Following a string of encounters too strange to be coincidence, Robbie Kingsley, Franco Solari, Dylan McCue, Andre Escobar and Zach Levy came together to form The Hails. Despite first playing in an insular Miami high school music scene, the band officially formed at the University of Florida, turning the tattered carpeting and beer bottle lined shelves of their shitty college house into a distinct, refined sound that is now synonymous with their name. After graduation, the group made the pilgrimage back to their home of Miami, the city that directly influenced the sound of their early shimmering singles Younger and Stay, debut EP He Seems Upset (2020), and the subsequent Alive in Strange Ways (2021). Receiving praise from the likes of Ones To Watch, American Songwriter, Lyrical Lemonade, Atwood Magazine and others, The Hails went on to hold court at festivals including WonderStruck, Okeechobee and Playground, interspersed between sold-out shows across the state of Florida. The first half of 2022 also saw The Hails join WILLIS for West and East Coast dates. Firing the starting pistol of their next chapter, The Hails released Exonerate in October 2022, ushering in a flood of editorial praise from Billboard, Consequence, EARMILK and many others excited by the direction the band is headed in. The same weekend as the single’s release, The Hails took it to Miami’s infamous III Points Festival, winning the crowd’s energy over with a track that had only been out for 24 hours.
Hotel Fiction is an Athens, Georgia-based band comprised of Jade Long and Jessica
Thompson. Both women have been playing music for over ten years and began writing,
performing, and playing together in January 2019. In August of that year, Hotel Fiction released
their debut single “Astronaut Kids” which received a warm welcome from the indie scene, and
went on to amass over 2 million global streams.
Hotel Fiction’s sound has often been described as genre-fluid, with indie, pop and rock
influences. With Jade’s dynamic vocals and piano, and Jessica’s complementary lead guitar and
harmonies, the two create a sound that invites listeners to settle in and stay a while. For Hotel
Fiction, the no vacancy sign is never illuminated, everyone is accommodated here.
During quarantine, the two finished recording their debut album Soft Focus which was released
in the fall of 2021. The project was met with praise from Atwood Magazine, Early Rising, A1234,
and We Are the Guard, and was placed on Spotify editorial lists Fresh Finds and Fresh Finds
Rock, where it spent eight weeks straight.
Most recently, Hotel Fiction has supported Beach Fossils, Adam Melchor, flipturn and The
Brooke and The Bluff. The band released their new EP Enjoy Your Stay on October 28, 2022.
“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.