Thursday May 16th

7pm

Adv $10 | Dos $12

6pm Signups, 7pm Show

Comedy without the competition.

In August 2021, local Comedians Priscilla Fernandez, Mo Urban and Amber Frame created Lady Haha: a comedy open mic for women, LGBTQ+, all marginalized folx and our allies to perform ANY genre of comedy (not just stand-up) in a supportive and super fun environment. Whether it’s your first time trying comedy or your thousandth—all levels of experience are welcome! Everyone gets at most 5 minutes of stage time, and it’s free!

Anyone 21+ can come watch, but the stage is reserved for marginalized-funny people and our allies. Our only rule is “no hate speech” (sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia and violent speech).

Lady Haha also produces comedy-variety shows in Tucson with an emphasis on diversity and all genres of comedy.

We’re proud to say we are the first and only comedy open mic of its kind—IN THE WORLD—right here in little ol’ Tucson, AZ. We hope to see more of these popping up!

Friday May 24th

w/ Birds and Arrows & Tonight’s Sunshine

7pm

Adv $12 | Dos $15

Saturday May 25th

One More Time: A Tribute to Daft Punk!!

Doors: 8pm
Show: 9pm

Adv $20 | Dos $25

Tuesday May 28th

w/ support from Andres

**Spotify Presale: Tuesday January 9th @ 12pm ET**

**General On-Sale: Friday January 12th @ 10am local**

Doors 7pm

ADV $20 | DOS $25

16+

—DEAD POET SOCIETY—Asked what it is he wants audiences to take away from “FISSION,” the forthcoming second album from Dead Poet Society, Jack Underkofler offers eight small but powerful words: “We want to leave them with the truth.”

The affable and engaging 30-year-old delivers these words with the forthrightness that marks his discussions about the band he fronts, completed by Jack Collins (guitar), Will Goodroad (drums), and Dylan Brenner (bass), and the art this collective of college friends have exhaustively dedicated themselves moulding, too often to their own detriment.

It’s an answer that epitomizes the dedication with which the quartet approaches their craft, and the search for its purest, most meaningful form. “It’s not as simple as saying we want our music to leave people with a positive outlook,” Underkofler explains. “You want music to speak to wherever you find yourself. We want to leave people feeling that whatever they are experiencing is valid, no matter what place they are at in their lives.”

After a decade defining, redefining, and perfecting their art, where Dead Poet Society finds themselves on the eve of their sophomore release is much clearer. Make no mistake: Dead Poet Society is a uniquely captivating group, rock’s next great breakout act, with “FISSION” set to capture the hearts and challenge the minds of fans old and new on the journey ahead.

Following on the heels of their acclaimed debut full-length “–!–“ (2021), “FISSION” seeks to unpack the personal journey its creators have been on during that ride to date. “FISSION,” as its title hints, is a 13-track study of personal change and the turbulence of growth that, as Underkofler attests, takes “a microscopic and broad look at the events that changed who we are.” To that end, there are deep rakings over the coals of relationship breakdowns, examinations of addiction in all its guises, ruminations on the responsibilities and challenges of adulthood, and struggles with the evolution, loss, and continual search for self. “In a lot of ways, this album is about unpacking those emotional pains that come with being an adult,” Underkofler says.

“The past few years have left me in a constant state of growth through the life events of which I’ve had little control, or which didn’t pan out the way I wanted them to,” the frontman admits. “There’s a ‘before’ you, and an ‘after’ you, and there’s no going back. Life tends to force your hand, and it’s futile to fight it. You have to accept that things that happen to you will change you, and let them build you into the next phase of who you are.

“There is a constant battle to not mourn who I was because the things you go through define you as a person and turn you into a person worth being,” he adds. “But that can be difficult to wrestle with. There is a positive to it, but it is birthed through a lot of pain.”

“It’s both exciting – ‘Fuck you. I’m gonna take this head-on’ – and at the same time, you’re terrified how you’re going to get through the next month,” adds Goodroad. “One day you’re super confident about where life is going, the next you’re second-guessing everything. It’s like the myth of Sisyphus: it’s a boulder you have to push up the hill every day.”

Twinned lead singles “Running In Circles” and “Hurt” weave through fears of following the wrong path while hiding behind false fronts. “How Could I Love You” and “I Hope You Hate Me” tackle the sometimes bittersweet, more often simply bitter fallout from a tumultuous relationship. “81 Tonnes,” meanwhile, sees Underkofler revisit a time of particular helplessness and instability. ’I need peace now slow my body down can you pull me out?’ he pleads. ‘Too afraid of fission and faith to save me from myself.’

It’s that track which gave guitarist Collins his clearest understanding of the emotions he and his bandmates share, which were coming to the fore in the song. “Jack described “81 Tonnes” to us as about being left with ‘a permanently altered state of mind,’ which felt like the perfect summary of so many of those songs on the album to me,” he says. ”They all lead you to the finish line of, ‘I’m a different person now because of all this…’”

To some extent, through “FISSION”’s creation, Dead Poet Society has become a different band, too. A more attuned one; more accomplished, certainly. “We were really trying to define our sound more on this record,” Collins nods. “We worked a lot more on guitar tones, bass tones, and drum sounds, and paid close attention to melody. The aim was to make our sound bigger – we wanted a more dynamic record, where you could hear the best representation of us live. I feel like the evolution is us maturing a little bit, and wanting to create a sound that was less an obvious reflection of our influences – Muse, Queens Of The Stone Age, Nothing But Thieves, Royal Blood – and more definitively our own. We don’t control where the inspiration comes from. We just had to obey the songs and what they were telling us to do next.”

“We hone in on a feeling, rather than a sound,” adds Underkofler. “This album is the defining moment of when we truly became Dead Poet Society. It’s the closest we’ve come to realizing the essence of the ideas we’ve always had for this band.”

The result is a compelling record of depth and substance, which weaves through the spectrum of anthemic alternative, dark hard rock, and progressive indie. “FISSION“ is at once comfortingly familiar and disconcertingly alien; raw and analogue – “Profoundly human,” as Goodroad says – while possessing a colder, digital inflection. Unexpected turns and deviations reveal themselves often; repeat listens reveal greater secrets yet. It’s a multifaceted record of contrast and cohesion, on which the bright glow of the ballad “Tipping Point” and album-highlight “My Condition” – the sort of infuriatingly hooky earworm anthem with which alternative radio airwaves are dominated – can coalesce with the industrial-leaning mechanics of the piston-driven “Hard To Be God” and “KOET.”

“I think the best way to make other people feel something is to make yourself feel something. The best songwriters are people who can take a particular emotion and feeling and create the most narrow translation when someone hears that song,” Underkofler says. “If someone hearing a song can be taken to the exact headspace that the person who wrote it was in at the time, for me, that is the mark of a great songwriter. And I feel with these songs, we’ve achieved that better than we ever have before.”

It’s a headspace you’re left to ruminate in long after Underkofler is finished protesting ‘But what if I’m always alone? / And I don’t like who I am anymore’ on the closing “Black And Gold”. Because when all is said and done, the truth is that the impact of “FISSION” and Dead Poet Society willreverberate now and in years to come.

Wednesday May 29th Night 1

6pm doors | 7pm show

**Reserved Seating: $35**

**General Admission:** ADV $25 | DOS $30

21+

—STEVE ROACH—AMBIENT LOUNGE – THE NEXT LEVEL
STEVE ROACH & MICHAEL STEARNS
W/ SPECIAL GUEST ROBERT RICH
MAY 29 & 30, CLUB CONGRESS
TUCSON, AZ

Yes you’re reading this correctly! Steve and Michael will be performing solo and collaborative sets for the first time ever together on 2 nights in May 2024. Add to this, the return of Robert Rich as guest and we have 3 unforgettable nights in the Soundcurrent.

These concerts will be presented in 4 channel sound within the intimate and great sounding Club Congress in Downtown Tucson. The artist’s intention is to place the audience directly within the core of the creative vortex. Pure sonic immersion unfolding before your ears and eyes. In this setting we are leaving the visuals out of the picture and keeping the focus on the artists at work, presenting and sharing with the audience a rare intimate encounter at the crucible of the creative experience.

As did the recent Ambient Lounge concert with Robert Rich and Steve, these shows will sell out. Tickets will be on sale soon. We will announce as soon as the ticket sales open up. We hope to see you at this rarefied event on the horizon – May 29, 30 2024.

Wednesday May 29th Night 1

6pm doors | 7pm show

**Reserved Seating: $35**

**General Admission:** ADV $25 | DOS $30

21+

—STEVE ROACH—AMBIENT LOUNGE – THE NEXT LEVEL
STEVE ROACH & MICHAEL STEARNS
W/ SPECIAL GUEST ROBERT RICH
MAY 29 & 30, CLUB CONGRESS
TUCSON, AZ

Yes you’re reading this correctly! Steve and Michael will be performing solo and collaborative sets for the first time ever together on 2 nights in May 2024. Add to this, the return of Robert Rich as guest and we have 2 unforgettable nights in the Soundcurrent.

These concerts will be presented in 4 channel sound within the intimate and great sounding Club Congress in Downtown Tucson. The artist’s intention is to place the audience directly within the core of the creative vortex. Pure sonic immersion unfolding before your ears and eyes. In this setting we are leaving the visuals out of the picture and keeping the focus on the artists at work, presenting and sharing with the audience a rare intimate encounter at the crucible of the creative experience.

As did the recent Ambient Lounge concert with Robert Rich and Steve, these shows will sell out. Tickets will be on sale soon. We will announce as soon as the ticket sales open up. We hope to see you at this rarefied event on the horizon – May 29, 30 2024.

Friday May 31st Night 3

6pm doors | 7pm show

**Reserved Seating: $35**

**General Admission:** ADV $25 | DOS $30

21+

—STEVE ROACH—AMBIENT LOUNGE – THE NEXT LEVEL
STEVE ROACH & MICHAEL STEARNS
W/ SPECIAL GUEST ROBERT RICH
MAY 29 & 30, CLUB CONGRESS
TUCSON, AZ

Yes you’re reading this correctly! Steve and Michael will be performing solo and collaborative sets for the first time ever together on 2 nights in May 2024. Add to this, the return of Robert Rich as guest and we have 2 unforgettable nights in the Soundcurrent.

These concerts will be presented in 4 channel sound within the intimate and great sounding Club Congress in Downtown Tucson. The artist’s intention is to place the audience directly within the core of the creative vortex. Pure sonic immersion unfolding before your ears and eyes. In this setting we are leaving the visuals out of the picture and keeping the focus on the artists at work, presenting and sharing with the audience a rare intimate encounter at the crucible of the creative experience.

As did the recent Ambient Lounge concert with Robert Rich and Steve, these shows will sell out. Tickets will be on sale soon. We will announce as soon as the ticket sales open up. We hope to see you at this rarefied event on the horizon – May 29, 30 2024.

Thursday June 6th

7pm

Adv $23 | Dos $25

Monday June 10th

w/ End It

7pm

Adv $20 | Dos $25

—ANGE DU$T—Justice Tripp lives in the future. For nearly two decades, the musician has consistently been ahead of the curve: first with Trapped Under Ice, where he led the way for a new wave of heavy hardcore, and then as the mastermind behind Angel Du$t, where he blazed the trail for the current generation of aggressive musicians to branch out into unabashedly melodic territory. Tripp’s work is marked by an ever-evolving creativity that’s made him highly influential, but which has often put him a number of steps ahead of the very trends that he’s helped to inspire. Now Angel Du$t are back with their new album, Brand New Soul: a fearless and open-hearted tribute to all things rock, offering listeners a chance to be right there with them on the cutting edge. Tripp might forever be keeping an eye on the future, but Angel Du$t’s time is now.

6pm Signups, 7pm Show

Comedy without the competition.

In August 2021, local Comedians Priscilla Fernandez, Mo Urban and Amber Frame created Lady Haha: a comedy open mic for women, LGBTQ+, all marginalized folx and our allies to perform ANY genre of comedy (not just stand-up) in a supportive and super fun environment. Whether it’s your first time trying comedy or your thousandth—all levels of experience are welcome! Everyone gets at most 5 minutes of stage time, and it’s free!

Anyone 21+ can come watch, but the stage is reserved for marginalized-funny people and our allies. Our only rule is “no hate speech” (sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia and violent speech).

Lady Haha also produces comedy-variety shows in Tucson with an emphasis on diversity and all genres of comedy.

We’re proud to say we are the first and only comedy open mic of its kind—IN THE WORLD—right here in little ol’ Tucson, AZ. We hope to see more of these popping up!

Thursday, June 13th

w/ special guest Sedona

ADV $18 | DOS $20

7pm

6pm Signups, 7pm Show

Comedy without the competition.

In August 2021, local Comedians Priscilla Fernandez, Mo Urban and Amber Frame created Lady Haha: a comedy open mic for women, LGBTQ+, all marginalized folx and our allies to perform ANY genre of comedy (not just stand-up) in a supportive and super fun environment. Whether it’s your first time trying comedy or your thousandth—all levels of experience are welcome! Everyone gets at most 5 minutes of stage time, and it’s free!

Anyone 21+ can come watch, but the stage is reserved for marginalized-funny people and our allies. Our only rule is “no hate speech” (sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia and violent speech).

Lady Haha also produces comedy-variety shows in Tucson with an emphasis on diversity and all genres of comedy.

We’re proud to say we are the first and only comedy open mic of its kind—IN THE WORLD—right here in little ol’ Tucson, AZ. We hope to see more of these popping up!

Monday, July 1
with support from Tony Jupiter

Doors 7pm

$15 Advance | $20 Day of Show + fees

16+

Thursday July 11th

******Artist Presale: April 16th at 10am***

7pm

Adv $17 | Dos $20

21+

—EMILY NENNI—Emily Nenni has a confession: she didn’t always plan on being a performing artist. “I thought I was just going to be a songwriter,” she admits. Clearly, life had something else in store. The singer and guitarist has emerged as one of the freshest and most electrifying voices in Nashville, with a sound rooted in classic honky-tonk and spiked with serious country, soul and rock ‘n’ roll fire, and sweet-and-sassy lyrics that chronicle hard living, hot nights, heartbreak and other universal truths about the human condition. Over the past several years she’s enraptured audiences across Music City with sizzling sets in smoky bars and clubs, honing her command of the stage, perfecting her skills as a band leader and sharpening an already astute world view, all of which are on full display on her newest studio album, Drive & Cry.

The record is a marked departure from her previous full-length, 2022’s celebrated On the Ranch. Whereas that effort saw Nenni uproot herself to lend a hand — and write — while assisting at a ranch in southern Colorado, Drive & Cry drops the listener smack in the middle of her boisterous and bustling Nashville world. The album kicks off with “Get to Know Ya,” a honky-tonk rave-up that celebrates the end of the work day and the beginning of a music-filled, come-what-may night. Nenni busts out her biggest hoops, jumps into the jeans she can “really only stand up in,” and heads to the local bar. “Play ’til the sun’ll come / when the daylight’s done,” she sings as the instrumental accompaniment races in step behind her.

From there, Nenni leads into “Greatest Hits,” a pedal-steel-inflected Dolly Parton-style number in which she tips her hat to underground honky-tonk venue Santa’s Pub, a dive bar squeezed inside a double-wide trailer that has become her home-away-from-home in Nashville. “When I first came to town, I was 21 and singing at clubs with folks who were twice my age,” Nenni recalls of moving to Music City from her native California. “Then a buddy of mine said, ‘There’s a place where people are making this music that are actually your age, and where you’d really fit in.’ And that was Santa’s Pub. It’s where I learned that music doesn’t have to be perfect — everybody is just having fun and there’s no judgment. You can show up however you’re feeling that night, have a good time and be surrounded by friends.”

A stellar cast of those friends stepped up to assist Nenni on Drive & Cry, beginning with producer John James Tourville of New West labelmates the Deslondes. “He brought in half the musicians and I brought in half,” Nenni says. “And he gave me so much space to make the record that I wanted to make.”

It’s a record that is her most personal to date. Save for an album-closing cover of Terry Allen’s classic “Amarillo Highway” (a staple of her Sunday-night sets at Santa’s), Nenni penned the remainder of the dozen tracks entirely on her own. “It’s the first time I’ve done that,” she says. “I had a few weeks alone at my house in Nashville, and I just sat with all my thoughts and feelings from the last couple years and put it all down. So this is an album that’s truly ‘me.’ ”

The results put the full range of Nenni’s singular musical voice on display, from the soaring “Changes,” influenced by her love of Sixties girl groups, to the swampy, strutting empowerment anthem “I Don’t Have to Like You,” in which she declares “I’m a grown-ass woman and I don’t trust a word you coo.” There’s also the Tina Turner homage “I Don’t Need You” (“Got my own boots to fill and you know I will,” Nenni assures), the wistful, late-night honky-tonk ode “We Sure Could Two Step,” and the playful title track, in which, over a tight country-funk groove, Nenni jokes, “Don’t you worry ’bout me / I’m gonna have a bawl.” It’s a lighthearted lyric, but one that is, like everything on the album, true to Nenni’s life. “I do actually cry a fair bit, and I love to do it while I’m driving,” she admits.

Nenni will have plenty of opportunities for that in the near future, as she plans to take Drive & Cry on tour, far and wide. “I love to be on the road,” she says. “I love to be with my buds, I love to play shows, and I love to make people happy and make people cry with my music. That’s what truly makes me happy, too.”

Nenni laughs. “So I maybe never thought I’d be a performer, but I sure am glad that I am.”

Sunday July 21st

7pm

Adv $22 | Dos $24

—QUASI—Pacific Northwest rock legends Quasi play their beloved 1998 classic third album Featuring “Birds,” start to finish in its entirety for the first time.

Wednesday July 24th

Mystery Skulls celebrates 10 years of “Forever” with a North American tour spanning more than 25 cities. To celebrate this momentous occasion, Mystery Skulls will be performing “Forever” front to back for the first time ever, in addition to other songs across their releases. VIP packages are available.

******Artist Presale: Wednesday 3/13 @ 10am local***
***Click “access presale ” or “got a code”? and enter the code to access the presale.******

**General On Sale: Friday 3/15 @ 10am local*****

**VIP Packages also include 1 GA ticket**

6pm doors

Adv $20 | Dos $25 + fees

—MYSTERY SKULLS—Luis Dubuc was looking for a change of pace when he started his dance/electro-soul act, Mystery Skulls in 2011. And what started off as a new passion project quickly turned into something larger than life.

Fans were quickly enchanted by the upbeat, groovy sounds Mystery Skulls was producing. As fans grew rabid for more content, Luis continued to produce new and exciting music that they could lose themselves in. The result is an impressive discography that has amassed over 100 million streams and nearly 550,000 monthly listeners on Spotify alone.

Back to Life (2019) and Now or Never (2020), the latest two full length albums from Mystery Skulls have shown that there’s no limit to the project’s success. Having self-produced and self-released both albums, Luis poured himself into each album and the fans immediately connected with that. This landed both albums at #1 on the iTunes Electronic charts, surpassing legendary acts like The Chemicals Brothers and Moby.

Following the release of Back to Life, Mystery Skulls hit the road, aiming to reach as many fans as possible, selling out shows throughout North America and the UK. Luis is passionate about creating powerful moments of joy and release for fans through his live sets, and because of that he has been able to take Mystery Skulls to a wide array of events from the Voodoo Music and Arts Experience, to opening for Busta Rhymes at the Cannes Film Festival, and the ESPN X-Games.

Every live set is a chance to let go. Mystery Skulls adds a layer of intrigue to each performance with his backlit set, leaving him a shadowy, pulsating figure in the night. The anonymity translates onto his diverse set of fans, leading them to feel free to lose themselves on the dance floor for the evening.

Despite COVID-19 halting touring plans throughout the last year, Mystery Skulls continued to show unstoppable force. July 2021 gave way to a feature in Fortnite of his animated short for fan favorite, “Ghost.” Keeping up the momentum Mystery Skulls plan to release a full length album at the end of 2021 and will headline in North America throughout Spring 2022. The future is limitless and Mystery Skulls is taking advantage of every second of it. Join in on the adventure!

Monday July 29th

7pm

ADV $18 | DOS $20

21+

—WAND—Wand formed in late 2013 in Los Angeles, CA and got right to work playing, writing, and conceptualizing a contrarian path forward–the only viable trail to follow for a rock band that formed in the twenty-teens (and audaciously named itself Wand). The original configuration of the band was Cory Hanson (guitar, vocals), Lee Landey (bass), Evan Burrows (drums) and Daniel Martens (guitar). This was the group that recorded the neuroplastic, dusk-colored Ganglion Reef. Upon hearing it, the suits at GOD? Records demanded the opportunity to release it, and the rest became irrevocable historical fact in 2014. That debut release launched a year of furious activity and near-constant touring, and included the recording and release of both their second and third albums: the strobing sledgehammer Golem (on In the Red), and the psilocybe flicker show 1000 Days (on Drag City). During this time, Daniel left to focus on raising his son, and the remaining three members of Wand regrouped as a trio, with an auxiliary fourth piece for tours.

Following a dizzying 100+ dates played in North America and Europe in support of 1000 Days, Wand took a six-month deep breath at the beginning of 2016. Cory put together a string laden solo album, The Unknown Capitalist From Limbo (released later that year), and Evan focused on writing and touring with his band Behavior. Meanwhile, Wand’s barely-perceptible pause had a deeper agenda—Evan, Lee and Cory had sensed the need for a new alignment, a fabulous new mutation of the body Wand. Sofia Arreguin and Robbie Cody were recruited to play keyboards and guitar respectively, with the intention of reimagining the band’s approach to writing and performance. A period of intense woodshedding ensued, both in the practice space and on stages around the world, out of which the records Plum and “Perfume” emerged.

The writing process that evolved during the tumultuous seasons of Plum and “Perfume” incorporated a new emphasis on econo-jamming and democratic decision-making; another new method of invention, another new mode of digestion. Plum dropped in the fall of 2017, “Perfume” in the spring of 2018. With the success of this music, the band forged on with confidence, stockpiling dozens of pieces and working them together as a unit. They made the most of their 2018, taking in deep bubbles of time to tinker and experiment with their sound, using several different spaces as well as their own home studio, and patiently uncovering the exciting alchemical balance that would bring all this work together as a whole. By the turn of autumn, Wand had arrived at the width and breadth, the breathless wit of their new album—Laughing Matter.

Cory and Evan opted to write all of the lyrics on Laughing Matter collaboratively. The lyrical and musical shades vary between Wand’s darkest nights, and most pastoral days. There’s a matured, diverse emotional scope on Laughing Matter that has not been so naked on any Wand record before it. This is a record that takes every turn, feels every thought, eagerly attempts to break every convention, and joyously recombines the familiar territory. This is a record with love as a center. With friendship—especially its most difficult, dysfunctional forms—as foundation. And with music—the dedicated jamming of five autodidact musicians—as its guiding principle.

Laughing Matter was recorded by Enrique Tena Padilla, assisted by Zac Hernandez at Sonic Ranch, West Texas. It was mixed by Wand and Enrique Tena Padilla. Three members of the band sing on the record. It lasts one hour, seven minutes and thirty-seven seconds across two vinyl discs, one compact disc, one cassette, or continuous digital stream.

This is a headphone record. A hi-fi record, against all common sense. A double record, but the songs are sweet. Each one tries to hold a small idea. We all put our hands on the wheel, then took turns letting go. And where you believe, you see. Or are you losing the shape? The user escapes from the toolkit for ease. We knew how to do it through practice. And we had plenty of help. We drank a lot of alcohol and caffeine. We worked all night, talked a lot of shit, and tried to impel the old dream. And could we be called away? What could we really hold in common? We all put our hands on the wheel, and we steered the machine.

Saturday September 21st

7pm

Advance $20 | Day of Show $25

—MARIKA HACKMAN—Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for her emotionally honest and personal lyrics, Marika Hackman first made a name for herself with a spare, acoustic-oriented approach. Receiving acclaim for her musical talent, lyrical depth, and unique style, Marika has been recognized through interviews, reviews, and profiles in publications like The Independent, The Guardian, Pitchfork, Dazed, The New York Times, KEXP and Stereogum.

Postpone from Friday, December 8th
The Show will now take place on 10/5/2024

Doors 7pm, Show 7:30pm

ADV $20 | DOS $25

21+

–DUSTBOWL REVIVAL– Dustbowl Revival has always been about pushing the boundaries of what American roots music can be. After celebrating over a decade of sonic adventuring and playing thousands of shows together in ten countries and counting, the group collected a devoted fanbase coast-to-coast. After throwing five of their own virtual Sway-At-Home festivals during the shut-down featuring nearly forty artists, the always evolving group of string and brass players led by founding members Z. Lupetin, Josh Heffernan, Ulf Bjorlin are excited to welcome a new wave of talent to the band, after emerging from a pandemic touring hiatus.

After spending years on the road, selling out hometown shows at LA’s famed Troubadour, headlining festivals and wowing crowds from Denmark to China, Dustbowl Revival never stopped making their joyful, booty-shaking soul songs and cut-to-heart folk-rock ballads that lift up their transcendent live shows.

Even so, with the bands emotional new single “Beside You” and 2020’s ambitious full length Is It You, Is It Me, they wanted to strike into new terrain. As they mined new energetic material from the place where folk and funk music meet, they teamed up with producer Sam Kassirer (Lake Street Dive, Josh Ritter) and engineer Brian Joseph (Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens). The latest album strikes a more personal note than ever before, representing the latest stage in a band that never stops exploring new sounds.

Many of the songs feel like small theater pieces coming to life verse by verse. It’s the yin-yang conversational harmony that is the true specialty of lead songwriter and singer Z. Lupetin, who also doubles as a playwright and recently wrote the music for a Greek tragedy set in Gold Rush era California. While longtime co-lead Liz Beebe has stepped away from the band after a long run, an amazing young talent in Lashon Halley has stepped in to bring new life to the songs, matching Lupetin’s intense vocal range with her own.

With a big brass-and-strings band building around the voices, Is It You, Is It Me isn’t afraid to explore the personal and political tension that the group may have shied away from facing before. The album tackles uneasy topics, often where the political feels personal, especially in the defiant “Get Rid of You,” which was inspired by the student activists who emerged from the tragic Parkland High School shooting in Florida. The ominous driving brass groove of “Enemy,” hones in on a painful generational split between a daughter and her parents who may have voted in a tyrant, and have become strangers to her. This yearning search for common ground pervades the record as a whole.

Where the band really sets on a new course is on lushly cinematic, orchestrated set pieces like “Mirror,” “Runaway” and, most notably, the current fan favorite and live showstopper “Sonic Boom,” about the struggle to reveal who you really are in the hidden, rose-colored world of social media. There’s a new widescreen expansiveness to these songs that wouldn’t be out of place in a packed arena or orchestra hall with a full neon light show. Acting like a nimble rock orchestra, during the recording process, each member played multiple instruments, and the group brought in new musicians on symphonic brass, and local friends to sing as a spur-of-the-moment choir.

If one thing is clear, Is It You, Is It Me represents another large leap forward for Dustbowl Revival, coming after their acclaimed self-titled 2017 album. Produced by Grammy-winner Ted Hutt (Old Crow Medicine Show, Drop Kick Murphy’s), it transitioned the group from a “roots dance party band” that continues to thrive on the festival circuit, to a nuanced ensemble embracing more soulful territory without losing their original fire. That self-titled record was a direct bridge to the newest work, rising number to one on the Amazon Americana chart and featuring a funky favorite “Honey I Love You” where the band joyfully teaming up with blues master Keb Mo’. Their heartache folk number “Got Over”, surprised the band by racking up over seven million streams and counting online. “Beside You” stayed in the Americana charts for months and “Enemy” became a staple on SiriusXM, especially during the 2020 election. To top it off, Billboard Magazine added about that Is It You, Is It Me is “the biggest sonic work of the Venice, Calif.-based troupe’s career.”

Dustbowl Revival’s story started humbly. Nearly thirteen years ago Z. Lupetin, a Chicago native who attended college in Michigan came to L.A. to be a screenwriter, grew disillusioned with his job in advertising, and placed a hopeful ad on Craigslist. He sought to find fellow musicians who shared his roving love of Louis Armstrong, Bob Wills, Old Crow Medicine Show, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin and the brass bands of New Orleans, but also wanted to write songs like Americana pioneers Wilco, Lucinda Williams and even Bruce Springsteen. There are still players in the group who responded to that initial odd quest. New talent on electric guitar, piano and more are joining in for 2021. “Maybe we don’t know where this journey will take us or how long it will last,” acknowledges Lupetin, “That’s my take on the importance of what we try to do. Music elevates us, lifts us up, makes us change our minds, takes us out of our comfort zones. If just one person can be moved by just one song, that’s enough.”