Ghost & Goblin is a two-piece alternative band based out of New York, NY. Members Nicholas DiMichele (Keyboard, Guitar, Vocals) and Spencer Synwolt (Drums, Percussion, Samples) formed Ghost & Goblin in 2012 following the break up of their first band, The Kobolds. The duo self-produces all their material from their basement in New York. Ghost & Goblin is a member of the Bear Republic, Republic of Bears record collective in Brooklyn. They toured to SXSW in Austin in 2012, and for two months in 2013 to promote the release of SUPERHORRORCASTLELAND, their debut LP – available now on random color wax!

Each year we look forward to the Black Swamp Arts Festival in Bowling Green, Ohio.  As in years past, we are proud to have pressed the new Grounds For Thought release – Andrew “Jr Boy” Jones – Ready To Play (available for purchase at the fest).  But, we are also pumped that several artists playing the main stage have also done records with us in the past — if you have not checked out any of these records (and especially if you can’t attend BSAF), we highly recommend you grab a copy of these:

Andrew “Jr Boy” Jones – Ready To Play

Womack Family Band (split 7″ with Shivering Timbers)

 The Aggrolites – Rugged Road

Ruby Velle & The Soulphonics – It’s About Time

Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys – What A Dream It’s Been

The Martha’s Vineyard Ferries is a rock band featuring Elisha Wiesner (Kahoots) on guitar, Bob Weston (Shellac, Volcano Suns, Mission of Burma) on bass guitar, and Chris Brokaw (Come, Codeine, The New Year) on drums. Their new record, Mass. Grave will be released on October 15, 2013 on Kiam Records.

The band – and more specifically, the band name – began as a kind of gag between friends.  “Elisha and I were just hanging around talking about having a band and we were coming up with ridiculous names,” Weston said. “At first, I don’t think we really thought it would happen. But after awhile we were like, ‘Hey, should we really do this?’ Who would be the drummer?’ and Elisha immediately said, ‘Brokaw’.”

What began as a hypothetical joke between friends, quickly resulted in some pretty incredible actual music in the form of their debut EP In The Pond (2010, Sick Room Records).  As one might expect, you can hear elements of all the other bands Chris, Bob and Elisha are involved in, but ultimately, the Ferries’ music is truly its own thing.

On their new album (available October 2013)  Mass. Grave, the trio has developed its sound even further – though it’s a sound that might be a bit hard to describe.  “I think I said something like Minor Threat crossed with ‘Eight Miles High’ by The Byrds,“ Wiesner said.  “But of course we sound nothing like that.  Our “sound” just happens to be what it sounds like when we all play together.”

The songs on Mass. Grave bounce around a bit stylistically, but there’s a like-minded, menacing quality to the melodies and rhythms that create an almost tangible thread binding the songs into a cohesive work.  When all three shout, “Hey!” in unison on Wiesner’s “Wrist Full of Holes”, the music suddenly becomes visual and you can see the band in a kind of men-as-machines, locked-in rhythmical moment.  Brokaw calls his song, “She’s A Fucking Angel (From Fucking Heaven)” ‘one of the best songs I’ve written, maybe ever,’ and he’s right – it’s a slice of pure pop genius inspired by a phone call with his fiancé and written in the ten minutes immediately after they hung up.  Weston’s “Look Up”, has an excellent stutter-step, jittery feel to it and a worthy mantra for our times in the lines “Look up from the telephone, Step off of the curb alone.”  Finally, Wiesner’s beautiful closing track “One White Swan,” is a kind of musical meditation that ends with Brokaw and Weston singing in unison underneath Wiesner’s high harmony.  It feels like a long, slow exhale after a frenetic run up a mountain.  Preorder now!

…So, why the name The Martha’s Vineyard Ferries?  Well, Elisha lives on Martha’s Vineyard – he was born and raised there.  Chris lives in Seattle and Bob makes his home in Chicago – but all three have ties to the island.

Recorded at Cincinnati’s Ultrasuede Studio, I Sang My Heart Out To A Snake Once is Fists of Love‘s  first full-length recording and our first since John Curley joined the band. The collection of 10 original, new songs showcases the songwriting and guitar work of Chris Schadler and Donna Rubin backed by the rhythm section of Cedric Rose and John Curley. Produced by Fists of Love, recorded and mixed by John Curley, I Sang My Heart Out To A Snake Once moves through distinct themes: mysticism, summer memories, local, chthonic band lore, and love. Reminiscent of The Velvet Underground, Mazzy Star, X, Pink Floyd, The Who … elements of pop, jazz and  psychedelic rock collide. Fists of Love’s I Sang My Heart Out To A Snake Once is a record you’ll want to play again as soon as it’s over.

It’s hard to pin down just what Dr. “Crazy Joe” Tritschler’s “thing” is.

One one hand, there’s “Crazy Joe;” guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and occasional sideman; who tours internationally with his own group and with roots music legend Deke Dickerson; releases and distributes original music on his own label, often playing every instrument himself; and continues to evolve his unique musical vision, a hybrid of roots music styles from early rock & roll and rockabilly to soul, jazz, and R&B.

Then there’s Joe Tritschler; Emmy Award-winning audio recording engineer, producer, and audiophile; who operates Tritschler Precision Engineering, LLC, near his home base of Enon, Ohio; and designed and scratch-built nearly every piece of equipment in his all-analog audiophile recording studio, including tube microphones, limiters, monitor amplifiers, loudspeakers, tape recorder electronics, and a hybrid tube/discrete point-to-point-wired console.

Finally, there’s Dr. Simon Josef Tritschler; Instructor in the Department of Biomedical, Industrial, & Human Factors Engineering at Wright State University; who published and manufactures a precision RIAA-equalized phono preamplifier with his own Tritschler Precision Audio Devices; and has worked in the defense and aerospace industries in the area of high-reliability electronics.

It’s between these three very different – albeit related – worlds that Joe makes his home. Grab a copy of his record – The Doctor Is In! and hear for yourself!

Joy is the new EP being relased by Fast Weapons!  Available on Vinyl, CD, and Digital Download!

Arkansas born and bred Bonnie Montgomery is a classically trained composer and opera singer by day and country queen by night. Bringing her raucous spin on traditional southern music to honky-tonks throughout the U.S. and Europe, Bonnie’s catalog hails from a place where outlaw country saddles up with Americana and folk.

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