OKAPI ​is an Asheville, NC-based musical duo composed of Scott Mitchell Gorski (Upright Bass, Harmonium, Voice) and Lindsey Paige Miller (Cello). Hailing from differing musical backgrounds but sharing a passion for unique approaches to songwriting, craftsmanship, and structure, they began formulating candid, cathartic, and intentionally intricate orchestrations rooted in honesty and rawness. Carrying evocative works abundant with descriptive lyrical paintings, they present ideas both intimately and aggressively, hoping to stimulate a universal confrontation with our absurd reality. They aspire to challenge others’ perceptions through promoting consciousness, healthy growth, and individual empowerment. ​Okapi have toured nationally, performed as part of many festivals, including the experimental Big Ears Festival, and have been lauded by such publications as The Wire. The duo has been awarded grants for music and art by such organizations as the Jazz Foundation of America, MusiCares Foundation, and Toe River Arts.

Coulou is the stage name of Aaron Alcouloumre, a Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, and trumpet player known for blending indie/R&B with electronic dance music. He gained recognition for his "bedroom-style" trumpet meditations, which have garnered millions of views.⁠

Personal growth is a journey that weaves a path through the past, present and future. There’s the awkward, fumbling confusion of childhood, the hilarity and mortifying shame of puberty, and the suffocating nostalgia that piles up thick with age. Like the burning itch of an ever-shrinking sweater, you can’t ignore when it’s time to peel away from the parts of yourself that no longer serve you and walk away from them forever. Few can speak more to the sacred nature of such metamorphosis than the trans community- and Hammydown (aka Abbie Morin - they/them) is humbled to add their vulnerable, and often catchy musings to the conversation with their 2025 debut LP, Former You. Abbie entered their thirties March 12, 2020 (yes, they are a Pisces) while on the road playing in their best friend’s eponymous band, Caroline Rose. Drunk, bemoaning a canceled tour, and naive to the global chaos about to ensue, the two made a backup plan- a new Hammydown record. Working from a mouse-filled cottage in remote Maine, Abbie’s 2nd floor Burlington, Vermont apartment, and Caroline’s Texas home studio- they have spent the past 5 years chiseling out a world for Hammydown’s songs to emerge. Abbie’s colorful lyrics, pop infused melodies and 90s grunge guitar intersect with the complex, cinematic, and deeply thoughtful production of Caroline Rose to form a unique sonic palette that simultaneously feels as unexpected as it does familiar. The songs are rife with the frustration of a queer millennial caught in the dumpster fire of our modern world, and Abbie isn’t afraid to laugh through the pain. Hammydown aims to bring you just a bit of hope- tiny triumphant journeys to find friendship, self compassion and empathy for all of the versions of ourselves we’ve left behind along the way.

Will Lawrence is a NY-based songwriter. Pastoral ballads and parlor pop, “warm, nostalgic, and quietly luminous,” songs about love, loss, and the natural world. His latest album, Rooftops in the Centerfold, was released in September 2025 on Triangle House/Sophomore Lounge Records. He also works as a band member in The Felice Brothers, Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band, and many more. ________________________________ Jordan Holtz is a singer/songwriter hailing from seacoast, New Hampshire. She has been active in the seacoast music scene since 2013 as the bassist and 2nd lead vocalist in indie rock outfit Rick Rude. Holtz also lends her voice, and sometimes her bass, to New Hampshire folk rock band Footings. When playing alone, Jordan takes the opportunity to showcase the electric bass as a solo instrument. She has shared stages with acts like Frank Black, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Vapors of Morphine and NOUN/Marissa Paternoster. Holtz's solo performance brings a slowed, contemplative sound to songs normally played loud and fast in a full-band setting. Her voice goes from plaintive and introspective to full on Heart in no time at all, threading soulful narratives and effortless melodies in and out of bass lines that feel like an entire band. Her debut solo-EP titled "Not Close for Comfort" was released in 2023 via Pretty Purgatory. ________________________________ Jake McKelvie has traveled the DIY touring circuit in the US and UK for over a decade, carving out a niche for himself as a songwriter and performer. Known for his off-kilter "stream of self-consciousness" lyricism, he sings his songs either as a solo performer or with his newly minted backing band, "the New Old Band". He released his latest LP "A New Kind of Hat" in 2024 and has been touring in support of it since.

In New York-based trio Gift Horse, guitarist Ryley Walker joins electronic experimentalists Matthew Hord and Jonathan Schenke for an approach that re-contextualizes and expands the group’s early sound. The dusted digital beat framework and expansive FM tones remain, now reinforced by a deep dive into self-sampling and Walker’s intricate guitar work immersed within the sine waves. For context, look no further than lead single “Rebar Redux”: this live-in-studio performance showcases the group’s dynamic chemistry and evolution of their sound, taking an early track and twisting it into new and unexpected shapes. Or the wistful “Pillar Quality” – one of the first songs the group wrote as a trio – where swirling guitar arpeggios intertwine with elastic, synthesized low-end and yearning pads over propulsive percussion. The remainder of the album weaves together IDM-reminiscent psychedelia, cinematic soundscapes, rustic fretwork exercises, and cold industrial tonality into a tapestry of label-defying experimentation. Hord, Schenke, and Walker all spent formative years in Chicago’s music scene; that genre-agnostic attitude, experimental approach, and collaborative spirit is central to the sound of Gift Horse. Since their formation, the group has shared bills with similarly open-minded artists including electronic trailblazers James K and Bitchin’ Bajas, post-punk lifers Protomartyr and Winged Wheel, and psychedelic explorers Go Kurosawa and Water Damage.