WA @ The District

Nov 12th – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club

Nov 13th – Dublin, IE @ Workmans Club

Nov 15th – Glasgow, UK @ The Rum Shack

Nov 16th – Manchester, UK @ YES (Pink Room)

Nov 17th – London, UK @ Scala

Nov 18th – Lille, FR @ La Bulle

Nov 19th – Paris, FR @ LePopUp!

Nov 22nd – Milan, IT @ Arci Bellezza

Nov 23rd – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F

Nov 24th – Munich, DE @ Milla

Nov 25th – Salzburg, AT @ Rockhouse

Nov 27th – Prague, CZ @ Café V Lese

Nov 29th – Warsaw, PL @ Chmury

Dec 1st – Berlin, DE @ Frannz Club

Dec 2nd – Hamburg, DE @ Hebebuhne

Dec 3rd – Malmö, SE @ Plan B

Dec 4th – Gothenburg, SE @ Pustervik

Dec 5th – Stockholm, SE @ Hus 7

Dec 6th – Oslo, NO @ John Dee

Dec 7th – Copenhagen, DK @ Rust

Dec 9th – Utrecht, NL @ DB’s

Dec 10th – Kortrijk, BE @ Wilde Westen

Dec 11th – Hasselt, BE @ AFF

Dec 13th – Tilburg, NL @ Hall of Fame

Across the ten tracks that make up Roses, intimate spaces and stages of love are captured with a nostalgic, vaseline-coated lens. If music can simultaneously be naturalistic and noir, saturated and lush, that is Widowspeak.  This is a band that knows how to set a scene. 

There’s dream and power pop, a little Stones, maybe some Petty, open and languid ballads with the twang of a Lynchian roadhouse band… Perhaps you hear REM, Yo La Tengo or Cat Power. A little Neil Young in Hamilton’s references to working at the diner.  The magic of the band is, still and always, the interplay between Molly and Robert in their two leading roles: her languid, textured voice and his visceral guitar playing. And as producer, Robert captures the ephemeral magic of a band finding a song in the studio: something that still bears traces of the directness of Molly’s voice memos and the dense guitar tapestries of the demos. The rough-hewn marks of the tools are still evident, the noise kept in.  

“Can’t hold too tight or I’ll have nothing, Like a candy melts in your hand.” As the album closer  “Hourglass” contemplates the fleeting nature of something, anything, it illustrates what is most true about Widowspeak.   At the heart of it, their music is special because it is real: most of all for the people making it. Fragile and temporary, and worthwhile… like love itself. 

KING TUFF ON TOUR PLAYING ATLANTA AT THE EARL – APRIL 22ND

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 3/27/26

Photo: Wyndham Garnett

King Tuff, the moniker of Burlington, Vermont artist  Kyle Thomas, recently announced his sixth full-length album, MOO, out March 27 via his new label MUP Records via Thirty Tigers. To celebrate the album’s release, King Tuff will embark on a headline tour, stopping at The EARL in Atlanta, GA on 4/22.

Following the release of 2023’s Smalltown Stardust, King Tuff found himself a bit lost. He had felt lost since 2016. Both Smalltown Stardust and 2018’s The Other had been departures from his sound, and while they were both new sonic places that he needed to explore, neither album felt all that fun to perform live. Every show he would just be looking forward to playing his older, wilder material. So when he decided to make a new record, it only seemed right to go back to what has always brought him the most joy, Rock & Roll music.

A few months before starting MOO, Thomas fell in love. So, MOO is mostly love songs, with the exception of a song about rodents and a song about getting an oil change. But those are actually love songs too. MOO is a full circle moment. A return to form. A return to rock. A return to Vermont. A return to himself. Reconnecting the dots. Restarting the engine. Plugging in the stack. Finally letting King Tuff be King. F*cking. Tuff.

King Tuff will be playing a record release show at Rough Trade in Brooklyn, NY this Friday, March 27 and the tour in support of MOO kicks off April 15th in Troy, NY. Tickets are available now via kingtuffworld.net

Tour Dates:

April 15 – Troy, NY @ No Fun

April 16 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg *

April 17 – Kingston, NY @ Tubby’s *

April 18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie *

April 19 – Washington, DC @ Songbyrd Music House *

April 21 – Raleigh, NC @ Kings *

April 22 – Atlanta, GA @ The EARL *

April 24 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa *

April 25 – Houston, TX @ Moon Tower Inn *

April 26 – Austin, TX @  29th Street Ballroom *

April 29 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah *

April 30 – Los Angeles, CA @ Sid The Cat Auditorium *

May 1 – Ojai, CA @ Ojai Women’s Center *

May 2 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel #

May 4 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza #

May 5 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios #

May 7 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge #

May 9 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall #

May 11 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Total Drag

May 12 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club

May 13 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall ^

May 15 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme ^

May 16 – Toronto ON @ Sound Garage ^

May 17 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB ^

May 19 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground ^

May 20 – Portland, ME @ SPACE ^

May 21 – Hamden, CT – Space Ballroom ^

May 22- Boston, MA @ Middle East Upstairs ^

May 23 – Brattleboro, VT @ Stone Church ^

With support from

* Morgan Nagler

# Gabriel Bernini

^ Mod Lang

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