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Talkhouse

Juiceboxxx is an American artist from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His forthcoming LP is slated for release on Dangerbird Records in early 2020.
(Photo Credit: Brad Dececco)

Juiceboxxx

Music

JUICEBOXXX RECOMMENDS: Listening to Music

In music, there’s often a tendency to focus on personal pain. It’s a useful shorthand for understanding how an artist got to where they are now, but sometimes that heaviness doesn’t leave enough room for nuance and change. In his solo work, the Indiana musician Kevin Krauter doesn’t flinch when staring down his past, but he doesn’t get too obsessed with the dark stuff either.
In 2018, Krauter released Toss Up, a quiet album that was built on intricate guitar riffs that looped back on themselves to create a feeling of sunlit calm. Krauter’s sophomore follow up, Full Hand, dives further into the world he’s created — one where songs are evocative of late afternoon light, or dust settling on a creaky floorboard, but with lyrics that probe Krauter’s personal life, grappling with sexuality and religion, while exploring what it means to grow up, grow more critical, and, in turn, more self-confident.
Full Hand is out now via Bayonet Records.
(Photo Credit: Hana Mendel)

Kevin Krauter

Three Great Things: Kevin Krauter

Illiterate Light is a Virginia duo made up of Jeff Gorman and Jake Cochran. Their self-titled debut album came out late in 2019 on Atlantic Records, and 2020 will find them on a big headlining tour as well as playing festivals like Osheaga and Firefly.

Illiterate Light

Three Great Things: Illiterate Light

JUICEBOXXX RECOMMENDS: A Nine-Hour Pop Punk Spotify Playlist

JUICEBOXXX RECOMMENDS: The Coneheads

Allen Stone is a singer-songwriter from Chewelah, Washington. He has released four albums, the latest of which is Building Balance.

Allen Stone

Three Great Things: Allen Stone

Jenny Owen Youngs is a singer-songwriter whose latest EP Night Shift includes an ode to the state fair staple The Gravitron. She also hosts the popular Buffy The Vampire Slayer podcast Buffering The Vampire Slayer.
(Photo Credit: Tucker Leary)

Jenny Owen Youngs

Three Great Things: Jenny Owen Youngs

Varsity came to fruition one night in 2013 when several Chicago musicians gathered for a &#8220;salon night&#8221; where friends shared stories and songs. Singer-keyboardist Stephanie Smith was set to perform solo, but was quickly drawn to the sound of guitarists Dylan Weschler and Pat Stanton and asked them to join her. Shortly after their first performance as a trio, they recruited Jake Stolz on drums and his brother, Paul Stolz, on bass to fully round out their sound and become the quintet that they are today. Varsity played shows in the Chicago area the following year and spent one weekend at Chicago&#8217;s Public House Studio to record their debut self-titled LP released in March 2015.
Varsity has since found success in the growing indie-pop space. The powerful driving vocals of singer/keyboardist Stephanie Smith over infectious guitar melodies and exciting rhythm has them frequently sharing bills with artists including American Wrestlers, Alvvays, Courtney Barnett, The Hold Steady, and Car Seat Headrest. The band has further explored and developed their sound across a variety of digital releases—often two complementary singles at a time —that have earned rave reviews and a growing audience with millions of plays on YouTube and Spotify.
(Photo Credit: Alexa Viscius)

Varsity

Three Great Things: Varsity

Fatima Al Qadiri is a New York-based artist, musician and composer.
(Photo Credit: Dom Smith)

Fatima Al Qadiri

Three Great Things: Fatima Al Qadiri

Ian Everett is a member of the band Solid Bronze. Their debut album The Fruit Basket was released September 13 via Schnitzel Records.&nbsp;
(Photo Credit: Sam DeFalco)

Ian Everett

Gig Economy: Ian Everett of Solid Bronze

Dessa is a rapper, writer, and public speaker whose extraordinary career spans many genres. As a writer, she has contributed to the New York Times, the Star Tribune, the hit podcast Welcome to Night Vale, and literary journals around the country. She’s hosted radio and TV events, delivered keynote speeches around the country, contributed to The Hamilton Mixtape, and tried every dessert that was ever offered to her. Dessa has toured North America, Europe, Australia, China, and South Africa, both as a solo artist and as a proud member of the Doomtree hip-hop collective.
In August of 2019, <a class="c-link" href="https://slack-redir.net/link?url=http%3A%2F%2FTED.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TED.com</a> featured a talk on heartbreak and neuroscience that Dessa delivered in Hong Kong. In the weeks since, her speech, titled &#8220;Can We Choose to Fall Out of Love,&#8221; has accrued more than a million views. Other recent career accomplishments include 2018’s acclaimed album Chime, a Super Bowl 2018 performance, in spring of 2019, she performed her sixth straight sold-out show with the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall.  The Utne Reader called her simply a “one-woman powerhouse.”
(Photo Credit: Matthew Levine)

Dessa

Three Great Things: Dessa

Formed in New Brunswick, NJ in 2005, Screaming Females are Marissa Paternoster (guitar, vox), Mike Abbate (bass), and Jarrett Dougherty (drums). Over six albums and more than a decade of music making, the band has remained deeply individual and steadfastly DIY. They have also grown into one of the most dynamic and devastating touring bands going today.

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