St. Louis’ Story of The Year has been making the rounds in 2023. But their announcement as the opener at Yellowcard’s first show in New York in years helped to secure the lineup of the summer. Our emo nostalgia minds were absolutely blown from the very first chords, and we are thrilled to have been present for this magic.
Highlights below.
When we heard Yellowcard was bringing in the big guns for their Pier 17 show in New York City, we knew we had to be a part of it. After six years away from touring, the east coast got to celebrate with the band as they honored 20 years of Ocean Avenue — a street many Brooklynites are familiar with. (Yes, we know many places have streets called “Ocean Avenue,” but we choose to claim it when we can.)
Joined by pop punk heavyweights Mayday Parade and Story of the Year, Yellowcard captivated the city crowd with their talent on stage all evening, as the lights slowly dimmed over the city. Their musicianship re-ignited a purity and interest – a spark – in music that had been feeling a little murky lately.
What an unbelievable experience, what a beautiful night.
Setlist
Way Away
Breathing
Lights and Sounds
Believe
Rough Landing, Holly
Fighting
Five Becomes Four
Holly Wood Died
One Year, Six Months
Hang You Up (with Derek Sanders)
Empty Apartment
Play Video
Childhood Eyes
Light Up the Sky
Always Summer
Awakening
Back Home
Encore:
With You Around
Only One
Ocean Avenue
We did up this playlist with one track from each of the albums from the artists we were lucky enough to get to work with this year and wanted to share it with you. If you wanted to go check out the full streams and downloads of all these artists you can head over here to find any of those!
HEARTHPR 2017 SPOTIFY PLAYLIST
1. Dori Freeman – “If I Could Make You My Own”
2. Brother Roy – “Mary”
3. Sera Cahoone – “Dusty Lungs”
4. Rayna Gellert – “Workin’s Too Hard”
5. Silver Torches – “Let It Be A Dream”
6. Boubacar Traoré – “Je chanterai pour toi”
7. Joshua James – “Coyote Caller”
8. Pierce Edens – “Body”
9. Rev. Sekou – “Burnin’ and Lootin'”
10. Rachel Baiman – “Shame”
11. Jim Byrnes – “Ain’t No Love In The Heart of the City”
12. The Hooten Hallers – “Dig”
13. Mr. Lif & Brass Menažeri – Crypt of Lost Styles”
14. John Craigie – “Broken”
15. Matt Patershuk – “Blank Pages & Lost Wages’
16. Zephaniah OHora – “High Class City Girl from the Country”
17. Billy Strings – “Living Like An Animal”
18. The Resonant Rogues – “Hands in the Dirt”
19. Modern Mal – “Wild Heart
20. Haley Heynderickx – “Oom Sha La La”
21. Jolie Holland & Samantha Parton – “You Are Not Needed Now”
22. Bill & Joel Plaskett – “The Next Blue Sky”
23. Amber Cross – “Savage on the Downhill”
24. Sarah Jane Scouten – “Acre of Shells”
25. Anna Tivel – “Illinois”
26. Charlie Whitten – “Balance”
27. Zoe & Cloyd – “Jewel of the Caspian Sea”
28. Jeffrey Martin – “Thrift Store Dress”
29. Humbird – “Fresh Water”
30. Kyle Alden – “Sail Away Ladies”
31. John Reischman & The Jaybirds – “Today Has Been a Lonesome Day”
32. Lindsay Straw – “Geordie”
33. Dori Freeman – “Over There”
**Curated and written by the badasses at HEARTHPR
Julien Baker Week descended on New York City with a flourish, the rush of which resembled the city itself. With three sold-out nights at Webster Hall, tickets were highly coveted. This was even reflected in the line prior to doors, as fans began to line up around 2-3pm, gunning for the first row.
On the second night, however, Baker suffered from a stomach bug and had to end the show after 40 minutes. Thankfully, she added a date to make up for the shorter set, this time at Brooklyn Steel, where she has played three times in the past. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the show was added last minute, Baker didn’t have a second opener. She then enlisted her Boygenius bandmate, Lucy Dacus, to do a short interlude after singer/songwriter Katie Malco’s set.
As Lucy Dacus took the stage, armed only with her acoustic guitar, the ear-piercing screams that greeted her would have had one convinced that she herself was the headliner as opposed to Baker. The crowd sang along, providing enthusiastic accompaniment. Dacus was smiley and chatty, joking around between songs and telling stories, even debuting a brand-new song. Ending with “Night Shift,” Baker and her band joined in to do it electric, mimicking the exact feeling of the night.
When Baker took the stage, the energy shifted to one of quiet reverence. After her band played the intro to her second LP, Turn Out the Lights, “Over,” Baker began to sing “Appointments,” the opening track. Performing songs from each of her records, 2015’s Sprained Ankle, 2017’s aforementioned Turn Out the Lights, and 2019’s Little Oblivions, the setlist covered the span of her career, including some of her EPs, such as tracks like “Tokyo” and “Red Door.” She also played two new songs, “Middle Children” and “High in the Basement.’ Further, Baker excitingly rearranged some of her songs, giving them a new emotional pull. She also had her band backing her up (which has only occurred on the Wild Hearts tour) as opposed to her earlier shows with only an acoustic guitar.
Baker next heads to San Francisco and LA, where she is playing a 3-show residency in each city. After, she will fly to London for a 4-show residency.
Lucy Dacus setlist:
Julien Baker setlist:
I’m not sure I could think of a better pairing than the indelible Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton. Luckily, not only did they partner on a phenomenal album titled Death Wish Blues, but they are currently touring together with their incredibly unique styles of alternative blues. A more electric stage – and a more excited crowd – I had yet to see in 2024.
That all changed on Thursday, February 22nd. The Truman opened its doors to a full house, welcoming Samantha Fish back for a truly delightful hometown show. The band came out to near ear-piercing screams, and excited cheers of recognition with the first notes of the very first song. Smoke filled the crevices of the stage as Fish and Dayton’s mindblowing musicianship took over the warehouse space.
Selects from the evening below.
Alt-rock outfit We The Kings – yes, THAT We The Kings – recently signed to Graveboy Records. The momentous partnership is marked with the release of their latest work, a single titled “Alien.” The song begins with a melancholic feel, rectified by a quintessential upbeat, fast-paced chorus. “We’re all just a bunch of kids who feel like aliens searching for the answer to the question – ‘does anybody else feel like I do,’” shares lead singer Travis Clark.
One part anthem and one part inquiry, “Alien” seeks the match to our souls, any minor detail to connect us to others. It asks everyone who feels “other” to be proud. The song itself seeks similarities in the irregularities and differences. Combine this journey with relatable lyrics and a catchy tune, and this release is poised for charting success.
“Every few albums or so I get a strong feeling about a song,” says Clark. “It’s hard to explain, but the last 2 times I felt this way were with ‘Check Yes Juliet’ and ‘Sad Song’. I have that same feeling about “Alien” so only time will tell what that means!”
We The Kings will be hitting the road with Story Of The Year on their upcoming 2024 tour. Nab tickets to upcoming tour dates and stay up-to-date with this aughts punk favorite at WeTheKings.com.
Emo children of the aughts rejoice, because one of our favorite live bands is making the rounds again, and they’re bigger than ever before. Pop-punk bad boys Yellowcard delivered a kiss of surf pop, a hint of nostalgia, and a whole lot of energy every time they took the stage. So when I had the opportunity to interview Ryan Key, Yellowcard’s lead singer, Star Wars aficionado, podcast host, and content creator extraordinaire – I snapped it up.
One of the first things I say, after promising myself not to bring it up? “I spoke to you in 2006 and it was to ask you to sign a t-shirt for my friend and I was too nervous to say anything else.” Cool. Word vomit.
“Oh, I was such a little shit in 2006 too,” Key immediately admitted, laughing. “So, it should be a way better encounter this time, I promise.”
Key’s self-awareness eased us into a conversation that ran the gamut. From our shared love of Star Wars (Though I haven’t quite expanded into podcast territory yet), being driven by bitterness through some tough times, how it feels coming off the biggest tour Yellowcard has ever experienced, and reflecting on 20 years of Ocean Avenue.
Yellowcard’s rapid-fire return fueled a “Celebrating 20 Years of Ocean Avenue” tour that took on bigger venues than they’ve ever played. The band’s welcome back was far from polite, with screaming fans more dedicated to the art form, acceptance of the music, and enjoyment during shows to fuel the energy.
Admittedly, Ryan didn’t do much with music growing up. He took piano lessons for a couple of months, hated it, and quit. He wasn’t much for musicals, either. He was much more attached to the idea of the theater. An idea – it seems – that may have stemmed from his first role as Tiny Tim in none other than A Christmas Carol.
“It’s two lines,” Key admits, laughing. “But being on stage at 6 years old in front of enough people, I can only imagine shaped me, changed me forever. Having that moment happen on your impressionable little 1st-grade mind. It’s like, yeah I want more of this. You get that dopamine hit of being on stage and the adrenaline of that, you want more of that. And you don’t know why but I think as a kid, after that, I was just dead set on being on stage however I could.”
In 10th grade, Key was accepted to Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville and his pursuit of acting and theater got really serious. He was super involved at school in the shows and the deep, specific education. “We were studying Stanslovsky and real heavy stuff for high school kids,” Key says.
To help blow off steam in his -very limited – free time? “I had a band on the weekends,” he explains. “I got my first guitar when I was 11 or 12 years old and I played it and I wrote really crappy songs and had some friends that I played with but that was never gonna be something that I did professionally. I never even had it in my mind. I didn’t really enjoy singing, to be honest, very much. It’s still not my favorite part of my job. I was the lead singer of the band but I think that comes from that sense of wanting to be an entertainer, wanting to be a performer.”
This fact can be hard to believe, as Key’s vocal range is impressive and wide-ranging in its pop-punk glory. And his life performance tactics? Energetic to this day, at a level most people aren’t entirely capable of even at their peak. “It was never in my mind as something I wanted to pursue as a career,” he shrugs. “I just didn’t get into college where I wanted to go.”
Ryan never let his rejection to the Theater Program at Boston University – twice, unfortunately – go. “I got into school in Boston but I didn’t get into their BFA program. My parents were like, ‘We’re not going to spend all that money for you to go to a private school in Boston if you’re not in the program that you want to be in.'”
While reasonable, it can be difficult to recover from something like that so early on in one’s career. From that bitterness was born a focus. Admittedly – and fairly – Ryan was spiteful about what had happened and chose not to complete the BFA program he started in Florida. He dropped out of school, leaned hard into music, and eventually began singing in Yellowcard.
To hear an artist admit to leaning into something in that anger is very refreshing. You often hear about heartache and heartbreak in everyone’s work, but it can be difficult to address the times of anger and instances when you feel things didn’t go the way they perhaps should have. Having a creative outlet to pour himself into was clearly the way to go, and is something so many of us should embrace as a healing mechanism in times of trouble.
Ryan says the band really appreciates the fact that the fans have weathered the storms alongside them. He credits this grand musical journey to the fact that fans have been patient and forgiving.
I have, personally, been a fan of Yellowcard’s since I was an adolescent, so getting a peek into their tour dynamic was ideal. When asked about the “Celebrating 20 Years of Ocean Avenue” tour, Key was almost gushing. “I feel like my favorite part of the tour was the energy between the band itself. I don’t think we’ve ever gone on a tour that was so lacking in negativity as this one. This tour was so full of happiness and positivity that it felt like an alien world, almost, compared to the Yellowcard that I’ve known for the past 20+ years.”
What Key refers to – this feeling of a more in-sync crew and better touring environment and experience – has been echoed by artists the world over since the pandemic triggered larger conversations around mental health and balance in the music industry. Tours are being approached in a more holistic manner, and it’s been a reinvigorating time in the music industry. He went on:
I think we all felt that way. Which compounded each other aspect of the tour. The shows and interaction with fans, on-stage and off, and the support I think that we had from our crew every day felt stronger and better. I think that’s because there was a sense of peace and calm on the road.
We’ve never had that. Yellowcard has historically been a bit of a chaotic and tumultuous bag of personalities that have not created the best environment to work in. So this was, you know, jarring in the best possible way, to get out there and get a couple weeks in and realize, Oh, everything is just OK. And we can just let that be.
It was almost spiritual, the way that he described it. Key’s acute awareness of the dynamic of the band made me wonder, aloud, how long it took in his career to come to this acceptance of who he is and his identity in the band.
I think it started, for me personally, during the final chapter of it all, at the end. You know, in 2016, 2017. Realizing that I was going to lose it forever because, at the time, it truly felt like that was going to be the case. It started with, I think, just a simple idea of really wanting to enjoy that tour in 2016 and 2017 and the international stuff we did.
That whole experience, as much as I tried, was sort of tinged with the reasons we were stepping away from it. The metrics that you use to quantify success, right, started to say “This is on the way down. We’re on the backslide.” Let’s end this before it goes too far so we can end it on our own terms and make it something special for fans and for ourselves.
It went a lot deeper than that because it did go into the personalities and the inner workings of the band and things that we keep pretty close to the chest. So, as much as I tried to really enjoy it all, there was still an air of sadness and kind of negativity that had carried into that from all of the reasons we decided to step away in the first place.
It wasn’t until I got home and started to have to figure out how to make my own way [that the self-awareness set in.] And the pandemic, really, was huge. A good friend of mine from high school was stopping through to stay with me. I had moved back to Los Angeles – which didn’t work out because the pandemic hit and we couldn’t tour or work so I was only there for about 6 or 8 months and then I left to come back east – but I had gone out there to kind of re-establish myself there and start working on film and tv music and things I want to do, too, as I get older.
My friend stopped through and it was only going to be for a week but it was the week that the lockdown happened in California. So he ended up staying with me for an entire month. During that time, he sort of opened my mind to meditating and starting to truly figure out what was going on with myself and work on the reasons why I had ended up where I was. I had never taken a minute to look that far inward, I don’t think. So it really wasn’t until 2020 that I started to kind of forge the path that has led me back here, now, where I am.
As if to echo this spiritual, self-reflective sentiment, he notably wrapped the tour wielding a lightsaber, a symbol that the force is strong. While he claims that he brought the saber to make his nephew happy, we know there were probably additional motives here. (Because, really, who doesn’t want to have a lightsaber on tour with them?) For those of you wondering, yes, he does have a lightsaber lying around. In fact, he has multiple.
Besides his lifetime love of the franchise, Key has had the opportunity to connect with the franchise on a different level since the pandemic. “I’ve been really lucky the last 3 or 4 years to intensify my connection with Star Wars through hosting the Thank The Maker podcast with my friends,” he almost gushes. “I think Star Wars reminds you, at 43 years old, if you just give in and let yourself love it the way that I do, it reminds you how to play. That’s something that adults just don’t do.”
At this point, Key doesn’t realize he has hit a home run and we dive into a conversation about what being a “Disney adult” means in certain circles and some of the symbolism involved in Star Wars. We agreed that a certain level of play is encouraged to truly live a full life, especially as we age. “I’m a big fan of my wife for allowing me to just embrace that side, that childhood side of me, and letting me dress up in costumes with my friends and swing lightsabers around, you know?” he says, almost in amazement. “It’s really been a beneficial thing.”
As for if anything has changed for the band over the years – aside from the deep, self-realizations and occasional weaponry – Ryan says writing with everyone has become much more simplified. Explaining that the technology just wasn’t there to support quick changes to tracks and production fixes when they recorded their first albums, Key said the process now is just so much more accessible. “We can get right into ProTools, create the demo, program the drums so that we can change those around – we can try all the different options.”
The great part about having home studios is being able to control the sound as you build it. This way, you have more of an actualized recording that more than likely will sound much more similar to the final product. “It’s way more inspiring to have a good-sounding, ripping demo to steer the direction of the melody and the lyric that I’m going to put over the music.”
But the way Yellowcard writes? Pretty much the same. And super focused on the instrumentals. “It’ll start with usually a guitar riff. Shawn also has brought plenty of ideas on the violin or ideas for the structure of a whole song. He’ll have like a motif or a chord progression he will bring in that we will then build riffs and things around that.”
But you have to remember, Ryan is one with The Force. “I get middle-of-the-night ideas sometimes. I’ll wake up or I’ll not be able to sleep, one or the other. And it’ll just happen and I’ll take out my notes app on my phone and start plugging stuff in.
The title track from their latest release, “Childhood Eyes,” actually came to be that way. “I woke up with that chorus melody in my head and I started to put words to it. I could hear it happening in my head. And when I got to Austin for pre-production, I had an idea for the verse and the chorus in my notepad but I had never picked up a guitar to put music to it. So I just said, ‘Hey I have these lyrics and I have sort of a cadence and a rhythm for them.’ And we wrote the whole song in 15 minutes.”
In the coming weeks, Key will be working from his new home studio. When asked about his plans for the space, he perks up immediately. “I’m doing the whole room black,” he says. “Ceiling, walls, floor. A lot of wood grain and a lot of green pops in the room. The vibe is super Scandinavian, and I love that. I’m a big fan of Iceland, Sweden and Denmark. I love that part of the world so much. So we have a lot of this [look] in our house.”
Even more than the initial planning and execution of the project, this room will hold so much more meaning for Ryan as an artist, as he explores new podcast-related projects, and films content, pursues long-term goals (like music supervision and composition), and writes new Yellowcard songs for us to enjoy. It will also hold space for Ryan as a new father, viewing movies and creating art in this space with his family.
You mentioned we met in 2006. I wouldn’t want to meet me in 2006, you know? It’s just not even comparable, the headspace I’m in now and the tools that I have now to kind of prove my reactivity and try to stay positive. Things I was just incapable of doing for the better part of my career in Yellowcard until now. So, in the end, stepping away from the band and having that time was probably the best possible thing that could happen to me, personally. Because the perspective that I’ve come back to the band with is just so wildly different than it’s ever been before.
Yellowcard has, once again, taken a front seat in Ryan’s life. Check out an upcoming performance near you throughout 2024.
Simple Plan headlined The Blame Canada Tour at Uptown Theater on Wednesday, May 18th, 2022. Along with Set It Off and Sum 41, they lit up the stage with their intense and joyous energy. Yes, despite the most gut-wrenching emo lyrics, these guys couldn’t help but lift the entire audience up with their stage presence.
Touring in support of their new album Harder Than It Looks, they pulled an array of crowd favorites out for our nostalgic enjoyment, as well as some great new tracks. The most relatable moment, however, happened toward the beginning of the set, when Pierre encouraged everyone to stretch before the ever-enjoyable “Jump”.
Alt-rockers Juán Tigre have just released “THE DREAM CATCHER”, the title-track from their debut album. The group is led by guitarist, vocalist, and producer John Maestas and features Max Moran on bass, Alfred Jordan on drums, and Shea Pierre on keys. The group’s debut full-length THE DREAM CATCHER is set to release in April of this year on Maesta’s own label, Bubble Bath Records.
The track is short and sweet, clocking in at just over 2 minutes long, but the number manages to pack a lot into that time. The instrumentation is intense and fast-paced without being overpowering while Moran’s distorted vocals do their part to chill things out a bit. The bass line is particularly cool, and the drums and guitars fire off in quick but powerful hits while alien-like sound-effects and echoey backing vocals pull back the intensity and leave you feeling a little floaty. Think getting punched in the face with sound, but add trippy space vibes.
THE DREAM CATCHER is out via Bubble Bath Records April 17th, 2020.