ELOQUENTLY BLENDING BIG-PINE FOLK, INDIE-POP, AND SWEET VOCAL HARMONIES, Babes in Canyon crafts music that is eminently engaging and very much of the moment. Born of a spontaneous writing session during a blackout, their debut EP Second Cities unfolds with an easy grace that belies the relative newness of the endeavor. Nuanced, expertly arranged, yet profoundly catchy, Babes in Canyon stands ready to soundtrack your adventures (spontaneous or otherwise). As one of the founding members of the indie-pop band Kuinka, Nathan Hamer honed his skills as a singer-songwriter through years of national headlining tours and festival performances. Yet, Hamer felt a calling to explore a new path.  “I needed an outlet for unfiltered expression.” he explains. “There’s a passion and urgency when writing in my own style of folk that I don’t experience with other music. I wanted to start a project that spoke specifically to that.”    Fate must have been listening, and soon conjured a severe windstorm to strand Hamer and his fiancé Amanda Ebert at a remote cabin near Washington’s Mount Baker. “We lost power and then the trees started to fall. Our only path out was blocked, so we started playing music by firelight to calm our nerves,” laughs Hamer. “I was humming along with my baritone uke. Amanda wrote out lyrics. And by the end of the night, we had our first song for Babes In Canyon.” A brace of songs in hand, the duo enlisted Michelle Nuño (Kuinka, Thunderpussy) to round out the sound on bass and percussion, then headed to Hamer’s farmhouse to be close to nature, converting the bottom floor into a proper recording studio. Joining the band was vaunted producer Jerry Streeter (Brandi Carlile, Darlingside).  “We recorded at night.” explains Hamer, “We’d step out between takes to watch the stars and listen to the owls.”While thematically linked, each song on the record is laced with a strong sense of transition and individuality. “We tried to create a sonic landscape of standing on a mountain just after a storm,” says Hamer, “when the first beams of sunlight start to break through the clouds.” Moody yet bright, Babes in Canyon delivers their own brand of indie-folk that moves to the rhythm of the road.  

The songwriters in question are Hannah and Mookie Morton. The band, LASKA, is the sweet spot between heavy and soft - a gentle bruise on a crisp apple. Their mixture of distorted guitars, delicate vocals, and wailing violin encapsulate the dynamic qualities of life itself. Sometimes their work presents as harmonies and melodies meticulously placing themselves like the careful legs of a balletic spider in awe of its own symmetry. Other times, their work arrives as an overdue outpouring. Starting somewhere in the body - ecstatic as the seed of a pure and wordless truth, then erupting as a cathartic yelp. Bonded by blood, forged in psychic battle, sisters Hannah and Mookie channel their lived experiences into music that glides through genres like a canoe on a quiet lake. LASKA is the sound you hear when you're inside of an indelible memory. They are currently based in Portland, Oregon and are backed by Max Johnson on bass and Kai Nealis on drums. Imagine a dreamlike long hallway with many doors - behind each door is a look into a different corner of your psyche. LASKA’s upcoming full length album, long long hallway (due summer 2025) is not one coherent thread, but celebrates two sides of one hallway, similar to the partnership of two minds drawing their individual experiences in pursuit of artistic expression. Recorded in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and a bedroom closet in Portland, OR long long hallway captures both depth and intimacy. “Not even you can bury yourself / gonna need another pair of hands” the second single, 10 & 2 (out May 15, 2025) is sung to fictional Bella, a well meaning control freak with a perpetual to-do list. The lyrics highlight the neverending need for other people, even after death. In the same way, LASKA intends to emphasize community by letting you know they cry too. 

Born in Berlin, Germany and based in in Portland, Oregon, Presidio builds their sound around ethereal vocal harmonies, explosive dynamics, and hypnotic guitar arrangements. Their first EP, Telepathy, debuted in mid 2020 during the pandemic and garnered over 150,000 streams on Spotify. Since their debut dropped during lockdown, Presidio began playing virtual benefit concerts for organizations based all over the globe including Sofar Sounds, Sound Mind, Stella Artois, Deloitte, Verizon and many others. Now, they’re unleashing their new, electrified live set any and everywhere they can.  The band is currently in the midst of recording their second EP, to be released in 2023.