Courtney Barnett today announces ‘Here And There,’ a boutique touring festival with a rotating line-up featuring many of the most exciting songwriters in music today. This August and September, Barnett will take the one-day, one-stage festival to 15 locations around North America, each city with an extraordinary and unique line-up.
Joining Barnett at various points on the line-up will be Alvvays, Arooj Aftab, Bartees Strange, Bedouine, Caroline Rose, Chicano Batman, Ethel Cain, Faye Webster, Fred Armisen, Hana Vu, Indigo De Souza, Japanese Breakfast, Julia Jacklin, Leith Ross, Lido Pimienta, Lucy Dacus, Men I Trust, Quinn Christopherson, Sleater-Kinney, Snail Mail, The Beths, Waxahatchee, and Wet Leg. A full city-by-city summary can be found below.
Barnett says: “When I was a kid I would make mix-tapes and dream up my own festivals, I’d even design the t-shirts and pair up musicians for iconic collaborations. I’d listen to the mix-tape and pretend it was the live recording of a concert, all my favorite artists on stage together. 10 years ago I wrote this lyric: “I got lost somewhere between here and there, I’m not sure what the town was called”. Whether that was meant to be interpreted as a geographical, emotional or philosophical journey, I thought it was the perfect title for my roaming festival.
This concept was something that remained floating in the back of my mind when I started playing music. Here And There feels like a natural culmination of energy after years of touring, and ten years of working on my label Milk! Records. It’s something I’ve been forever daydreaming about, and part of an always evolving project to share spaces and build new platforms for art and artists that I believe in.
It’s always been important to me to share the stage with people that I admire and artists that inspire me, which is why I’m so excited and grateful to announce this amazing lineup.”
Courtney is thrilled to have The Ally Coalition (TAC) at Here and There. TAC will be partnering with Here And There to provide site-specific programs throughout the tour. Founded in 2013 by Jack Antonoff (Bleachers) and fashion designer Rachel Antonoff, TAC is committed to bettering the lives of LGBTQ youth through tours, campaigns and partnerships, providing support to organizations serving LGBTQ Youth. TAC partners with artists and uses their platforms to raise awareness of the systemic inequalities facing the LGBTQ population and activate prominent members of the creative community and their fan bases to engage with these issues in meaningful and impactful ways. This year, TAC is touring with a range of incredible artists, including Courtney Barnett, Bleachers, Big Thief, Faye Webster, Beach Bunny and Caroline Rose.
Courtney is partnering with Plus1 to donate $1/ticket to TAC and their work supporting LGBTQ Youth across the country.
TOUR DATES:
8/8/2022 – Kansas City, MO – Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland
Lucy Dacus released Home Video via Matador last year, solidifying her place as one of music’s best storytellers, with a remarkable showing on year-end lists. After a series of flyers appeared in several US cities last week with tear-off tabs for a “Kissing Lessons” hotline, a stream of callers to the number then reported being able to hear a new song by Dacus. No longer requiring a phone, “Kissing Lessons” is now available as a single for all to hear. It is accompanied by a video directed by Mara Palena. Complete with hand-drawn hearts and Polaroids, “Kissing Lessons” is another gem mined from Dacus’ childhood in Richmond, Virginia.
Next week, Dacus kicks off a US tour where she will play many cities not yet visited in support of Home Video, and a few rescheduled shows from the fall. Additionally, after selling out three Brooklyn Steels last year, Dacus announces a headline performance at New York City’s SummerStage in Central Park on Thursday, July 21st. Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 4th at 12pm Eastern.
Home Video Tour
Wed. Feb. 09 – Pitts, PA @ Stage AE *
Thu. Feb. 10 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic *
Fri. Feb. 11 – Newport, KY @ Ovation *
Sat. Feb. 12 – Indy, IN @ Egyptian Room *
Mon. Feb. 14 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Ballroom Valentine’s Day *
Tue. Feb. 15 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall (Rescheduled Date) * – SOLD OUT
Thu. Feb. 17 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave (Rescheduled Date) * – SOLD OUT
Fri. Feb. 18 – Iowa City, IA @ Englert Theatre (Rescheduled Date) * – SOLD OUT
Sat. Feb. 19 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty *
Sun. Feb. 20 – OK City, OK @ Tower Theatre *
Wed. Feb. 23 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre *
Thu. Feb. 24 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel *
Fri. Feb. 25 – C-Ville, VA @ Jefferson * – SOLD OUT
Sat. Feb. 26 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony * – SOLD OUT
Mon. Feb. 28 – Ithaca, NY @ Hangar Theatre
Tue. Mar. 01 – Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts
Thu. Mar. 03 – Providence, RI @ The Strand
Sat. Mar. 05 – Baltimore, MD @ Ram’s Head
Fri. Mar. 18, 2022 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club ^ – SOLD OUT
Sat. Mar. 19, 2022 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club ^ – SOLD OUT
Sun. Mar. 20, 2022 – Glasgow, UK @ St. Lukes ^ – SOLD OUT
Mon. Mar. 21, 2022 – Dublin, IE @ Olympia Theatre ^
Wed. Mar. 23, 2022 – Manchester, UK @ Gorilla – SOLD OUT
Thu. Mar. 24, 2022 – Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory ^
Fri. Mar. 25, 2022 – London, UK @ Kentish Town Forum
Sat. Mar. 26 – London, UK @ Rough Trade – In-Store Performance
Sun. Mar. 27 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 ^
Tue. Mar. 29, 2022 – Brussels, BL @ Rotonde ^ – SOLD OUT
Best of 2021 – Last year we missed doing our annual “Best Of.” This year we present it after a year of quarantine albums galore. Tours didn’t start until May but new music was flowing from the start of 2021. 2022 is already aiming to be a busy year. Here are our choices for the Best of 2021.
We’ve evolved from Phoebe Bridgers, Megan Thee Stallion and others of last year to a new crop of artists.
Best Label – Fire Talk Records – Home to Bnny, Mamalarky, Packs and more this boutique label is setting up to be the next Saddle Creek Records.
Secretly Group @secretlygroup, Saddle Creek Records @saddlecreek, Fire Talk Records @firetalkrecs, Don Giovanni Records @DonGiovanniRecs
Nest New Artist – “New” is always relative. Georgia Maq has been part of Camp Cope, and Isabella Manfredi was part of The Preatures. Our winner is Ashe who album Ashlyn was hard to put down this year.
Georgia Maq @goldsoundz_, Allison Russell @allisonrussellmusic, S.G. Goodman @s.g.goodman, Ashe @ashemusic, Jillette Johnson @jillettejohnson, Hawxx @hawxxmusic, Noa Kirel @noakirel, Kill Birds @killbirdsmusic, Killboy @killboy , Sloppy Jane @sloppyjanebandd , Ydegirl @ydegirl, The Linda Lindas @the_linda_lindas, Allison Ponthier @allisonponthier, Isabella Manfredi @isabellamanfredi, Pom Pom Squad @pompomsquad
Best Local (Colorado) Artist – Local artists can often be touring or even national acts. This category was very competitive with the amount of quarantine albums that came out. Our winner is Companion who mesmerized us in the Spring. They will quickly become a national act.
Best Dance – Dance is also electronic and electro pop. Magdalena Bay & Sofi Tukker are the 800 lb gorillas in this category. Kito is our winner for surprising collaborations.
Magdalena Bay @magdalenabay, Sofi Tukker @sofitukker, Kito @kito
Best Pop – Pop like Indie is often open to interpretation. It is often what dominates at venues. Our winner is Charlotte Cardin whose Phoenix album was one of the best albums this year.
Hana Vu @hanavuuu, Lucy Dacus @lucydacus, Japanese Breakfast @jbrekkie, Baby Queen @queenofthebabies, Charlotte Cardin @charlottecardin, Jess Chalker @jess_chalker_, May-A @mayacumming, Ashe @ashemusic, Girl In Red @girlinred, Angèle @angele_vl, Sloppy Jane @sloppyjanebandd, Nadia Vaeh @nadiavaeh, Olivia Rox @oliviarox, Number One Popstar @numberonepopstar, Bahari @bahari, Noga Erez @nogaerez, Lola Lennox @lolalennex
Best Rock – Rock is often the guitar driven beat that keeps you going. Kill Birds, who have been touring with Foo Fighters are our winner.
Royal and the Serpent @royalandtheserpent, Amyl and the Sniffers @amylandthesniffers, Mattiel @mattielworldwide , Upsahl @upsahlmusicl, Self Esteem @selfesteemselfesteem, Kill Birds @killbirdsmusic, Nadia Sheikh @nadiasheikhmusic, Red Hook @weareredhook, Pom Pom Squad @pompomsquad
Best Indie – Indie always means both a sound but also a level of development. These are the artists at the small venues touring to survive. We have a diverse selection this year. Bnny is our winner.
Best Experimental – There is always a “flinch” moment when you saw experimental. It involves a great deal of risk as personified by our winner Fifi Rong who is working on her dual album set with one album all in English, and one all in Chinese. She is crowdfunding now.
Insect Ark @insectark, Fifi Rong @fifirong, Sasami @sasamiashworth, Irreversible Entanglements @irreversibleentanglements, Haru Nemuri @haru_nemuri
Best Hip Hop – This is the first year that FEMMUSIC has this category. There may be some arguments as to whether all these artists fit it. Coi Leray is the best newcomer in this area. Ray BLK is our winner.
Bia @bia, Tones and I @tonesandi, Doja Cat @dojacat, Sza @sza, Cardi B @iamcardib, Megan Thee Stallion @theestallion, Coi Leray @coileray, Ms Banks @msbanks, Ray BLK @rayblk, Remi Wolf @remiwolf, Tinashe @tinashenow
Best Jazz – We will admit to not hearing as much jazz this year. Laufey is the winner with original interpretations of classics.
Laufey @laufey, Nnenna Freelon @officialnnenna
Best Country – Brandi Carlile is a favorite in this category and will take home more GRAMMYs. Allison Russell wins for being new and original.
Brandi Carlile @brandicarlile, Allison Russell @allisonrussellmusic, Yola @iamyolaofficial, CMAT @cmatbaby, Jackson & Sellers @jacksonsellersmusic, Ingrid Andress @ingridandress
Best Heavy Metal – Infected Rain is a former winner in this category. Jinjer, Halestorm & The Pretty Reckless dominate. The Velveteers are this year’s winner.
Hawxx @hawxxmusic, Edge of Paradise @edgeofparadise, Jinjer @jinjer_official, The Velveteers @thevelveteers, Infected Rain @infectedrain_official, The Pretty Reckless @theprettyreckless, Halestorm @halestormrocks
Best R & B – This category includes powerhouses like Arlo Parks and Dawn Richard. Alewya is our winner for new and original music this year.
Muni Long @munilong, India Shawn @indiashawn, Dawn Richard @dawnrichard, Alewya @alewya11, Arlo Parks @arloparks, Tkay Maidza @tkaymaidza, Danielia Cotton @danieliacotton, Saleka @saleka
Best Surprise – A “surprise” for us is that unexpected performance when it was not expected. It includes some risky performances such as LVXURI and Big Klit. S.G. Goodman is our hands down winner. We caught her as an opener and she garnered as much reaction as the headliner. She is a blunt, and emotive songwriter.
S.G. Goodman @s.g.goodman, Kiesza @kiesza, LVXURI @mx_lvxuri, Big Klit @klitoriusmaximus
Best Comeback – This has been a surprisingly competitive category. Whether it’s the return of ABBA after a long time to Adele’s new album. The big surprise this month is Taylor Swift taking the world with the longest song. She is our winner.
Kylie Minogue @kylieminogue, Avril Lavigne @avrillavigne, Deborah Gibson @debbiegibson, Liz Phair @LizPhairOfficial, Taylor Swift @taylorswift , ABBA @ABBA, Adele @adele, Lorde @lorde
Bachelor—the collaborative project of Palehound’s Ellen Kempner and Jay Som’s Melina Duterte—release their highly-anticipated debut album, Doomin’ Sun, via Polyvinyl Record Co., Lucky Number and Milk! Records today! With an ominous eye to extreme fandom, the duo has also released their new “Back Of My Hand” video, directed by Ellen Kempner.
The band shares: “For the “Back Of My Hand” video, we wanted more than anything to make something fun given the limited time and options available due to the current pandemic. Ultimately deciding to put Ellen in the director’s chair as well as film at her home with a skeleton crew. Our final single is about the dark side of fandom and we wanted to exaggerate that as much as possible in our video concept. When it came to choosing an artist to obsess over we quickly chose Harry Styles as we both are truly big fans!”
To celebrate the album release they have also announced Doomin’ Sun Fest, a massive, free/donation-based livestream festival + telethon to benefit and uplift Seeding Sovereignty. The festival will take place on June 10 starting at 6pm ET., and features the likes of Tegan & Sara, Courtney Barnett, Benjamin Gibbard, Sylvan Esso, Adrianne Lenker (Big Thief), Jeff Tweedy, Japanese Breakfast, Julien Baker, Tank And The Bangas and more.
Bachelor—the collaborative project of Jay Som’s Melina Duterte and Palehound’s Ellen Kempner—will release its debut album Doomin’ Sun on May 28th via Polyvinyl Record Co. (North America), Lucky Number (ROW) and Milk! Records (AUS/NZ). To celebrate the album release they have also announced Doomin’ Sun Fest, a massive livestream festival / telethon to benefit and uplift Seeding Sovereignty. The festival will take place on June 10 starting at 6pm ET., and will be followed by a virtual afterparty inside the 3D social game Hotel Hideaway.
Created as a chance to gather for “Community, Compassion, Climate, and Celebration,” Doomin’ Sun Fest will be FREE to attend, but donations to Seeding Sovereignty will be highly encouraged. The organization is an Indigenous-led collective working to radicalize and disrupt colonized spaces through land, body, and food sovereignty work, community building, and cultural preservation.
Melina & Ellen will live-host Doomin’ Sun Fest, which will culminate in the first ever Bachelor concert, shot and directed by Haoyan Of America with designer Richie Brown, powered by HIFI Labs. “Basically we just wanna have fun celebrating our album release, raise funds for Seeding Sovereignty, and get people excited about donating and opening their hearts to themes of the fest – the “4 C’s” as we call them – that are driving this endeavor,” note Ellen and Melina.
Featuring:
Adeline
Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief
Alexis from Sleigh Bells w/ Young Women Who Crush
Alynda Segarra (Hurray For The Riff Raff)
Andy Shauf
Anjimile
Bartees Strange
Beach Bunny
Becca Mancari
Benjamin Gibbard
Black Belt Eagle Scout
Boy Scouts
Brijean
Christelle Bofale
Claud
Courtney Barnett
Faye Webster
Fime
Frankie Cosmos
Hand Habits
Japanese Breakfast
Jeff Rosenstock
Jeff Tweedy
Jessi Frick of Father Daughter Records
Jose James + Taali
Julia Jacklin
Julien Baker
Kero Kero Bonito
KR from Decolonize UnConference
Lala Lala
Long Beard
Lucy Dacus
Luna Li
Madeline Kenney
Madison McFerrin
Mannequin Pussy
Manu Grace
MICHELLE
Miloe
Pendant
Quinn Christopherson
Rozzi
Sasami
Sen Morimoto
Shamir
Soccer Mommy
Soft Glas
Sylvan Esso
Tagalikha
Tank & the Bangas
Tasha
Tegan and Sara
Thao
Tune-Yards
Vagabon
Bachelor—the collaborative project of Jay Som’s Melina Duterte and Palehound’s Ellen Kempner—will release its debut album Doomin’ Sun on May 28th via Polyvinyl Record Co., and today the duo share another single off of the record. Of the country-inflected “Sick of Spiraling” the band says “Sick of Spiraling is one of the last songs we wrote and recorded together in Topanga. Both of us initially tried to play drums on the song but the groove wasn’t right so we enlisted help from James Krivchenia. He came over for a day and drummed on a few songs on the record, he really brought this song to life with his unique style. Ellen had the riff in her voice memos for a while, and had originally imagined it as a slow kinda melancholic song. Once we got together and listened back to the riff we heard it a whole new way as an upbeat driving song. After that Ellen wrote lyrics inspired by driving on tour and the rush and anxiety of being completely untethered and unprotected on the open road.”
Written and recorded in Topanga, CA over the course of two weeks in January of 2020, pre-pandemic, Doomin’ Sun is a record steeped in friendship. Kempner and Duterte hybridized their individual songwriting talents, producing a collection that slips between moods with ease and showcases their lyrical prowess. While the album features collaborations with the likes of Big Thief’s Buck Meek and James Krivchenia, as well as Duterte’s partner and Routine-counterpart Annie Truscott of Chastity Belt, the record was largely made by the two musicians in isolation as a fitting precursor to the forthcoming year. Creating the space to explore significant themes from queerness to climate change, the collection also finds Bachelor experiencing pure, unadulterated joy: the kind of joy that can only come from creating, laughing, and having a ridiculous amount of fun with a close friend.
Bachelor will be touring this summer opening for Lucy Dacus.
Lucy Dacus announces her 3rd album Home Video out June 25 on Matador. It follows No Burden & Historian. Home Video was built on Dacus’ interrogation of her coming-of-age years in Richmond, Virginia. Many of the songs start the way a memoir might, and all of them have the compassion, humor, and honesty of the best autobiographical writing. These songs capture that specific moment in time growing up where emotions and relationships start becoming more complex. They capture the joys, the excitement, the confusion, and even the heartbreak of going through the process of discovering who you are and where people fit in your life and where you fit in theirs. Most importantly and mysteriously, this album displays Dacus’s ability to use the personal as portal into the universal.
Home Video Tracklist
Hot & Heavy
Christine
First Time
VBS
Cartwheel
Thumbs
Going Going Gone
Partner In Crime
Brando
Please Stay
Triple Dog Dare
The lead single for Home Video is “Hot & Heavy.”
“I thought I was writing ‘Hot & Heavy’ about an old friend, but I realized along the way that it was just about me outgrowing past versions of myself,” explains Dacus. “So much of life is submitting to change and saying goodbye even if you don’t want to. Now whenever I go to places that used to be significant to me, it feels like trespassing the past. I know that the teen version of me wouldn’t approve of me now, and that’s embarrassing and a little bit heartbreaking, even if I know intellectually that I like my life and who I am.”
The accompanying, self-directed video was shot in the historic Byrd Theatre in Richmond where Dacus often saw movies during her adolescent years.
“I knew I wanted to include some of the home video footage that my dad took of me while I was growing up. I wanted to visualize the moment when you first reflect on your childhood, which I think can also be the moment that childhood is over. For me, I feel like there was a hard switch when I started releasing music, when my identity went from being a personal project to something publicly observed and reflected. I asked my family (shoutout to my grandma) and some of my closest friends to be extras because they’re the people that knew me before that switch. I may have dropped out of film school, but I still love making movies and had a really fun time directing this one.”
Lucy Dacus will be touring beginning in September.
Julien Baker is releasing her 3rd studio album Little Oblivions in February. Today she has the first single “Faith Healer.”
She says, “Put most simply, I think that ‘Faith Healer’ is a song about vices, both the obvious and the more insidious ways that they show up in the human experience. I started writing this song 2 years ago and it began as a very literal examination of addiction. For awhile, I only had the first verse, which is just a really candid confrontation of the cognitive dissonance a person who struggles with substance abuse can feel– the overwhelming evidence that this substance is harming you, and the counterintuitive but very real craving for the relief it provides. When I revisited the song I started thinking about the parallels between the escapism of substance abuse and the other various means of escapism that had occupied a similar, if less easily identifiable, space in my psyche.
“There are so many channels and behaviors that we use to placate discomfort unhealthily which exist outside the formal definition of addiction. I (and so many other people) are willing to believe whomever– a political pundit, a preacher, a drug dealer, an energy healer– when they promise healing, and how that willingness, however genuine, might actually impede healing.”
Phoebe Bridgers at The Ogden Theatre
Denver, CO
November 19, 2018
Photos by Veronica Lee
https://www.ogdentheatre.com/
https://www.phoebefuckingbridgers.com/
Boygenius at The Ogden Theatre
Denver, CO
November 19, 2018
Photos by Veronica Lee
https://www.ogdentheatre.com/
https://www.facebook.com/boygeniustrio/
Civil Engineer at Lost Lake – Denver, CO – July 18, 2017
Photos by Charles Powell
http://www.lost-lake.com/
https://www.facebook.com/civilengineermusic/
Spin Magazine