Location: Kingston NY

Over the last half decade, the music collective Constant Smiles has produced a prolific output of acclaimed music, culminating in their forthcoming record Kenneth Anger, masterfully brought to life by engineer Jonathan Schenke (Parquet Courts, Liars, Dougie Pool). The group is known most recently for their much-praised debut album for Sacred Bones records, Paragons, an emotionally resonant offering of indie folk masterpieces that all confront the internal ways we process our struggles with intimacies, addiction and humanity – produced by Ben Greenberg.

Constant Smiles, led by Ben Jones, began in 2009 on his home of Martha’s Vineyard, inspired by the music scene centered around the island’s now defunct community record store, Aboveground Records. They made their live debut as a noise duo opening for Ralph White (Bad Livers) and, working in series, began churning out homemade releases influenced by friends, art film icons, and fellow musicians.

In the time since, Constant Smiles have amassed a discography a couple dozen releases deep, containing contributions from more than 50 members of its extended family. Along the way, the group has shared stages with Molly Nilsson, Black Marble, Oneida, Editrix, Frank Hurricane, Olden Yolk, and Purple Pilgrims; their shows are endlessly unique experiences for which Jones has a tendency of writing whole set’s worth of new material.

https://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/collections/constant-smiles

https://constantsmiles.bandcamp.com/album/kenneth-anger

SCL delivers songs of Fire Despair and Corruption with a mighty and revelatory feel to their music. Their high energy shows is led by the drive of Billera’s unique vocals and alter ego ” The Clayman” who – while painted in make up from waist to head – paces the stage blowing fire to the sonic tapestries created by the band.

https://spincyclelava.bandcamp.com/

Since childhood the Kondrat Sisters, Ella and Katy Kondrat, have captivated audiences with their whimsical repertoire, ranging from a cappella Appalachian ballads to lesser known jazz and Eastern European folk tunes. With playful arrangements and harmonic synchrony that only sisters can embody, their soulful voices coupled with Ella’s ethereal guitar playing evoke an understated joy.

Made up of founder Peat Rains on 8-string bass and Tara Hanish on cello, and featuring Danny Sher on glockenspiels and drums, YBR? provides scoring work for independent film and television and has toured over 80 cities and 5 countries.

Equally suited for events where elite society mingles at an eclectic art opening, or for a late night jam session at an underground speakeasy, You Bred Raptors? is the rare act who can blend artfully into the background at the most luxe affair, or have the crowd whipped into a frenzy at the grittiest dive bar.

The band has held residencies across the NYC boroughs, and has sold out the Gramercy Theater, Bowery Ballroom, and Music Hall of Williamsburg, and they have spoken and performed at an official TED Talk. Their endorsements range from custom instruments and strings to pedal companies and clothing lines.

www.YouBredRaptors.com

www.youbredraptors.bandcamp.com

This eccentric jazz quintet takes the very best in classic jazz, pop, and originals, and twists and bends them into what they call ‘jazz unstandards’. In this ‘5 piece virtuosi’, nothing is sacred…..improv is rampant…lyrics are changed at will…notes and chords are bent and perverted…familiar languages are obliterated….harmonies are sweet and sour perfection……tunes are put through a fun house mirror, and yet, serious, sophisticated and uncompromising in execution. The union is one in-tune, out-of-tune, offbeat outfit.

studiostu.com

Pamela Laws was born in Texas, raised in California, and writes and makes records in New York.
She recorded THE ONES I LOVE, her most recent studio album, in Red Hook, New York at Milan Hill Studios.
Its’ origins can be traced to the total lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic but listening you’ll hear the coming out, the freer, deeper breaths of fresh air we have all begun living in 2023.

“Though I live in New York and write and record in the Hudson Valley, my family tree is rooted and with many branches in the part of Texas between San Antonio and Corpus Christie. The life and love in county seats, leased farmland, drought, and floods are where I am from. Though my mom and dad wrapped me in a blanket and drove out West before I could walk, it is their life and stories of surviving the downs and ups of South Texas that informs my songwriting the most.”

THE ONES I LOVE is Pamela’s first collection of songs that truly embraces (and celebrates) the people and places – all the humanity and love and joy and fear – she comes from. Pamela made two albums with Reprise/Warner Brothers as the lead singer and songwriter of a band called Seven Day Diary. She worked with Joe Cicarrelli and Gil Norton on two albums for WB before setting off on her own to make solo albums. THE ONES I LOVE is Pamela’s fourth studio album and features her most powerful collaboration to date – producer and co-writer Jack Petruzzelli, co-writer Adam Bernstein, and recording and mixing engineer, Justin Guip. With special guest artists, Larry Campbell, Cindy Cashdollar and musicians Rich Pagano (drums), Adam Bernstein (bass), Jon Graboff (lap steel), and Shawn Pelton (drums), THE ONE I LOVE breathes deep and propels us all forward on the real-life stories of Pamela’s past.

pamelalaws.com

Born in a small country town in New England and into a musical family, Grammy-nominated songwriter Reed Foehl writes stories of the human condition with a lyric and voice which push boundaries while paying homage to tradition. Dusty and patient, his music is genuine Folk/Americana.

www.reedfoehlmusic.com

https://www.youtube.com/@ReedFoehl

Lulu Lewis is created by Dylan Hundley (Metropolitan) & Pablo Martin (Tom Tom Club, The Du-Rites). Their latest LP ,Dyscopia, was named #1 album of 2022 by WFMU / Evan “Funk” Davies”. Lulu Lewis has established themselves as one of New York’s most prolific and versatile underground rock bands over the past few years, whether collaborating with artists like Brendan Canty of Fugazi, Sergio Rotman of Los Fabulosos Cadillacs or sharing the stage with musicians like Lenny Kaye, Shilpa Ray, Gene Loves Jezebel and Richard Lloyd. The band was the subject of a short documentary from Condé Nast, while their debut EP earned them praise “Think Siouxsie, but also Dinah Cancer, a distinction made to underscore an affinity with punk’s pre-hardcore days, when the form was far less rigidly defined.” (The Vinyl District), while their art house-style videos have been called “a force to be reckoned with, wielding a progressive spirit of artistry and passion” (Atwood Magazine). They are joined live by William Harvey (Urban Verbs), Jay Mumford (J- Zone, The Du-Rites), and Bruce Martin (Tom Tom Club).

https://www.lululewismusic.com/

Juma Sultan was catapulted into worldwide notoriety when he closed the Woodstock festival with Jimi Hendrix, which was the beginning of a deep collaboration between the two artists, resulting in Juma’s appearance on numerous posthumous Hendrix releases. However, Juma’s cultural significance is more relevant in the context of the avant garde jazz movement in New York City during the ‘60’s and 70’s that has come to be known as the Loft Jazz Era.
Currently, he resides in Kingston, NY. His band, the Aboriginal Music Society, has been re-established as an active project, playing Juma’s original compositions, jazz standards, and other covers, in ensembles ranging from trio to ten-piece, in an improvisational style that is best described by the moniker “World-Beat Garage Jazz”.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRqt5uI56m0M0makui1S_Ag

Ranging from Motown inspired heartbreak pop to modern and cerebral indie rock, Ciarra Fragale creates a distinct sonic world that allows her to display what makes her artistry so special. Her newest EP Long Time Listener is “atmospheric and aspirational, precisely the sort of emotive sensibility we are collectively yearning for as we emerge into a new year.”

https://www.ciarrafragale.com

https://ciarrafragale.bandcamp.com