Big Head Todd and the Monsters

In this life, very few friendships withstand the test of time. Naturally, people go their separate ways and chase their own dreams. As rare as it may be for friendships to last a lifetime, it might be even rarer for a band to stick together for the long haul. For close to four decades, the members of Big Head Todd and The Monsters—Todd Park Mohr [vocals, guitar, keys, sax, harmonica], Brian Nevin [drums], Rob Squires [bass, vocals], and Jeremy Lawton [keyboards, lap pedal/steel guitar, vocals]—have continued to both throw down in the studio and light up stages worldwide. Rallying around a core vision, the platinum-selling Colorado quartet kick out the kind of blues-drenched rock ‘n’ roll bangers that make you want to rev the engine a little louder, sing along like no one’s looking, and live a little freer.  This holds true on their 12th full-length offering, Her Way Out. “To me, my band means four people who listen to each other, work hard, and share a goal,” Todd observes. “The goal has to do with reaching out to people, catching their ears, and sharing a story we hope they relate to. Our fans have given us an incredible 40-year career, and we hope they’ve gotten great songs and performances in return.” They’ve most definitely delivered on both fronts…  As the story goes, Todd, Brian, and Rob unlocked their musical partnership during high school when they started jamming in the early eighties. Fast forward to 1986, they adopted the moniker Big Head Todd and The Monsters. BHTM released 2 successful independent records on their own BIG Records, Another Mayberry (1989) and Midnight Radio (1990) before drawing the attention of music industry titans and signing with Irving Azoff, Chuck Morris, and Frank Barsalona in 1992. They broke nationally  with the platinum-certified staple Sister Sweetly (1993) which yielded four top 10 rock radio hits. They continued to progress with Strategem [1994] and Beautiful World [1997] which yielded several more rock radio hits including Boom Boom featuring John Lee Hooker. The band is continually touring and recording and has continued to put out albums that have received critical acclaim from both fans and press. Among other milestones, their music literally reached the heavens when they played “Blue Sky” live at NASA Mission Control, delivering a celestial wakeup for astronauts aboard the International Space Station. They’ve toured and recorded with many rock and blues legends including B.B. King, Neil Young, The Allman Brothers, Hubert Sumlin, David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Dave Matthews Band, The Eagles and their personal favorite Robert Plant. Not to mention, they attained hometown hero status by headlining Red Rocks Amphitheatre 35 times in addition to earning induction into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame in 2023.  Her Way Out came to life organically. For two years, they hosted “Monster’s Music Monthly,” serving up either a new song or a new version of a classic online.  Working out of Jeremy’s home studio, they parlayed this momentum into their latest LP. “It had been almost seven years since our last album release, but we wanted to put the same energy of ‘Monster’s Music Monthly’ into a full-length,” Todd notes. “We have a very distinct personality as a band. I write to the sensibilities of each member, because they’re going to have to dig playing it. We’re a benevolent democracy. If one guy isn’t connecting with a certain song, that song is out. As an uncomplicated rock band, we like to do things that are ‘proper’—loud guitars, drums, big bass, and well-placed organ, keys, and lap steel. We road-tested every song on the record before recording a lick. All of that helped us dial in the arrangements, ditch tunes that didn’t work, and grow a strong sense of what our individual parts should be.” In this respect, the single and title track “Her Way Out” packs a concentrated and catchy punch. Anchored by a steady beat, the rough and tumble riff kicks up dust as soulful vocals ignite an irresistible refrain, “She found her way out, her way out—and it was me.” “It’s driven by the idea that relationships are frail,” he elaborates. “Sometimes, they are something one wants freedom from. A real-life circumstance drives this story. Something was said when a person had too much to drink. The relationship ended with words, but the drinker could never know what he said and the woman refused to tell him.” Ass-kicking guitar surges through “Thunderbird” as strains of organ coat a raucous refrain with a lyrical tip-of-the-hat to the Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas classic American Graffiti. He goes on, “‘Thunderbird’ is a collection of one-liners from the film knit together with a beat poet vibe. It has an AC/DC-like guitar riff and a cinematic-style vocal. It’s all about drag racing and love never caught.” Elsewhere, Big Head Todd and The Monsters nod to Annie Oakley with “Don’t Kill Me Tonight.” Then, there’s “King Kong.” A hulking groove lumbers beneath the frontman’s bluesy intonation as a piano solo bleeds into a skyscraper-scaling guitar lead. “It’s inspired by a large movie poster in my basement of King Kong on top of the Empire State Building,” Todd reveals. “I’m drawn to these iconic contemporary heroes who are also monsters. They are complicated because they destroy so much, yet are sympathetic to children and fall in love with human women. These ‘Titans’, as they are called, are often monsters of our own making. It’s exciting to perform live.” In the end, the future looks as bright as ever for these longtime friends. “We work very hard at being a great band,” Todd leaves off. “We’re also a group that cares for each other. We’ve been together for almost 40 years. Our audience has made it all possible, and we’re grateful and determined to keep playing.

Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit

Six-time Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Jason Isbell is one of the most respected and celebrated artists of his generation. The North Alabama native possesses an incredible penchant for identifying and articulating some of the deepest, yet simplest, human emotions, and turning them into beautiful poetry through song. Isbell sings of the everyday human condition with thoughtful, heartfelt, and sometimes brutal honesty. After releasing multiple albums and touring the world with his band, the 400 Unit, Isbell will begin 2025 with a change of pace. He will hit the road on his own, performing solo this winter and early spring at historic music venues across Europe and the US. In conjunction with these much anticipated shows, Isbell will be releasing a new album featuring only his voice and an acoustic guitar, an all-mahogany 1940 Martin 0-17. These recordings further demonstrate his pure talent as a songwriter and musician. Produced by Gena Johnson and Jason Isbell, and recorded at Electric Lady Studios in NYC, ‘Foxes in the Snow’ is set to be released on March 7th.

Mariah the Scientist

Mariah The Scientist is a singer-songwriter from Atlanta, GA, whose 2025 single “Burning Blue” has accounted for one of the biggest R&B hits of the year. The Top 25 single on the Billboard Hot 100 earned no. 1 spots on the Billboard Rhythmic Airplay and Mainstream R&B/Hip Hop charts and earned Mariah the fifth RIAA Gold plaque of her career. Her latest album, HEARTS SOLD SEPARATELY, released in the summer of 2025, is her biggest and most influential work to date, powered by “Burning Blue” and the album’s second Hot 100 hit, “Is It a Crime?” featuring Kali Uchis. Mariah’s critically-acclaimed fourth studio album debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart and no. 11 on the Billboard 200 during the first week of release, earning the new project the distinction of being the highest debut on either chart in her career. Release week also marked three hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100 for the album including “Burning Blue,” “Is It a Crime?,” and “Sacrifice.” “I’m dead serious about this love sh*t,” the singer says about the vulnerable songwriting that has themed her career. Mariah began building her loyal following with a four-song EP, To Die For, released to Soundcloud in 2018. Two EPs and two studio albums later, she established herself as a bonafide R&B star with the 2024 release of her critically-acclaimed third studio album, To Be Eaten Alive, her first full-length solo project released via Epic Records. The resulting To Be Eaten Alive World Tour and career highlights, which included co-signs from Rihanna and an induction into The Recording Academy’s 2025 New Membership Class, indicated the new heights her HEARTS SOLD SEPARATELY era has pushed her to reach.

Rainbow Kitten Surprise

As if channeling another dimension where genres simply don’t exist, Rainbow Kitten Surprise finds harmony in unpredictability – weaving together lyrical poetry, hummable melodies, and a rush of instrumental eccentricities. Now boasting over 2 billion global streams across platforms, the band first began building their devoted fanbase with independent albums SEVEN + MARY(2013) and RKS (2015). The band’s breakout full-length debut for Elektra, HOW TO: FRIEND, LOVE, FREEFALL, arrived in April 2018. Produced by GRAMMY® Award-winner Jay Joyce (Cage The Elephant, Lainey Wilson), the album featured RIAA-certified Platinum single “It’s Called: Freefall,” earned widespread praise from Billboard, TIME, Vice, and NPR who described their sound as “…a mix of jam and indie and whatever else you can throw into the soup…very earnest, beautiful, political, loving rock n’ roll,” and saw the band make several national television appearances, including performances on “CBS Saturday Morning,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and PBS’s “Austin City Limits.” After gracing the bills of Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Osheaga, to name a few, RKS moved 80,000 tickets of their own on the sold-out 2018/2019 Friend, Love, Freefall Tour. That tour was earmarked by a sold-out debut at Red Rocks Amphitheatre and three consecutive gigs in Athens, GA (the latter of which were chronicled on their first official live album, LIVE FROM ATHENS GEORGIA, released in 2021).  The band released a two-track single Mary (B-Sides) in May 2019 – consisting of “Heart” and “No Vacancy.” The following year brought the release of standalone single “Our Song” – already a fan favorite in their live rotation prior to release – as well as a livestream concert in July, held for thousands of fans on what would’ve been the date of another sold-out Red Rocks performance (cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). In March 2022, the band released the emotionally charged track “Work Out,” marking their first new music in nearly two years. 2022 also saw the band set out on their first full headline trek in nearly 3 years, a run that included their long-awaited, sold-out, two-night return to Red Rocks. And in 2022 alone, with the help of partners PLUS1 and Propeller, Rainbow Kitten Surprise raised over $170k for food banks in local tour markets, LGBTQ+ causes, and mental health initiatives. Rainbow Kitten Surprise is: Ela Melo (she/her; lead vocals), Darrick “Bozzy” Keller (he/him; guitar, vocals), Ethan Goodpaster (he/him; lead guitar, vocals), Jess Haney (he/him; drums)

Herb Alpert

Thievery Corporation

Twenty-five years into their genre-defying electronic music career, Thievery Corporation’s founding principles of D.I.Y. and inclusion have become key themes in mainstream social conversation. After a dozen highly acclaimed full-length albums, remix LPs, concert recordings, and over two decades of incendiary live performances that have thrilled audiences worldwide, Thievery Corporation’s music and message is more relevant and important now than ever.Independence is one of the primary factors in why Thievery Corporation have had such a long and fruitful lifespan. While co-founders Rob Garza and Eric Hilton bonded over their mutual love of Brazilian music in Washington DC in 1995, it was the local punk scene that became their North Star. Hilton says: !Ian MacKaye is a real hero of ours, his DIY philosophy. We modeled ESL Music after Dischord Records, how we ran our label and did recording contracts.” Garza concurs: !Being independent enabled us to be here for 25 years. Never having a boss or needing someone’s approval, we’ve always said what we needed to say with no filter.”That lack of filter enabled Garza and Hilton to mine their musical inspirations and create one of the most unique bodies of work in electronic music, respectfully incorporating tastes of international cultural styles, without ever falling into the trap of cultural appropriation. !We always wondered: with so much incredible music in the world, why would anyone limit themselves to one genre? Well, we found out - it’s far easier to stay in one lane than to genre hop!” laughs Hilton. Garza elaborates: !When we started, we were influenced by music from all over the world, flipping through bins in second hand record stores for LP’s from Brazil, India, Iran, Jamaica, jazz records…..we wanted to make music where you didn’t know whether it was recorded today or a decade ago." Thievery Corporation’s music has always looked toward the future while paying homage to the past, starting with their groundbreaking debut LP, 1996’s !Sounds From The Thievery Hi-Fi,” which both introduced the world to Garza and Hilton as producers and set their course as pioneers of song-based electronic music with wildly diverse vocalists.The band’s legendary D.C. headquarters, the Eighteenth Street Lounge, became an epicenter for a diverse group of people and staff from all over the world, which in turn had a profound influence on their musical output. !D.C. was very cosmopolitan, lots of places to see international live music and jazz,” says Garza. !We’d run into people from all over the world and invite them to play with us - so Thievery became an extension of that, both on our records and in our live performances.” Indeed, Hilton and Garza’s “Outernational” approach created a world reflected by the artist’s ideals of diversity and acceptance. "25 years after we started, it seems like the world is catching up,” Garza opines. !Social consciousness is more mainstream, awareness of the importance of inclusivity...it’s so encouraging to see so many people working towards these goals in America." Hilton agrees. "Thievery is a reflection of who we are, it evolved from our musical tastes. Artists who were for the people, like The Clash, Fela Kuti, Manu Chao were so important to us, and engaging in social ideas has always been a part of what we’ve tried to do." People don’t refer to Thievery Corporation as “World Music,” but it’s safe to say that their music and ethos is global in its scope and ahead of its time at every turn.In a live setting, Thievery Corporation avoids any electronic dance music tropes. Yes, you’ll dance, sweat and put your hands in the air….but their concerts are true performances, with a killer band of players and an array of vocalists from diverse global cultures. No two shows feel the same. !Our shows are VERY live, lots of energy, the combination of multiple instruments and singers that take you on a musical journey," says Garza. "We have a sitar player, songs are in different languages - it’s a multicultural experience, people connect to the band and to each other, it’s beautiful.” With a world cautiously beginning to emerge from isolation and towards communal events, Garza is eager to return Thievery Corporation to live performance. !I feel like people have been waiting to celebrate together after being forced apart for too long. We’re all craving that."Eric Hilton’s presence at Thievery gigs, however, has become an increasingly rare event. "I never really embraced touring; some of the world tours were interesting, seeing new places and cultures,” he says. !For me, touring was tourism. The creative process of making music is more my thing.” And Thievery Corporation have brought the sounds of the world to listeners throughout each of their albums. !There are so many highlights for me. 2014’s Saudade is my favorite record that we’ve done, a real creative stretch for us. Quiet music is hard to make! Symphonik also. To hear our music done with an orchestra was incredible.” Hilton concedes that over time live performance influenced the studio records. !After Cosmic Game (2011), we orchestrated jam sessions and built the records from those. For Temple of I and I (2014), we went to Jamaica to jam and record, which gave that record a different feel and authenticity.”Looking back over their career, Rob Garza and Eric Hilton acknowledge that what drives each of them may be different, but the mashup of personalities, sounds, cultures and experiences birthed something wholly unique. "We love all kinds of music, which is why Thievery Corporation sounds the way it does,” the founding partners agree. !We couldn't possibly incorporate all our tastes into the music, but we do it more than most.” By not following trends or the whims of major labels, and embracing the cultural diversities that make the world such a wondrous place, Thievery Corporation has created a legacy that runs deep and continues to expand. "Over 25 years, we’ve left nothing undone. We far exceeded what we thought we would do,” Hilton and Garza agree. And Thievery Corporation’s music will continue on to reverberate and influence the next generation of listeners with an ear toward a global musical experience.

Circle Jerks

Circle Jerks emerged from the punk underbelly of LA’s South Bay in 1979. First conceptualized at “The Church” of Hermosa Beach, the once infamous hangout of scene forefathers Black Flag, Descendents, Redd Kross, and The Last, the band quickly became the innovators of a movement simply referred to today as HARDCORE PUNK ROCK.   After serving as a co-founder and lead vocalist of Black Flag during the recording of its essential Nervous Breakdown EP, Keith Morris joined forces with former Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetson to form what would become Circle Jerks, a reference uncovered from artist Raymond Pettibon’s slang dictionary. Having written material for their former bands respectively, Morris and Hetson, along with bassist Roger Rogerson and jazz drummer Lucky Lehrer, fine-tuned previously unfinished material to conceive the troupe’s now-renowned sound - thoughtfully steadfast, yet relentless and ferocious in nature. Unlike much of the unapologetic hardcore that seeped through the cracks of American suburbia, the music of the Circle Jerks was dynamic, deliberate, and most importantly, a force to be reckoned with. Bringing together a potent, articulate rhythm section with earnest yet oftentimes derisive lyrics and themes, the band was thereafter heralded as a leader of the pack, but with no real plan in sight.   The social climate of Los Angeles in the early eighties was marked by unsettled fluidity, with the expansion of hardcore punk that infiltrated the public eye. The “pogo” of a former generation became the “slam dance” of another - a moniker consecrated in the iconic Circle Jerks “Skanking Kid” logo designed by graphic designer Shawn Kerri. Songs got shorter, shows wilder, and the police - led by embattled police chief Daryl Gates - shut it all down. This earmark of punk lineage was epitomized in the groundbreaking documentary by Penelope Spheeris, The Decline of Western Civilization, in which Circle Jerks most notably performed to a pit of chaos. Today, the film is recognized and preserved by the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”   In October 1980, Circle Jerks released their debut studio album Group Sex on Los Angeles label Frontier Records. Clocking in at fourteen songs in just sixteen minutes, the record remains a milestone of the punk genre and equally as symbolic nearly forty years later. Plowing forward with a relentless, toothcutting work ethic and a rousing stage presence, the band would soon find itself headlining shows at LA’s 5,000-capacity Olympic Auditorium and emblazoned in cult video classics like Repo Man, New Wave Theatre, and The Slog Movie. Over the decades, Circle Jerks would release six studio albums, including the acclaimed Wild in the Streets (1982), Golden Shower of Hits (1983), Wonderful (1985), and IV (1987), where they would become a major headliner during the alternative music explosion of Generation X. Morris and Hetson remain the only consistent members since the band’s creation, withstanding several lineup changes, including Flea and Chuck Biscuits. Bassist Zander Schloss (The Weirdos, Joe Strummer) has been a member since the 1980’s. During hiatuses, Morris fronted bands like OFF! and FLAG, while Hetson played guitar in Bad Religion.   The long list of those influenced by the legacy of the Circle Jerks ranges from Butthole Surfers to Red Hot Chili Peppers - with notable fans being Dogtown skateboarders, Chuck Berry, Alice Cooper, Elton John, Johnny Depp, Guns N’ Roses, and Philip K. Dick. Decades later, their music continues to make an imprint on generations of diverse music fans and those who challenge the status quo.   In celebration of the band’s 40th anniversary and the commemorative reissue of their celebrated landmark record Group Sex, Circle Jerks return to the stage for the first time in over a decade.

The Amity Affliction with August Burns Red

Since emerging in 2008 on the debut Severed Ties, The Amity Affliction have served up three ARIA gold-certified albums, Youngbloods [2010], Chasing Ghosts [2012] and This Could Be Heartbreak [2016]. They also achieved platinum certification for the seminal Let The Ocean Take Me [2014]. The band achieved four consecutive #1 debuts on the ARIA chart with Chasing Ghosts, This Could be Heartbreak, Let The Ocean Take Me and Misery[2018]. Most recently Everyone Loves You...Once You Leave Them [2020] continued their ARIA chart streak, debuting at #2 and showed the band returning to their heavier side with a global stream tally surpass 460 million and counting. The Amity Affliction have also been a dominating live act, headlining arena tours and festival bills alike worldwide throughout their career.

The Last Dinner Party

Although it has only been a year since our debut album, Prelude to Ecstasy, was released, we had been playing many of those songs since our very first rehearsals in the stagnant summer of 2020. Nothing Matters, our first single, has been a feature of every setlist since our first ever gig at the George Tavern in 2021. We have held, nurtured and fed these songs for a long time, and in return they have flown us to heights and guided us on journeys once totally incomprehensible. While it may seem to an outsider that we have moved quickly on to a second album, this timing felt like a natural progression to us. We’re not closing the book or beginning a new ‘era’, but transforming and shapeshifting, vibrating with the experience and inspiration that these last few years have given us. It is our absolute delight to present our new album From The Pyre to the world. This record is a collection of stories, and the concept of album-as-mythos binds them. ‘The Pyre’ itself is an allegorical place in which these tales originate, a place of violence and destruction but also regeneration, passion and light. The songs are character driven but still deeply personal, a commonplace life event pushed to pathological extreme. Being ghosted becomes a Western dance with a killer, and heartbreak laughs into the face of the apocalypse. Lyrics invoke rifles, scythes, sailors, saints, cowboys, floods, Mother Earth, Joan of Arc, and blazing infernos. We found this kind of evocative imagery to be the most honest and truthful way to discuss the way our experiences felt, giving each the emotional weight it deserves. This record feels a little darker, more raw and more earthy; it takes place looking out at a sublime landscape rather than seated at an opulent table. It also feels metatextual and cheeky in places, like a knowing look reflected back at ourselves. For the album’s artwork, we imagine each song as its own character and story set within a travelling medieval mystery play, and ourselves as its cast. This frame narrative of a theatrical production which is both nomadic and fable-making felt like a way of visually representing our lives as a band, once again mythologising the everyday. To mythologise the self is to attempt to understand it, and we gained an even deeper understanding of ourselves and each other through this writing and recording period. Recorded in the spring of 2025 in London with producer Markus Dravs, these songs were created against the backdrop of our changed lives as musicians. We have felt the bizarre omnipresence of our own image on billboards and hearing our song played at the airport duty-free, as well as the intense emotional highs and lows of being a topic of discussion in the public eye. In particular, ‘Inferno’, ‘Agnus Dei’ and ‘This is the Killer Speaking’ all contend in some way with the diXerent impacts our career has had on our individual lives and the people in them. In light of this shift from an unknown band to full-time touring musicians, From The Pyre did not have the same gift of anonymity in its inception as our first album, and most of its songs hadn’t been played live before we went into the studio to record them. We played From The Pyre’s lead single, ‘This is The Killer Speaking’, to a relatively small crowd under a decoy name (‘Yeehaw Interlude’), during a thunderstorm at a festival in Prague in 2024. Moments later, forums and social media was already abuzz with fans trying to transcribe the lyrics, discern the title, and posit a connection to other unreleased material. It was one of those moments that demonstrated to us how much things had changed since the band’s beginning, and what a dedicated community we had cultivated. Where we’d once had years to repeat and polish each song, we now had to figure it out mostly without the audience’s reception to guide us. It was a learning curve to not have every second of each part meticulously planned out as we did with Prelude, as writing it came in brief windows between tours last year. While the process was diXerent and challenged us as artists, we are so proud of what we were able to do together. We certainly feel a sense of nervous anticipation as the record’s release date draws closer, and some sense of expectation following our initial rise. Strangely, none of this energy permeated into the recording studio and we only ever wrote to excite ourselves, just like we did all those years ago before we’d ever played a gig. Our admiration of each other as artists and friends has always been our strongest asset and the force which continues to compel us through sunshine or storm. Thank you for listening, we hope you enjoy it, The Last Dinner Party