Foxing

During the process of writing and recording their 2015 album Dealer, two members of Foxing shared experiences that would shape the direction of the music.

The Quebe Sisters

The three Quebe sisters – Hulda, Sophia, and Grace – had played the violin before they attended their first fiddle competition back in 1998. But something clicked with the Texas-style music they heard at the event, and within a year they were themselves competing.

Kait Berreckman. Photo by Alicia Armentrout.

A few years ago, Kait Berreckman was ready to give up on music. But moving back to Nebraska and surrounding herself with the right influences brought her back to it.

Cartouche Records' Bob Herrington at his Ragged Records store.

When I asked Bob Herrington how business was at his Ragged Records store, his answer was a shrug. “It’s good enough,” he said. “I sell records. I’m not going to get rich.”

Ragged Records, of course, specializes in new and used vinyl just off the Government Bridge in downtown Davenport, in a shared space with Trash Can Annie. Prominent in the store is a display showcasing eight LPs – all bearing the name of Cartouche Records, which Herrington also runs.

And the words meant for Ragged Records could easily apply to the two-year-old label. “It’s not a money-making venture at this point,” Herrington said of Cartouche. “If I can do it, and put out a few releases a year, and not lose a ton of money, I’m going to continue to do it.”

Chrash

Six seconds into Chrash’s “Midwest Sky” is a throw-away sound that illustrates the band’s method for Things My Friends Say: the light ping of a coin being flipped.

See Through Dresses

Omaha, Nebraska-based See Through Dresses is about to take the leap from ’80s- and ’90s-informed rock to a cleaner, synth-driven sound with its upcoming record.

Pinegrove

On Pinegrove’s latest album, Cardinal, Evan Stephens Hall shows a knack for speaking in an accessible and unpretentious way about the struggles many people face. His lyrics read like people in their 20s actually talk.

David Wax Museum. Photo by Claire Roeth.

The core of the Mexican-music-influenced folk outfit David Wax Museum is the husband-and-wife duo of David Wax and Suz Slezak, and they were becoming a father-and-mother duo as their fifth album was being written.

Shawn Holt. Photo by Linda Cunningham.

Shawn Holt would regularly ask his father – the Chicago-blues legend Magic Slim – when he could become a member of his backing band, the Teardrops.

Dylan LeBlanc

When he began working on his latest album, singer/songwriter Dylan LeBlanc became interested in how people act a certain way.

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