Dyan is the solo project of film composer, Alexis Dyan Marsh. Between scoring the TNT television series, Animal Kingdom, or composing for feature films (Jazzy, The Unknown Country, NextGen), Marsh started writing songs to fill in where directors wanted music with lyrics. Her first album, Looking For Knives, was the result of producing songs that made it into cuts and some that didn't. The effort showed Marsh a different way to release music, apart from the screen, but still aiming to create sound that evokes imagery. Midwest is Marsh’s second album of songs, written while moving back and forth between Los Angeles and Cincinnati, eventually settling in the midwest with her partner and son. It was there where Marsh was able to build a studio of her own to write, produce, and mix Dyan songs while she continued to compose for film. Her latest film score was written for Morrisa Maltz’s secondfeature film, Jazzy, which premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival. The film has gone on to screen at SXSW Sydney, the Rome Film Festival and was nominated for the John Cassavetes Award as part of the 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards.

A compact luxury convertible pulls into the roundabout in front of the Hotel Paradiso. A dapper gentleman kills the engine and pulls himself up onto the curb, cracking a thin but affable smile. He hands his keys to the valet, removing and dusting off his woven, off-white hat and closing his eyes for a moment in satisfaction. He stops to marvel briefly at the Art Deco lobby, as luxurious and finely detailed as he remembers from his last stay. The architecture is minimalist and Baroque in all the right places; everything feels in balance at this palatial estate at the edge of the world. Guests come from their own respective Nowheres to enjoy a weekend or month away from their troubles and, perhaps, the vain trappings of their identity. After rubbing the edges of his mustache for a moment in contemplation, the unknown gentleman decides that his best course of action is to change his suit, make a reservation for a fine seafood dinner in town, and mix his first martini of the afternoon. He takes in a bird’s eye view of the marina and the citrus trees from his room’s stucco balcony; eventually, he will no doubt make his way down to the pool, and from there, to the lounge. It may not be this particular man, but composer and vintage keyboard maestro Moon Mullins wrote Hotel Paradiso—his newest work of programmatic exotica for Ruination Records—from the perspective of some lone, context-free traveler. They are at loose ends, eager for a few days in another open-ended, simpler life; from their vantage,we see, hear, and feel Paradiso. Mullins creates his imagery through a singular, meticulously blended combination of synthetic and acoustic sounds, played largely by him with help from friends. The scenario inspires the most ambitious and orchestrally-minded set of compositions the Brooklyn-based musician has yet released. Its predecessor, Water Your Flowers, felt more pointillistic and comprehensively electronic, conjuring images of utopian tiki bars, bonsai gardens, beaches on distant planets, and more. The palette of Hotel Paradiso is even more kaleidoscopic, creating moments of transcendent atmosphere that recall, at turns, Japanese ambient music, the early mood LPs of Henry Mancini, and the ethereal harmonies of Maurice Ravel. Hotel Paradiso takes place in less than 24 hours, and ends with the onset of blissful slumber. We aren’t forced to imagine the Traveler in any discomfort, suffering the after-effects of their nighttime jaunt or having to leave their weekend oasis at checkout time. The wider world is left outside of the picture, as if it could disappear entirely if we kept listening. In this unabashedly idyllic music, Mullins demonstrates his acute command of how to create a prolonged scene in sound, and his ever-expanding gifts as an arranger. But at no point does the cleverness and sophistication of Mullins’s writing on Hotel Paradiso upstage the story he is trying to tell: one paying tribute to the healing power of beautiful spaces and—if only for a fleeting moment or a single paycheck—the finer things in life.

A singer and songwriter from Westerly, Rhode Island, Zachary Alexander Cholewa started Number One Babe in 2020 as a vehicle for his indie folk & Americana twang after spending formative years writing and performing with garage rock band Sydney's Armour. His debut album, 2022's Ecstatic Function brought many jangly, raucous shows to the greater northeast, culminating in an electrifying set at Newport Folk Festival in 2024. Cholewa's next LP under the Number One Babe moniker Loving, lLaving is set to release November 14 via Funnybone Records and will prove to be the songwriter's most defining body of work to date. ________________________ Western MA indie rock mainstays Lost Film have released new singles in 2025 via Relief Map Records. The jangly dreampop centered by synthesizers and driving bass chords is the first new music from the guitar pop veterans since 2023’s Keep It Together and mostly picks up from where that collection left off. There is however a notable jump in production from the typically DIY project led by main songwriter Jim Hewitt thanks in part to new collaborations with engineer John Panagotopulos and drummer Jeremy Woods. Using a perfect blend of bedroom and studio recording techniques, the track is lifted up without losing the lo-fi charm Lost Film has become known for. Lost Film continues to play across the Northeast- most notably with an appearance at Western Mass’s Green River Fest in June alongside Waxahatchee, MJ Lenderman, Courtney Barnett and others.

“Over the last couple of decades, East Nashville fixture Amelia White has built a folk-pop catalog that's as unfussy as it is consistent in quality, and full of insinuating hooks, slyly sleepy singing and lean, jangly backing. “Rhythm of The Rain," looks at the current political frenzy from a seasoned, bohemian remove.” Jewly Hight, NPR No teenage starlet, Amelia shouldered her guitar in Boston for years, then Seattle, and now in East Nashville, where she’s been in the trenches for a good many years. Google “paid her dues” and there she is, with her reddish-brown shoulder length locks, eyeglasses and a smile. Then the unthinkable happened – her 2019 record “Rhythm of the Rain” actually stuck to the wall, doing well in the charts and spring-boarding Amelia from playing Tuesday nights for tips to actually headlining venues and god forbid getting somewhere! It couldn’t happen to a better artist, and one listen to “Love I Swore” will be a very convincing listen to one of America’s great “new” singer-songwriters. She just wants to get up and sing and she couldn’t care less about any ice on the wing." ________________________ Linda McRae’s love of Canadian, American, and British music early on in her career resulted in multiple band configurations from roots-rock to punk to folk. These bands included the platinum selling group, Spirit of the West. Her deep contribution to the Canadian music scene resulted in her being honored as a 2016 British Columbia Entertainment Hall of Fame “Pioneer” inductee. Linda manages to bend the rules and the genres proving that stripping a song clean brings one back to their roots. A singer-songwriter musician of the old school with decades of experience you may think you know what Linda McRae is up to. That is until she throws you a curve with a new twist: David Bowie on Banjo?! When Linda steps onto a concert stage, into a recording studio, workshop or mentoring session, there is an effortless passion, a love of what she does and a connection with fans and friendships built and treasured. A multi-instrumentalist Linda works tirelessly as a touring singing songwriter, performing at premiere venues across Canada, the US and Europe while turning out new works. McRae has offered seven critically acclaimed recordings throughout her years as a solo performer and is featured on multiple artists’ albums. Numerous accolades and top radio charting have landed Linda a Canadian Folk Music nomination for Contemporary Album of The Year for “Rough Edges and Ragged Hearts,” two Escape to Create Residencies in Florida, Winner of the Family Folk Chorale for “Be Your Own Light”. Linda is also highly sought after as a teacher, mentor, juror, panelist and workshop facilitator.

HAYDEN PEDIGO: man, myth, master of disguise; un-picker, finger-picker, absurdist, perfectionist. An innovator of the instrumental genre, challenger of the stereotypical, son of a truck-stop preacher. His new album, 'I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away' is, Hayden reflects, not a straightforward solo guitar record, but in a sense “a micro-dose psychedelic album." Unafraid to push the parameters of American primitive, the walls of the album’s world are fuzzed-up and glimmering. Pedigo’s trademark, highly skilled guitar compositions, more intricate than ever, are augmented by influences he’s never been able to achieve on previous records, drawing strongly from the uncanny psychedelia of larger-than-life culture in the American South, so often bigger, stranger, more unnerving than fiction. Throughout 'I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away', moments of genre-defying, unapologetic exuberance are carefully balanced with delicacy and intricacy. ___________________________________ Who on earth is Jens Kuross? He's been hiding in plain sight: a fumbled career as an LA session musician and songwriter, a cabinet maker in Idaho. Crooked Songs, his debut for Woodsist, is mysterious, warm, and heart-stirring. Using just voice and electric piano, the music delicately enswathed by ambient synth – minimal without losing sight of his songcraft Crooked Songs suggests an otherworldly naturalism akin to a ghost returning to earth to observe the passing of time, life, and light.

Stephen Clair's grandfather was always singing from behind the wheel while occasionally opening the car door to spit. It was Grandpap who played young Stephen a Johnny Cash record when he was five years old, and that's everything Stephen remembers from his youth. Best known for his wry humor and guitar stylings, the Beacon, NY musician has been a fixture on the Americana, alt-country, and dorky independent rock scene since his 1997 debut, Altoona Hotel, named for the town his grandfather called home.
 He's released many more albums over the years and toured and done all the things, experiencing
all the near misses of life in the biz. Critics and his family love him first. Everyone else has come
around in their own sweet time.
 Rawboned, his latest effort, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, features only Clair and a
guitar, except when it's Clair and a rickety piano. The songs are miniature stories, the essence of
emotion, and the arrangements and performances fit accordingly. "Every note, every part — including the air around it — is intentional," says Clair. "I recorded it alone, in a room, over months, guitar in my lap, mousing with one hand, groping through the microphones surrounding me. I recorded take after take of each song. What you hear are complete, intact performances of each song. No punching in, no edits, no cutting and pasting. Each track on the record is a complete performance."
 There's air in these songs, for sure. Every melody counts, as does each breath, word, and the
space in between. Repetition is another device Clair takes full advantage of. Repeating words or
lines can show longing, anticipation, and even obsession. The singer in "Watering the Flowers"
and "Pizza and Fairy Tales" uses this to full effect. The sanguine narrator provides the play-by-play as they incessantly water the flowers, waiting, wondering, attempting to keep their shit together.
 Clair first came to prominence when the late Rita Houston pronounced her love for "Jen in Her
 Underwear," adding it to regular rotation on WFUV, thereby putting Clair on the map and the road. His next effort was Under the Bed, followed by What Luck (2007.) In 2019, Clair teamed up with celebrated producer Malcolm Burn (U2 and Emmylou Harris), the result, an epic garage album, Strange Perfume. Paste Magazine declared "Clair's lyrics are everyman poetry with a dash of self-deprecation and gallows humor to go with his otherwise uncluttered views of the world around and within him.”


THE SPEED OF SOUND IS A BRAND - NEW MAINE -BASED BAND THAT BLENDS...sharp musicianship, melodic sensibilities, and a love for timeless songwriting. Fronted by Spencer Albee on lead vocals, vintage keyboards, and rhythm guitar, the group features Zachary Bence (lead guitar, background vocals), Owen Markowitz (drums, background vocals), and Caleb Sweet (bass, background vocals). Rolling Stone once wrote, “There’s no shame in being a Fab Four disciple — Electric Light Orchestra, Oasis, and Squeeze made careers of it — and Spencer Albee is a 21st century master in the lost art of Beatlesesque hooks.” That melodic mastery is at the heart of The Speed of Sound. Albee’s career has spanned international tours, multiple major recording and publishing contracts, and collaborations with icons like David Bowie, Amy Allen, De La Soul, John Stirratt (Wilco, The Autumn Defense), Louisa Stancioff, and The Ghost of Paul Revere. Guitarist Zachary Bence, a William Paterson University jazz alum, has recorded with a range of acclaimed artists including Griffin William Sherry and Louisa Stancioff. Drummer Owen Markowitz draws on a rich background in jazz and improvisation, influenced by legends such as Tony Williams, Max Roach, Philly Joe Jones, and Nate Smith. Bassist Caleb Sweet, a Berklee College of Music graduate, and seasoned road musician after touring with The Wolff Sisters, Chris Ross and The North, and more over the past decade. The Speed of Sound is an indie band with a hankering for Wonder, Hendrix, Little Feat, McCartney, The Meters, Hancock, Bowie, Zevon, 90s hip hop, and Detroit-era Motown.