Good Morning Bedlam: I Choose Joy Album Release Show
Good Morning Bedlam is celebrating their highly anticipated 4th full length record ‘I Choose Joy.’ on August 1st. This is a special show where Good Morning Bedlam will be performing as ten-piece band and will playing the new record front to back (with a few surprises along the way)
Carbon Leaf
Carbon Leaf’s fifteenth studio album, Time is the Playground is both a call to action and an embrace of the moment. Marrying nostalgic storytelling to nuanced, folk-infused indie rock, the Richmond, Virginia band embroiders heartfelt melody and harmony with acoustic and electric instrumentation to create a 12-song rumination on time, love and personal growth that’s equal parts urgent epiphany and contented exhalation. “Everybody says people don’t listen to albums anymore,” mulled Carbon Leaf frontman Barry Privett, holed up in a coastal cottage. “So, the challenge for us was to make something that felt good to get through from beginning to end … to listen to like a story.” Originally formed as a college cover band in 1992 and with over 3,500 famously enthused live shows together, Carbon Leaf helped to define the aughts indie rock that they ultimately outgrew and outlasted. They first earned national recognition with “The Boxer,” a song that won the American Music Awards 2002 New Music Award and made Carbon Leaf the first unsigned band to perform before millions on the AMAs. “The Boxer” entered regular radio rotation, Carbon Leaf’s tours grew bigger and better, and within a couple of years they quit their day jobs and inked a record deal. The band’s fanbase snowballed, drawn to their infectious spirit of commitment, empathy, communion, and self-reliance – not to mention supremely crafted songs with ultra-relatable, thought-provoking lyrics. After a trio of charting albums for Vanguard Records, multiple songwriting awards and headlining shows, Carbon Leaf opted to return to the complete creative control of their indie roots. Guitarist Terry Clark, who co-founded the band with Privett and multi-instrumentalist Carter Gravatt, converted his garage into the band’s Two-Car Studio, where they’ve recorded releases for their own Constant Ivy imprint ever since. Carbon Leaf’s DIY spirit even extended to re-recording their three Vanguard albums in order to regain the rights. Due in September, Time is the Playground is Carbon Leaf’s first full-length album in a decade, during which they released two EPS and a 27-song live performance album and Blu-ray. Time is the Playground gathers the best of songs written, in fits and starts, over 15 years, alongside brand new ideas. Privett dusted off old demos and shut himself away for months to finish their stories, while also honing recent compositions. With Clark engineering, Carbon Leaf – completed by longtime bassist Jon Markel and drummer Jesse Humphrey – spent a year and a half recording and mixing the resulting songs. “Thinking about these disparate pieces of music, I began ruminating on time itself,” Privett recalled. “The band’s been together a long time. You mature a bit and see yourself in place on the timeline … rolling around the scenes of love and growth.” Masterfully melding saturated AC/DC guitar and squelchy Cars synth, “Backmask 1983” is a fun flipbook of evocative era emblems – Farah Fawcett, “Satanic Panic,” Time Life Books, Bigfoot and more – that traverses the simultaneous nexus of Privett’s childhood/adolescence and theworld’s analog/digital ages. It’s about morphing into a new person and a new planet with wide-eyed wonder and a longing to believe. “Without a whole lot of information, the mystery of things felt so heightened,” recalled Privett of growing up pre-Internet. “I wanted to capture some of that but also have fun with it.”
Matcha Fever, North by North (Chicago), clovers daughter
Matcha Feverhttps://linktr.ee/matchafeverNorth by North (Chicago)Insta: https://tinyurl.com/5427j8bpSpotify: https://tinyurl.com/5fa5jtumBandcamp: https://tinyurl.com/hte47e24clovers daughterhttps://linktr.ee/cloversdaughter
Kickoff to ROCK MELON SUMMER
Summer doesn’t start on a calendar. It starts when Rock Melon takes the stage.Rock Melon, Saint Paul’s homegrown beach pop band, is officially kicking off Rock Melon Summer 2026 at Amsterdam Bar & Hall on May 7th, and you do not want to miss it. Blending jangly guitars, funky bass grooves, dreamy vocals, and infectious indie-pop energy, Rock Melon brings the warmth of a Midwest summer night to every show they play. With their debut album Storming the Manor out now, expect a setlist full of the songs you’ve been streaming all spring, finally live, finally loud, finally in front of you.Joining them for the night are two acts who know how to set a stage on fire: Bottle Rocket and in their debut show, Seraphim. Three bands, one night, one room. This is how summer begins.We have been working toward this show for a long time and we are genuinely so excited to play it. Come hang, have a good time, and help us kick off what is going to be a really special summer.Doors at 6PM. Music at 6:30PM. Rock Melon takes the stage at 8:30PM.Advance tickets $10. Day of Show $15.
Common Lady – EP Release Show
Common Lady, formed from Midwest friends-of-friends, makes their debut with their first EP and their first performance as a full ensemble. The songs began as singer-songwriter Emma Deihl’s quiet reflections—soft reckonings with the constant becoming of one’s twenties, where change, heartbreak, and celebration blur together. At first simple, acoustic chords and vocal melodies, the songs longed for a sound expansive enough to hold the full emotional swell behind them. Thus, Emma sought musicians to bring her musings to life, and Common Lady was born. Blending elements of jazz, folk, and pop, Common Lady collectively crafts simultaneously catchy and deeply felt songs, reaching for relatability without sacrificing lyrical specificity. Produced by Sam Tudor, who also plays drums live and adds violin to the record, the music is shaped by Andrew Bien’s luminous jazz piano and Michael Vandervennet’s steady, soulful bass. The EP also features contributions from dear friends and talented musicians: Gabby Keisel on saxophone, Emily Bergstedt on trumpet, and Seth Bergstedt on trombone. Together, Common Lady creates music that feels both intimate and shared: tender stories unfolding within a rich, collaborative landscape of sound. They are honored to share these songs with their first live audience at Amsterdam Bar & Hall.