

Sweet Lil: Spooky Storytellers
By Garrett Bower, Copy Chief Combining intriguing lyricism and intricately layered sound, Athens-born gloomy drone rock band Sweet Lil has proved itself a powerful force. The blend of styles makes for rich storytelling accented by a dark instrumental mood. The duo formed when guitarist and vocalist Hannah Cook reached out to drummer and producer Harold Bon about solo show opportunities at Athens' DIY space The Lodge. Cook expressed interest in playing her material with a band


Ladies and Queers Rock Athens: Cindy Crabb Shoots For An Inclusive Space For Music
By Sarah Weingarten, Staff Writer The music scene in Athens is in the midst of change. The number of women and non-binary musicians in the small Appalachian college town has been scarce and a slap in the face to the very accepting and forward-thinking culture for which Athens is typically known. This past March, the first Ladies and Queers Rock Athens music camp was held in hopes of diversifying music in Athens by giving non-men easy access to becoming musicians. Cindy Crabb,


Feature: Musical Global Warming – The New Environment for Independent Music
By Chris Reinbold, Staff Writer Today’s music industry is a hurricane of change. Revenue from physical music sales continues to fall after being overcome by digital sales. Digital sales are also falling, as streaming services like Spotify are growing in popularity and usage. As a response to the decline of money made from sales, artists are looking to live performances as a means to an end, also selling merchandise in the process. Licensing music for use in advertisements, TV


Record Store Day Picks
Abbie Doyle, Editorial Director David Bowie/Tom Verlaine - Kingdom Come [Rhino, RSD 2015] I must admit, despite the sad size of my checking/savings account, that Tom Verlaine and David Bowie split 7" is a very tempting item. Both of these guys are incredibly important musicians; their contributions to modern rock 'n' roll are impossible to ignore and this split is a great example of their respective styles. David Bowie's take on Tom Verlaine's "Kingdom Come" is honorary and e


Feature: Carnivalesque 2015 DIY Music Fest
By Marlena Scott, Features Editor It is “Fest Season” in Athens, more commonly referred to as spring. As temperatures warm up, winter coats are shed and music festival line ups are announced across the United States and Ohio University students throw loud, obnoxious parties on their lawns and consume dangerous amounts of alcohol to celebrate the end of a long, hard winter. These lawn parties are praised, glamorized and bragged about to other colleges, putting Ohio University


One Last Time: Saying Farewell To Hostage Calm
By Megan Fair, Copy Chief The morning of February 27 arrived with the gentle nudge of my alarm clock, but even a quiet, buzzing phone was enough to rile me out of my slumber. Today was going to be an exciting day, an adventurous day, an emotional day. Today would be the last day I’d be able to spend watching Hostage Calm perform live. The Beginning How do I even begin to explain Hostage Calm? My band played with Hostage Calm after its self-titled came out, and I was mesmerize

End of the Year 2014: Top 10 Songs
Music is about songs. It’s about the experiences that are inevitably linked to these tiny snippets of music, the way we connect to what’s basically just a series of vibrations put together in a way that we find a deeper meaning. 2014 is like every year that’s come before it, and every year that will come after: absolutely crammed full of songs. Plenty are garbage, plenty are transcendent. These are the cuts that made our 2014 soundtrack something special. Zack Baker, Editoria

End of the Year 2014: Favorite Concert
As much power as music has coming from your earbuds or the speakers of your car or from your turntable, there's nothing like seeing it live. Sometimes it falls flat compared to what you've dreamed up in your head, but on seriously rare occasions it becomes something entirely new in a live setting and those listens on Spotify only serve to remind you of that night that changed it all. These are some of our favorite shows from this year. Zack Baker, Editorial Director Modern Ba

End of the Year 2014: Throwbacks
Megan Fair, General Manager & Copy Chief Descendents It’s kind of insane that I never really got into the Descendents until 2014, seeing as I’ve been playing pop punk for five years of my life. Often pointed to as the precursors to pop punk, the '80s-born hardcore punk group has an enormous discography of incredibly catchy, punchy jams that have audibly influenced everyone from Weezer to Green Day to Propaghandi to Mixtapes to Modern Baseball. Even if you’ve never listened to

End of the Year 2014: Our Biggest Disappointments
Don't get us wrong, 2014 was an incredible year for music. But every great year also comes with it's slew of bummers, last year had the letdown that was The 20/20 Experience alongside plenty of others. The following excerpts are our picks for the lamest things that happened in 2014, picked by rock lobsters as well as contributors from the rest of the Athens scene. Zack Baker, Editorial Director Dads' I'll Be The Tornado Ask anyone in Athens who met me through shows, I used to