2023 Lineup & Schedule

BAND BIOS

ABOUT RIPE:
Ripe’s new album Bright Blues has an anthemic feel. It is a collection of 12 songs full of sleek grooves and bold melodies that the Boston quartet put together to help ride out tough times. The members of Ripe have never felt more assured about the band or their music. Collectively and personally, Ripe has weathered a mountain of adversity over the past few years, including a shifting lineup, a change in management and turbulence in the musicians’ personal lives — plus a global pandemic that made recording Bright Blues a logistically complex bicoastal project.

“The wildest thing for me is that the record simultaneously sounds like it has the scars of everything we’ve been through and also that it doesn’t — it’s joyful music, which is very exciting given that it was made in the middle of getting hit in the stomach,” says singer Robbie Wulfsohn, who came together with guitarist Jon Becker, drummer Sampson Hellerman, and trombonist Calvin Barthel while they were all studying at Berklee College of Music.  Read more.

ABOUT RYAN MONTBLEAU:
For as long as he can remember, Ryan Montbleau’s been a seeker. From the jungles of Peru to the volcanoes of Hawaii, from the beaches of Costa Rica to the streets of Brooklyn, from the backseat of a 16-passenger van to backstage at Carnegie Hall, the acclaimed singer/songwriter has spent much of his life crisscrossing the globe on a perpetual search for meaning, purpose, and understanding. It’s a quest that’s guided him both personally and professionally over the years, one that’s come to define not only his music, but his very sense of self. And yet, listening to Montbleau’s ambitious new multi-part album, Wood, Fire, Water, and Air, there is a profound sense of satisfaction in sitting still, a recognition that perhaps all those spiritual treasures he’s been chasing for so long were closer than he thought.

“My whole adult life has been this journey of trying to figure out where home is,” Montbleau reflects. “I think I’ve finally found it.”  Read more.

ABOUT AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:

Air Traffic Controller have created a place all their own in the indie pop world.

Serving in the US Navy as an air traffic controller, singer/songwriter Dave Munro sent home demos written during deployment. This was chapter one for ATC. In the decade that followed, Dave built a legacy for crafting heartfelt, luscious, and genuine indie-folk-pop songs that are timeless and classic. The band emerged from the Boston scene releasing 4 critically applauded albums and touring the U.S. and U.K. with an evolving band, now solidified by drummer Adam Salameh, bassist Joe Campbell, guitarist Bobby Borenstein, vocalist/keytarist Emi McSwain, and multi-instrumentalist Steve Scott.

They took their time writing and demoing their fifth album, and the listeners have not left their side. Streaming to over 360 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify alone, ATC launches their new album, entitled “Dash”. Recording throughout the pandemic the team met several delays and hardships, but continued collaborating, remotely at times, to bring the next chapter of ATC to its debut. On the new album you will hear the band together in Dimension Sound Studios with Boston producer/ engineer Dan Cardinal (Darlingside, Henry Jamison, Josh Ritter, Ballroom Thieves) along with longtime ATC collaborators Seth Kasper and Adrian Aiello. The goal was not to match up with past ATC albums, or to meet some expectation, in fact, ATC’s formulas were often set aside in an effort to search from within each member. However, if you have loved anything by ATC, the stories, charm, nostalgia, hooks, Dash will pull you in from the opening line “It was chapter one” and take you on a beautiful ride.  Read more.

ABOUT STEVE RONDO:
Steve Rondo is the songwriter of his self-titled indie-rock band from New England. He released his debut EP Fate Loves the Fearless, featuring Matches (described as “stadium-ready Americana” by 92.5 the River as part of the Homegrown Showcase in February 2022) and Afternoon Rebellion (featured on Spotify’s editorial playlist Fresh Finds Indie).  In August of 2022, Steve opened for Dermot Kennedy in Portland, Maine.

In 2023 Steve will be releasing his second EP. In the summer he will be performing in his first major festival (Levitate Music Festival) and heading on his first tour across the Northeast of the U.S. There is nature inspired imagery riddled throughout Steve’s songs as evidence of his adolescence spent growing up in the New England sea, mountains, and forests. Inspirations include Ben Howard, Sam Fender, The War On Drugs, Gang of Youths, flipturn, Wunderhorse, Wilderado, The Backseat Lovers, and The Killers.  Read more.