Hailing from the musical mecca of Athens, Georgia and built on the idea that the sum is greater than the individual parts, Family And Friends has steadily gained a loyal following with their spirited live performances and “good music, good people” mantra since releasing their 2015 EP XOXO. Their new highly anticipated album Felix Culpa, produced by Chicago-turned-L.A. auteur Brad Wood and due out June 8th, is nothing less than an epic coming-of-age tale with a massive sound that amplifies their former indie-folk roots onto a technicolor, Cinemascope screen.   Whereas Family And Friends’ first EP focused heavily on love, and the second on nostalgia, Felix Culpa is caught somewhere between adolescence and adulthood and finds Family And Friends at a pivotal moment in their maturation both as artists and individuals. With a classic coming-of-age narrative, the album’s theme focuses on a precipice of life’s journey, as we begin the quest for existential meaning and come to terms with the fact that people, relationships, and seemingly universal truths are more complicated than we perhaps realize. Balancing scintillating textures with bright guitars and beautiful vocal harmonies, Family And Friends’ sharply observant lyrics are cloaked in the band’s contagiously upbeat instrumentation, leaving the listener with a sense of hope by album’s end. Family And Friends’ collaborative concept extends well beyond the members of the band. With a live show that begs audiences to feel as much a part of the experience as the musicians onstage, their fiery performances have been turning casual viewers into full-on believers all over the southeast. The band’s infectious, dynamic anthems become even more intoxicating in a live setting, with epic builds that crash over the roar of two dueling drummers, who perform facing each other and feed off one another’s energy. A Family And Friends show is pure, unadulterated fun with a lightning bolt of enthusiasm and a familiarity that is immediately endearing and undeniably gratifying. Family And Friends includes Mike MacDonald (guitar, vocals), Casey Harper (vocals), David “Tuna” Fortuna (bass), Ryan Houchens (drums, vocals), Alejandro Rios (drums), and JP McKenzie (electric guitar). The forthcoming album title, which loosely translates to “blessed mistake”, illustrates the notion that while we may continue to search for some semblance of meaning, the fact that we are here at all deserves to be celebrated, and Family And Friends intends to do just that.

"And you know that our continents will split." This is the phrase that Jason McCue reminds his audience of in the opening chapter of his forthcoming album, PANGAEA. It’s a theme that has proven difficult for him to ignore, as over the past year the Earth beneath the 21 year-old indie-folk artist’s feet has constantly been vibrating, thrusting himself upon an unsuspecting Seattle Music Community.  It began in March of 2017, when McCue competed in the Museum of Popular Culture's Sound Off! competition for artists 21 and younger in the Pacific Northwest. Armed only with his dad's acoustic guitar, a wispy tenor voice-box, and more than a few starkly provocative lyrics, Jason ended up impressing the competition's judges, comprised of Seattle music industry veterans, enough to earn him first place. The prizes included a drum set, an electric guitar, a synthesizer, and performance slots at Bumbershoot and Timber Outdoor Music Festivals. Oh, and there was also a Chipotle gift card, because a young musician has to eat. Meanwhile, Jason was finishing his Junior Year at Seattle University, immersing himself in Environmental Studies. After taking a course on Mass Extinctions, he became increasingly interested in Earth history, and started applying different aspects of the geologic timescale to his writing. With the introduction of this concept, the groundwork for PANGAEA was laid. He realized that one of the only absolute constants in the 220 million years it's been since the Earth was together is that the ground keeps moving. Things keep changing.  PANGAEA marks a milestone in McCue's musical life because he grew up while making it. The album’s themes revolve around the ideas of nostalgia, certainty, and the distortion of memory traveling at a rate dependent on the proportions of distance and time. All the while, these themes are deposited as references to geology, Earth history, and scientific theory. The album is intended to pose the question— What happens when the continents have drifted as far away from each other as possible? Does that mean they'll crash again? The record will be officially released on March 16 via Portland’s venerable Fluff and Gravy Records, but one week prior, on March 9, KEXP will present the release party at Washington Hall. You can bet that there will be a number of seasoned members of the Pacific Northwest Music Community on hand, quietly taking note of the shifting ground beneath their own feet.