Dougie Poole is a musician and songwriter living in Los Angeles. Coming of age in Providence, Rhode Island’s DIY scene in the early 2010’s, he dabbled in heavier and more experimental music before maturing into a country auteur. On The Rainbow Wheel of Death, Poole’s 3rd release via Wharf Cat Records, he breathes new life into country music, retaining the acclaimed elements of his previous work — drum machines, acoustic guitars, synthesizers, and his deep-set voice — while pushing toward something warm, organic, and prismatic.

Austin Leonard Jones was born in New Zealand in 1982, a place that humans didn't settle until the 13th century. Before that it was just chattering birds and rain on leaves. Since he played his first show on Halloween, 2010, in San Antonio, TX, those are sounds he's heard often, driving at dawn from Spokane to Billings or during a magic hour thunderstorm from Athens to Savannah. Across 12 albums, some lo-fi, some a little slick like a new matte paint job, Austin has circled the desolate core of songwriting--it's irrevocable distance in seeing clearly what should be hazy nostalgia, and the sadness that follows, with remarkable wit and cheer. His latest album, Famous Times, is amongst his finest--cut with a lapidary yet easy precision like truck stop turquoise that simultaneously symbolizes bleakness and elevates above it.