Degraw Sound Announces DEGRAW FEST
Festival Dedicated to Brooklyn-Made Music Featuring:
Queue, Eighty Ninety, Elliot & the Ghost, Kevin Daniel and More
August 4, 2018 – 2:00 – 10:00 PM : Tickets: $10
Littlefield Performance and Art Space
635 Sackett St., Brooklyn, NY 11217
Degraw Sound — a Brooklyn-based recording studio located on the Park Slope/Gowanus border and owned and operated by producer/engineer/musician Ben Rice — is proud to announce the 2nd annual Degraw Fest, a daylong music festival featuring the best in new Brooklyn music. Taking place on August 4, 2018 at Littlefield Performance and Art Space, this event features artists produced by Degraw Sound and offers festival attendees the chance to check out some of the hottest music coming out of Brooklyn.
When born and bred Brooklynite Ben Rice dreamt up Degraw Fest, he set out to create an event where musicians and music lovers could come together to enjoy the music from up and coming local bands who record at his studio, Degraw Sound.
The festival will feature indie, pop, rock, folk and Americana-influenced groups such as Queue, Eighty Ninety, Elliot & the Ghost, Kevin Daniel, Common Jack, and more. Many of these artists are breaking ground – in addition to touring nationally and locally, they are finding themselves included in curated, exclusive playlists with international reach. Degraw Fest aims to pay homage to the creative and artistic fabric that Brooklyn is known for. Attendees can also look forward to an exhibit from music photographer Drew Reynolds, beer specials from Sixpoint Brewery and a pop-up from Howlin’ Taco, which will be serving authentic Austin-style tacos all day long.
FOR A SPOTIFY PLAYLIST OF DEGRAW FEST MUSICIANS, CLICK HERE
Lyft, a sponsor of Degraw Fest, will offer attendees an additional incentive to spend the day checking out new music in Gowanus. Code “DEGRAWFEST” can be used in the Lyft app for a 25% discount on rides to/from the venue.
“When I started Degraw Fest, I wanted to create a way to share the music that’s being made at my studio with the Brooklyn community. At its best, Brooklyn has been a home for art and culture and as a creator; I’d like to see that tradition continue. I think of Degraw Fest as a way for the studio to do its part in bringing together local musicians and continuing to foster the city’s music scene.” said producer Ben Rice, a life-long Brooklynite and founder of Degraw Sound and Degraw Fest.
TICKET, TIMES AND LOCATION
Price: $10 in advance; $10 at door
Tickets can be purchased at: https://www.littlefieldnyc.com
Littlefield Performance and Art Space
635 Sackett St., Brooklyn, NY 11217
Time: 2:00 – 10:00 PM
The complete Degraw Fest schedule follows. For the most up-to-date scheduling and line-up follow Degraw Fest via the below links and visithttp://www.degrawfest.com for festival information.
Twitter: @DegrawSound
Instagram: @DegrawSound
Facebook: www.facebook.com/degrawsound
About Degraw Sound and Degraw Fest
Degraw Sound is a recording studio in Gowanus, Brooklyn, founded in 2012 by producer/musician Ben Rice. Since opening its doors the studio has hosted recording sessions for artists including Aoife O’Donovan, The Candles, Daughter, Diane Birch, The Districts, James Iha (The Smashing Pumkins), Mathew Shipp, Michael Daves, Norah Jones, The Skins, Stars, Tony Trischka as well as all the artists featured at Degraw Fest. Rice started Degraw Fest as a way to share the music being recorded at Degraw Sound and create awareness for some of Brooklyn’s most exciting up and coming artists. Featuring music from a range of genres including indie, pop, rock, folk and Americana, Degraw Fest brings together a talented community of musicians.
Sponsors
Lyft – www.lyft.com
Sixpoint Brewery – www.sixpoint.com
Howlin’ Taco – www.howlintaco.com
DEGRAW FEST LINEUP
Eighty Ninety is comprised of brothers Abner (vocals, production) and Harper James (guitar, production). Their music fuses intimate storytelling, sticky melodies, and minimalist pop productions built on acoustic instruments and electronic sounds in a style they call “808s and telecasters.” Eighty Ninety’s debut single “Three Thirty” — a hook-laced, hypnotic message to a past love — quickly reached #2 on Spotify’s Global Viral Chart after its independent release, gaining the band over 1 million monthly Spotify listeners with a single song. Since the release of their moody, romantic debut EPElizabeth, Eighty Ninety have garnered over 17 million streams. The EP’s success saw Eighty Ninety featured on the cover of Spotify’s Fresh Findsplaylist, and a second single, “Heartbreaker”, make waves on international viral charts. In 2017, Eighty Ninety announced their upcoming EP Bowery Beach Road and released its first single, nostalgic indie-pop anthem, “Your Favorite Song.” The song was hand-picked by Taylor Swift for her official Spotify playlist Songs Taylor Loves, and was covered by publications ranging from Billboard and NME to Glamour and People Magazine and garnered praise from outlets like Huffington Post, which declared it “beautiful…sumptuous pop music at its best.”
Queue’s debut single “Falling Into Skies” landed on Spotify’s tastemaking Fresh Finds playlist and was quickly lauded for its lush, moody vocals and chiming guitars by publications ranging from Drunken Werewolf to Pause Musicale. They followed with a second single, “More,” an aching ballad that Consequence of Sound called “a soft yet scintillating track teetering between dream folk and indie rock.” Queue went on the road in support of these releases, playing shows across the east coast with Middle Kids, The Editors, Twinsmith, and Tall Heights. Afterwards, the band returned to the studio, creating “Frontier”, an energetic fever dream with driving guitars and anthemic vocal melodies. This release would mark the third time the band was featured on Spotify’s Fresh Finds playlist and was Queue’s biggest success to date. In December of 2017, Queue released “Aimless Kid”, a powerful first taste of their upcoming debut EP that Indie Shuffle described as “lush waves of electric guitar and electronics, a simple concept turned into something so rich and full.”
Ben Rice is a Brooklyn based producer and musician. He is best known for producing The Candles, Elliot & the Ghost, The Skins and Queue. As a performer, he has shared stages with the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Band of Skulls and Brendan Benson. On his forthcoming EP, Rice channels the sounds of Americana, Britpop and psychedelia through his introspective songwriting and minimalist production.
Elliot & The Ghost came together in 2014 in New York City. The band’s very first performances were held in old Brooklyn loft spaces and scuzzy dives, but within a year’s time the group was headlining shows around New York at Bowery Ballroom, Rough Trade, Mercury Lounge and have played high profile shows as direct support for Weezer, Gary Clark Jr., as well as performing at the Billboard Hot 100 Festival, Great South Bay Music Fest, and SXSW. Led by Austin-native William Thompson, the band has earned buzz after releasing a series of singles over the last year, each averaging 50-70k Spotify streams with acclaim from the likes of Billboard, SPIN, Culture Collide, and Flavorpill. Artist Direct praised Elliot & The Ghost as “a vibrant painting with sonic colors spanning Nick Cave-style cinematic musings, surfed-up post-punk guitars evocative of The Smiths and The Clash, and eerily danceable beats that prove instantly magnetic. Still, descriptions don’t do it justice. You’ve just got to let Elliot & The Ghost haunt you.”Impose proclaimed “Their music has a distinct ‘badass’ vibe to it, making us want to walk a little taller to the beat.” Similarly, CMJ applauded their “fresh, airy kind of surf-pop in the vein of early Rosebuds or the Shins stripped of cardigans and sent back to a dank basement to get a little tipsy and start all over.”
Formed in Brooklyn, NY in 2017, GRITS is a rock and roll band with heavy soul and R&B influences. Founded on the love of loudly belting out late night sing-alongs way past closing time, their sound is bold and nostalgic, lean, deep and soaked in beer. Their debut single “Darlin’” was released in March 2018 and has been described as “super alluring” and “a perfect harmony… a campfire song for sure.”
Kevin Daniel is a Brooklyn-based Americana singer-songwriter. He recently finished his second EP, Myself Through You featuring sounds as diverse as pedal steel guitar, flugelhorn, and bluegrass banjo, the songs on the five-song EP deliver sublime lamentations of the country-tinged Americana Daniel has created over the last few years. The EP’s title track, “Myself Through You” is Daniel’s subjective look at his own life. With backup vocals provided by the talented Irene Blackman, Daniel’s lyrics touch on his childhood in rural North Carolina, personal struggle with a tragic loss, and the inevitable forward push of time.
Singer-songwriter John Gardner formed Brooklyn based folk-rock band Common Jack during a two and a half year world tour with the Broadway show, Once. Citing a wide range of influences from Bob Dylan to Feist, Gardner operates within the fluid genre of Americana; employing folk song structures while blending elements of rock and pop to create fresh arrangements while retaining the familiarity all Americana music has. Gardner recorded Common Jack’s debut LP – Bowl, Holland which was praised for the “richness of the sound…from minimalist to quite symphonic” and for Gardner’s songwriting. Gardner and the band pushed themselves even further with a dynamic new album, Strange New State. It was released to critical acclaim with France’s ISA Radio writing “this album will remain the first gem on the discography… [Gardner] reached something with these recordings.” These sentiments were echoed by The Alternate Root magazine, “Common Jack snags the indie style of musical inclusivity…self assured and confident…hits a universal note.”
Bell the Band is a New York City-based band, distilled in the Appalachian South and aged in an oak barrel of American blues, roots and folk music. Lead singer and songwriter Caitlin Marie Bell came of age in a small town in Georgia. She spent many sweltering summer afternoons cloistered in her bedroom with a guitar, immersed in the American folk and country tradition — Mississippi John Hurt, Jean Ritchie, Johnny Cash, George Jones,Townes Van Zandt — soaking up their authentic, understated expressions of truth, beauty and pain. And after a stint studying Opera at Oberlin College and in Seattle studying West African folk music, she moved to New York City, reconnecting with her Americana roots in the Greenwich village singer-songwriter circuit. There she found her musical soulmates — drummer Jared Saltiel, upright bassist Gab Bowler and guitarist Harper James — and together they formed Bell the Band. The band’s first self titled EP earned a cover spot on Spotify’s “Women of Fresh Finds” playlist and went on to garner more than 500k streams. Noisey said of the EP “It’s got everything you want: nostalgia, reflection and a little hope.” She started of 2018 by snagging an opening slot on tour with Republic Records pop rock band, Misterwives, and has already begun work on her next release.
Sophie Colette is a Brooklyn based indie-pop artist. Her forthcoming single “Pattern” — slated for a May 11 release — finds Colette delicately reflecting on the vulnerability and healing process after a fallen romance. The track builds around Colette’s ethereal vocals and poignant lyrics with the vintage tones of a soulful guitar riff, Hammond organ and Mellotron juxtaposed by modern groove. Colette’s latest release “Slow Danse” premiered in early 2018 on Glamglare with an accompanying short film directed by Curvel Baptiste. Previously, her single “Tonite” from her debut EP Strangers and Lovers was featured at New York Fashion Week for Jasmine Chong’s 2017 runway presentation to editors of Vogue, WWD, and Elle magazines. Selected footage from her music video for “Get Close,” directed by Stephen Dirkes of Obscure Films, was nominated for Best Creative Concept, Art Direction, and Visual Effects at the La Jolla International Fashion Film Festival. Colette supported the release with a European promo tour with indie-folk artist The Crystal Elephant across festivals and stages in Berlin, Barcelona, and Edinburgh.
AMFM is synth and guitar driven indie rock with a touch of garage-rock and glam. Singles from the AMFM EP were featured on Banana Republic and Abercrombie & Fitch’s in store playlists and additionally featured on Spotify’s “Fresh Finds 6 Strings” playlist. The EP garnered praise from the likes of Pop Wrapped, Music is My Radar, Indie Band Guru and Kill The Music. In 2017 AMFM was invited to play at Rolling Stone Magazine in NYC. They are currently recording new music for a release in the summer of 2018.
Brooklyn based photographer Drew Reynolds grew up in Chicagoland listening to primarily post punk bands, gazing upon their album covers, and the NME. That led him to discover graphic artist Vaughan Oliver who designs album covers for 4AD. Years later that would eventually push Drew to pursue a career in photography.
Because of that passion for photography & music he has photographed for Rolling Stone, Interscope, Red Bull, Captured Tracks, and happily to say 4AD. Drew has photographed a wide range of artists from Smashing Pumpkins to Jason Aldean to Courtney Barnett to Grandmaster Flash to Slowdive.
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