The Dead South

Across his career, Shakey Graves—a.k.a. the performance moniker of Austin, Texas-born Alejandro Rose-Garcia—has intentionally created thrilling musical adventures tailored to each fan: burning CDs and putting them in personalized decorated bags; building intricate scavenger hunts that send fansin search of unique tapes; and Bandcamp-exclusive releases.

"The fans and musicians that really resonate with me—and the inexplicable ways that I find things that I like—are usually entirely through randomness and chaos and accident," Rose-Garcia says. "I've always been on this quest to make people feel like my own music is a choose your own adventure."

As Rose-Garcia releases his new Shakey Graves album Movie of the Week—a collection of songs whittled down from epic-length recording sessions—he has devised one of his most innovative musical adventures yet. “For the album release, I’m setting up a website,” he says. “On this website, there will be a way to shuffle a collection of alternate tracks and unique songs from the sessions in seemingly infinite combinations to create new albums.” Thanks to this cutting-edge technology, fans will be able to own this alternate version and do whatever they want with it—giving them control over the destiny of the music.

“Imagination really is the tool,” Rose-Garcia says. “The point is to make and create something yourself. Any way that I can allow people to apply their imagination over my music—and allow them to sculpt it using their own prompts—will let them create something new.”

Sam Barber was raised on a farm in a small town in Southeast Missouri surrounded by a supportive family and an abundance of friends. Most of his childhood was devoted to athletics where he learned many lessons such as the importance of a team, practice, discipline, respect and hard work. Music has not always been his passion and as a child, he never participated in music class or music performances. Sam's music journey has been completely unplanned and his success continues to astound him. When he was 16, Sam picked up his great grandfather's Gibson, out of tune with 5 strings and fell in love with the art of playing. He soon learned that he also had the God-given talent to sing along. Sam's vision is to continue to grow and become stronger as a vocalist and songwriter. He wants to deliver songs that people feel in their soul. Above all, he wants to stay true to his faith, the man he truly is, and the type of music he wants to make without boundaries or conforming.

Katie Pruitt, a 27-year-old artist who recently released Expectations — a defiant coming-of-age debut album about being a lesbian raised Catholic in Atlanta — is about to enter into her Saturn returns era, which means her life is going to get weird. Or so Brandi Carlile, the six-time Grammy winner, tells her. "You're going to freak out, probably," Carlile says. "Right when you turn 30." But, Carlile assures her, "I feel like the best records happened on these big, precipice moments in life."

It's here, in this big moment filled with so much uncertainty and turmoil, Pruitt is choosing to embrace the weirdness. Whether it's going deep exploring and questioning her spiritual identity on her breakout podcast, "The Recovering Catholic," or bearing her soul with her trademark wit and wisdom each night on stage as part of her extensive fall headline tour, or showcasing her mischievous side with her forthcoming holiday song, "Merry Christmas, Mary Jane," it's clear Pruitt is coming into her own and establishing herself as not only an incredible musician, but an artist with a real voice and distinctive perspective.

In the last year-and-a-half and in spite of the pandemic (which hit the month following her album was released), Pruitt has forged ahead, garnering widespread acclaim and praise from press and fellow artists including Carlile, Ruston Kelly, Leslie Jordan, Bob Weir and many more. In addition to being nominated for Emerging Act of the Year at the Americana Music Association, Pruitt has been highlighted as a Rolling Stone "Artist You Need To Know," one of NPR Music's "Slingshot: 20 Artists To Watch" and Southwest Magazine's "Artists on the Rise" and was featured on NPR Music's "Tiny Desk (Home) Concert" series as well as "CBS Saturday Morning."

Jake Vaadeland is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist and songwriter from Saskatchewan, Canada. His traditional sound and unique style could be defined as a blend of Bluegrass and 50’s Rockabilly, with Jake also specializing on guitar and banjo in addition to his impressive vocals. Jake strives to write and play with a focus on storytelling and messages that he hopes his audience can relate to, all packaged in foot stomping, high energy performances with The Sturgeon River Boys.

In 2023, he performed at JunoFest, CCMA Week, travelled to Nashville to showcase at AmericanaFest, and opened for artists like Dean Brody and Charley Crockett. He recently earned a Western Canadian Music Award nomination for ‘Roots Artist of the Year’ and won a Saskatchewan Country Music Award for ‘Alternative Country Album of the Year’.

2022 also proved to be a remarkable for Jake Vaadeland, as he received 2x Saskatchewan Music Awards including Album of the Year for ‘Everybody But Me’, along with the Folk/Roots Artist of the Year. In addition, he earned 4x Saskatchewan Country Music Awards, including Fans Choice Entertainer of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Alternative Country Album of the Year and Emerging Artist of the Year. His album, Retro Man also finished at #2 in fan voting for the Best Saskatchewan Albums of 2021.