An update on Horsegirl. This former Chicago trio (Nora Cheng, Penelope Lowenstein, and Gigi Reece) is now based in New York (as of Fall 2022), and they’re about to release their second album Phonetics On and On on Matador Records.

Horsegirl at Fine Line (26 July 2022)

We caught the band in July 2022 and wrote, “A year later, I can let you know that the trio (Penelope Lowenstein, Nora Cheng, and Gigi Reece) seemed to be sharing more vocals/songs between its two singers Penelope and Nora (before it looked like Penelope did most of the heavy lifting). They’ve also seem to downplay their experimental “Sonic Youth” fiddling and seemed focused on being a teenage rock trio. They’re still learning, they’re still evolving… and that’s exciting. Horsegirl’s debut album Versions of Modern Performance is available now on Matador Records.”

To promote the new record, Phonetics On and On, there will be an upcoming tour, see dates below.

Horsegirl Tour Dates

Feb. 22 – Chicago, IL @ Metro ^
Mar. 21 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church %
Mar. 22 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat %
Mar. 23 – Raleigh, NC @ Kings %
Mar. 24 – Richmond, VA @ The Warehouse %
Mar. 26 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom %
Mar. 27 – Somerville, MA @ Arts at The Armory %
Mar. 28 – Woodstock, NY @ Bearsville Theater %
Mar. 29 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw %
June 7 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
June 10 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow Club
June 11 – Berlin, DE @ Badehaus Szimpla
June 14 – Porto, PT @ Primavera Sound Porto
June 16 – Cologne, DE @ Bumann & Sohn
June 17 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix
June 18 – Paris, FR @ Petit Bain
June 20 – London, UK @ Scala
June 21 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall
June 22 – Glasgow, UK @ Mono
June 24 – Dublin, IE @ The Workman’s Club
June 26 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla
^ w/ Lifeguard & Answering Machines
% w/ Free Range

Dan Wilson
danwilsonmusic.com

In November, I was surprised to learn that Dan Wilson (the bandleader for Semisonic) won his first CMA Award for Song of the Year for Chris Stapleton’s “White Horse.”

First of all, I had no idea Dan Wilson wrote that song, but obviously Wilson’s been playing the songwriting game for numerous musicians, including with Adele (“Someone Like You”), the Chicks (“Not Ready to Make Nice”), Pink, Celine Dion, Leon Bridges, Mitski, Claud, Halsey, Weezer, Panic! at the Disco, My Morning Jacket, Dierks Bentley, John Legend, Joy Oladokun, Laufey, and on, and on.

‘Song of the Year’ for CMA Awards, plus ‘Best Country Song; at the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards earlier in 2024, well the song is a huge win for both Stapleton and Wilson.

“White Horse” is Wilson’s second major collaboration with Chris Stapleton following 2015’s “When The Stars Come Out,” and hopefully with these awards, this won’t be the last collaboration.

Dan Wilson at Fitzgerald Theater (22 Sept 2017)

We saw Dan Wilson in Sep 2017 and wrote, “As the stage changed in the 1,000 seat theater, a game board-like hand-drawn image (called an illuminated setlist) gave the audience the musical road map that Dan Wilson would follow during his almost two-hour headlining set. On this tour, he’s managed to tie together three of his biggest passions into a cohesive show- the composing of words and music, and his visual doodles and hand-rendered calligraphy. Wilson initially emerged solo to begin his almost two-hour set, on piano for a rendition of Gabe Dixon’s ‘All Will Be Well’ (“you can keep wooh-ing” he said, still tuning up) but was soon joined by bandmates Brad Gordon (piano) and Andy Thompson (drums) and eventually the Laurel String Quartet, subbing in for the Kronos Quartet that is on the new record.”

Nervous Verbs

Remember R. Ring? The Kelley Deal & Mike Montgomery (Ampline) joint? Well Mike is back, this time under the stage name of Nervous Verbs. His debut album, Pony Coughing, will be released worldwide on February 28 via Don Giovanni Records.

With these pre-orders, you can preview the lead single “Vicious Riffs”, available to stream everywhere, to give you a taste of the debut album.

R. Ring at 7th Street Entry (03 May 2015)

We saw R.Ring in and said, “R. Ring is a duo of Kelley Deal and Mike Montgomery, but for this particular show, they were joined by Joe on drums. Joe is going to travel with the two, at least up to San Francisco.
With only a handful of published songs, I didn’t think the band would play more than 30 minutes. To make up for the lack of songs, they started their set with two The Kelley Deal 6000 songs (“Scary” and “Trixie Delicious”) and played every songs they’ve written… plus throwing in a Shellac cover (“Ghosts”). According to Deal, the KD6k songs were both written in St Paul (Minneapolis’ twin city).
Deal did most of the vocals, with some exceptions. Montgomery took over singing for “Steam” and the cover song “Ghost”.”

On a related note, Kelley Deal released her debut album Nobody Loves You More last November. This was her first solo album in a decade.

horsegiirL
horsegiirl420.komi.io

Berlin-based DJ and producer horsegiirL (not to be confused with Horsegirl) has a six-track EP called v.i.p. that is coming out January 31, 2025, via Three Six Zero Recordings.

In the meantime you can hear her new single “take it offff”, which horsegiirL shares, “Mietze Conte and I spent 3 days in Vienna in the studio and just made the funnest songs in no time and ‘take it offff’ is one of them. It started as a really slow, kinda heartbreaky melody until we decided to speed it up and noticed how sexy the track was. It’s encouraging you to get your exercise in 😉”

Like other DJs, like Marshmello or Daft Punk, horsegiirL uses a horse mask whenever she’s working as DJ in the clubs.

Tobacco City
scissortailrecords.com

Chicago’s cosmic country band Tobacco City will release their sophomore album called Horses on Scissor Tail Records. On the album, they described it as “taking the listeners on a nostalgic journey through the haze of youth, where time feels suspended and plans are nonexistent.”

The band writes, “We are humbled to give you our second LP: Horses. We made this record with all people we love very much and people we trust deeply. We really hope you love it as much as we do. Enjoy Autumn and talk to you soon! Much more on the way!”

If you like the spirit of ‘70s country with influences from Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, take a ride on Horses.

Horses comes out March 7, 2025.

Briefly

Two Tone Pony

twotonepony.com

Australian band Two Tone Pony released their debut album Born on The Road.

The band formed in 2019 when frontman, David Kirkpatrick, needed to create a band to play at his daughter’s wedding, and “so Two Tone Pony was born.”

Born on The Road is Kirkpatrick’s “culmination of a lifetime of stories: from my childhood, from my personal relationships past and present, and from my deep love of the land and its’ people.”

The Pale Horses

thepalehorses.bandcamp

Canada’s The Pale Horses (not to be confused with Palehorse) released their debut EP Enchantress last October 25, 2024, via Black Throne Productions.

The music is described as catchy guitar motifs and shadowy vampiric vocals, particularly with the lead single “Never Know”, which tells the tale of lust and a toxic lover.

Despite a debut EP, the band, based out of Hamilton, is listed as dating back to the late 90s as a side project.

ian

ian.family

Rising St. Louis-born rapper ian announces the new album Goodbye Horses.

ian shook up the game upon arrival earlier in 2024, with his debut Valedictorian album generated hundreds of millions of streams fueled by “Magic Johnson” (with over 97 million streams alone), “Figure It Out,” and “Never Stop.” Most recently, he linked up with Lil Yachty on “Hate Me,” reeling in over 54 million streams and counting as well as 10 million-plus views on the Lyrical Lemonade-helmed music video.

You guys know how I feel about these common names like Heaven or Boy… it’s impossible to find you guys on the internet.

Devil’s Blind Horse

thedevilsblindhorse.bigcartel

Rising heavy rock collective Devil’s Blind Horse recently released their new single “Dragon”, available now on all major streaming platforms.

The song, featuring vocals from VK Lynne, is described as a mid-tempo, riff-heavy powerhouse, and is the first release from the band, driven by the creative vision of Brazilian-born guitarist, producer, writer and founder Alex Knoll.

Alex adds, “THE DEVIL’S BLIND HORSE is an unabashed celebration of all of the things that I love about music. It is the journey in pursuing the music that I hear in my head… ”