Summer camp is to kids what Vegas is to adults: what happens there (between the canoeing and the s’mores), stays there. Sort of. Campfire-building skills and lifelong friends — those things you take with you. Try-on personas, a penchant for popsicle-stick crafts and first kisses — those things remain in the camp vault. Summer camp […]

While most bands are looking to upsize, working from small stages to full-on arenas, Baltimore, Md.-based Peals is taking a smaller-is-better approach. “We recently played a tea room in Philadelphia,” says guitarist William Cashion. “It was the smallest venue I’ve ever played. I could reach my arm out and touch somebody. But it ended up […]

“I don’t think this is our breakout record,” says Tay Strathairn, keyboardist for Americana/rock band Dawes. He’s talking about the group’s recent release, Stories Don’t End. The record is Dawes’ third, but it was their last album, Nothing Is Wrong, that pushed the band into the national spotlight with critical acclaim, exhaustive touring, radio play […]

The Jonathan Scales Fourchestra has hit its stride — as a trio. But the discrepency of the name works itself out in the local steel pan-fusion band’s favor, says Scales. “We’re already a strange collective, so it’s just one more little thing that makes it even stranger.”  He adds that the Fourchestra name is a […]

“I feel like I have a rock ‘n’ roll heart, but it comes out as country,” says Salley Williamson, bassist of local Americana trio Underhill Rose. Songs on the band’s new album, Something Real, are true to the group’s roots music foundation, while also subtly drawing on each of the three musicians’ backgrounds. Vocalist and […]

It’s hard to talk about Melissa James Gibson’s This, mainly because the title is tricky, and the subject matter is prickly. Not that the play doesn’t deserve buzz — reviews use words like “tart” and phrases such as “melancholy comedy” and “quirky cult appeal.” There’s emotional depth and sparkling dialogue. “There’s one scene in particular […]