Bridal Party • Cabin Essence • Jacob Slade
Wed 03/29/23
7:30PM
18+
music
$13 ADV // $15 DOS
Show Lineup
Bridal Party
(Victoria, British Columbia)
Genre: Indie Rock
Bridal Party spans pop music’s omnivorous genre expanse with groovy precision, landing their hooks in just the right places to keep ears perked and crowds bobbing to their nostalgic yet contemporary sound.
The band is poised to drop their sophomore LP, Cool Down on Friday, February 15, 2023. Their upcoming work speaks from interstitial moments, the pivot-points from which real change may emanate, and the deja vu that comes from realising who one has always been. Cool Down celebrates the value of taking a moment to collect oneself and reassess. It is their most stylistically cognizant and emotionally resonant music to date.
Forming in 2015 amidst Victoria, British Columbia’s vibrant DIY scene of experimental club nights and vibrant house shows, Bridal Party began as a sharing of songs between vocalist Suzannah Raudaschl and guitarist Joseph Leroux. That effort culminated in the beachy, effusive Hot Daze EP, ripe with lighthearted bossa nova and indie rock references, while alluding to the end-of-the-world deliriousness that the fire season was imposing on the west coast. The project quickly expanded and now includes Adrian Heim on drums, Lee Gauthier on bass, and Jordan Clairmont on keyboards.
In 2017, Bridal Party linked up with producer Connor Head to record Negative Space, including the band’s first breakout track, the cheekily melancholy “Fruitless”. Built from a guitar progression Leroux initially heard as a throw-away, “Fruitless” showcases Raudaschl’s vocal range and narrative wit, placing her stylistically somewhere between Joni Mitchel and Debbie Harry, distinct in her unpredictable yearning and melodic patterning. It also signalled the band’s stylistic shift towards 80’s and 90’s pop references, and a move towards a less guitar driven, more synthetic sound. In the wake of Negative Space, Beatroute Magazine called Bridal Party, “a perfect marriage of indie pop and soul.”
Over the next two years Bridal Party embraced DIY touring, sending themselves across Canada and down the west coast of the US multiple times, developing a reputation as a tight and experienced live act. The band began recording their debut LP Too Much in 2018, right after returning from their first tour. Informed by their experience on the road and painstakingly produced and mixed by bassist Lee Gauthier, Too Much came out on legendary Vancouver indie label Kingfisher Bluez, and is a record of the group’s growing pains both personally and stylistically. The album took Bridal Party to the #2 slot on the !earshot top 50 chart for two weeks and kept them in the top 50 for two months.
Cabin Essence
(Milwaukee, WI)
Genre: Indie Rock
Cabin Essence is the musical project of Nick Maas, a Milwaukee based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter that creates sun kissed songs with effortless pop melodies and hazy harmonies. In 2016, Nick made his debut release, the seven track mini album entitled A Place For Playing Games, which included the singles “Summer” and “It Just Didn’t Matter”. Nick followed this up in 2019 with his single “For Your Love” which received regular airplay on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee in addition to positive acclaim by Milwaukee Record.
Jacob Slade
(Milwaukee, WI)
Genre: Indie, Recording Engineer, Speaker
“You could not pay Jacob Slade to leave the Midwest” says Madeline Schultz in her review of the Milwaukee-based singer-songwriter’s 2023 album Soft Spoken. The essence of life in the midwest pervades not only Slade’s music and lyricism, but also his work ethic. Over three million streams and placements on Spotify’s Juniper, Morning Acoustic, and Fresh Finds editorial playlists is something few independent artists can claim. Further, Slade has shared the stage with nationally touring acts such as The Hails, Hotel Fiction, and David Wax Museum. While Slade’s music has drawn comparisons to contemporary indie-folk artists such as Noah Kahan, Richy Mitch & The Coal Miner’s, and Mt. Joy, he continues to explore a sound that is uniquely his.