Beaming (the duo of Braden Lawrence and Derek Ted) closed out the night at a recent Rocknite showcase at The Airliner Bar. Braden Lawrence is the drummer for The Districts while Derek Ted works with Field Medic. The duo brought their fan base to The Airliner Bar. I noticed it immediately when those in the crowd were singing the lyrics to the opening song "Stuck (here)" louder than the band. It only took that one song to sweep me into a sense of meditation.
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| Beaming at The Airliner Bar |
Gold Child (moniker for Emily Fehler) opened up the night for Gracie and Rachel at Permanent Records Roadhouse (a Sid the Cat night). Gracie and Rachel were celebrating the release of the album If We Could, Would We. In a way, this was a release party for Gold Child, as well. At the start of the year, she released her EP Angelina Jolie. It is a four track EP where she wears her heart on her shirt sleaves.
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| Gold Child at Permanent Records Roadhouse |
The Bluesadelic Sessions put on a showcase at The Den Studios with the headliner being One Tribe Nation, fronted by Living Colour's Corey Glover. Starting off the night was glam blues band Sugarmill Slim (fronted by Anders LaSource). This wasn't my first time coming across the band. I previously saw the band back in 2023 at Zebulon. I knew I was in for some good music. I'm not sure all were convinced about the music; however. There was The Den Studios' dog that was hanging out (Brisket, I do believe). For a portion of the set, the dog sat in the middle of the floor, facing the band. Yet, the dog seemed to be mesmerized by his toy.
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| Sugarmill Slim at The Den Studios |
I had the opportunity to cover Gracie and Rachel for US Rocker Music for their recent set at Permanent Records Roadhouse (presented by Sid the Cat). I had not previously heard of the band before when I received the invite to cover the band (as is often the case for me). I took a listen to maybe one or two of their songs and agreed to cover the set. I liked their self described chamber pop tunes. It kind of reminded me of the soundtrack to a minimalist movie set out in nature, far from the population centers.
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| Gracie and Rachel at Permanent Records Roadhouse |
A Handful (Massive) of Show Alerts
Sunday, Aug 9th: American Sigh at Oblivion. Doors at 7 p.m.Country music arrived at the School Night (a collaboration between Make Out Music and KCRW) showcase. Olivia Barnes brought her Southern accent to The Airliner Bar. She grew up in Atlanta, but is currently living in New Orleans. A rather interesting coincidence of the night was the fact that the night's headliner, Macy Todd, also grew up in Atlanta.
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| Olivia Barnes at The Airliner Bar |
I last saw a full Julez and the Rollerz's set in May 2025. I did see about two-thirds of their set three months later at Happy Sundays Long Beach. What was up with the band during that time gap? They released their debut album Dirty Little Rock 'n' roller. (Where's the 'z' in that album title?) They had an album release part at Zebulon and will be doing an 8 stop tour on the East Coast come September. For those in Los Angeles, you'll have an opportunity to catch them on August 30th (Sunday) at Echo Park Rising (yes, they're officially expanding to two days after a couple years of just holding the festival on Saturdays -- though there were unofficial sets being held on Fridays and Sundays).
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| Julez and the Rollers at The Fable |
Tanner Massey arrived in Los Angeles the previous day after driving 32 hours from Oklahoma. He showed no signs of exhaustion from the drive during his WFNM showcase at Hotel Ziggy. If his name sounds familiar, it is because he was on the 24th (2023) season of The Voice and finished in the Top 12 while being part of Team Gwen Stefani. Could he had placed higher? He felt if he had done Shawn Mendes' "Mercy" that he would have gotten to the next stage. Either way, his fans showed up to catch his set and to spend a few moments afterwards to talk with him.
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| Tanner Massey at Hotel Ziggy |
San Diego based Elizabeth Bowersox came up north to play the Bigfoot Lodge on a recent Friday night. The night was a collaboration between two Americana-country promotors: Americana Joy and Small Town Friday Nights. This is embarrassing to admit, but when I was walking up to the Bigfoot Lodge, I saw Jack from The Doohickeys standing outside next to Bowersox who was wearing a bright red cowgirl hat. Perhaps it is time to head off to the optometrist, because I was thinking for sure that was Haley (okay, okay, Haley wears blue). As I walked closer, I was like, oops. Hey, maybe I did right by giving Jack the heads up about a recently (enough) opened venue in Highland Park, Oblivion.
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| Elizabeth Bowersox at the Bigfoot Lodge |
Lua & the Nightflowers (fronted by Lara "Lua" Norton) opened up the night at The Fable (an In Sonic Dreams showcase) with some old school funk and jazz packaged with Americana and psychedelic rock. It was a genre blending set that had friends sitting up close.
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| Lua & the Nightflower at The Fable |
A Handful (Bucketful) of Show Alerts
I first came across Megan Winsor in 2023 at a WFNM night so I was familiar with her sound when I recently showed up at Bar Lubitsch for a WFNM showcase. I was expecting to hear a singer-songwriter set. I was in for a surprise from the now Nashville based artist's set. There was a set within a set performance where she brought up her band mates from Girlstupid. The trio performed three songs. It was a pleasant surprise, because I was aware of the band and had wanted to catch a set back in 2025, but had a conflict. The trio is rounded out with Diana Thale (in 2025, I wrote a Song Spotlight article) and the artist that goes by Yugs.
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| Girlstupid at Bar Lubitsch |
