Getting to Know: Shakey Graves, Atlas Genius, Rare Americans,

Get To Know:

Somewhere between Americana, folk, blues, indie, and pop, you find the sound that is Shakey Graves, the brainchild of Alejandro Rose-Garcia. After releasing his first effort, Roll The Bones, on Bandcamp in 2011 without any promotion and little information about who he is, Shakey Graves landed a “featured album” spot with Bandcamp for a month and from there, it has stayed among the website’s top-selling records. Over the past decade the record has gone on to sell well over 100,000 units—despite being offered to fans on Bandcamp for “name your price”—and as a result, Shakey Graves has garnered a massive cult following. Shakey Graves has sold over 400,000 records to date while garnering over 325 million streams worldwide. In 2014, following the release of And The War Came, Shakey Graves won an Americana Music Award for “Emerging Artist of the Year” and the album’s hit single “Dearly Departed” sold over 500,000 units in North America alone. The 2018 full band follow-up Can’t Wake Up was released to critical acclaim and Shakey Graves continued to tour relentlessly, including prestigious festival appearances both stateside and abroad.

Watch: The official music video for “Built to Roam”.

Sounds Like: Langhorne Slim, Nathaniel Rateliff, Dawes

Follow: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter

Listen: Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Soundcloud

Gear: Power Slinky and Not Even Slinky electric guitar strings, Medium Nickel Wound 13-56 electric guitar strings (w/ Wound G), Earthwood Medium Phosphor Bronze 13-56 acoustic guitar strings.

Get To Know:

Australian-based, Atlas Genius saw immediate breakthrough success with their debut single “Trojans” in 2011. The blending of alt-pop with catchy meaningful melodies, proved to be the recipe that the band time and time again have proven that their smash hit was no fluke and have done so by following it up with continuous success, generating over 600 Million Monthly listeners and touring with the likes of Weezer, Panic! At The Disco, and Imagine Dragons. Their newest single “Elegant Strangers” started off as a collab between singer Keith Jeffery, producer Ben H Allen (Animal Collective, Bombay Bicycle Club), and The Bravery singer-songwriter, Sam Endicott after many attempts in Los Angeles, but found its rhythm when taken back to their home studio in South Australia, showing you can reach new heights, even when you go back home. Check out the visualizer single below for “Elegant Strangers” 

Watch: The official music video for “Elegant Strangers“

Sounds Like: Youngblood Hawke, Joywave, Matt and Kim

Listen: Spotify, Apple Music

Follow: Instagram, YouTube

Gear: Ernie Ball Regular Slinky and Power Slinky electric guitar strings, Earthwood 80/20 Light acoustic strings, and Regular Short Scale Bass strings. 

Get To Know:

The genre-bending Vancouver group, Rare Americans have built a passionate fanbase with its ornate melodicism and storytelling. Bandleader, James Priestner, and Rare Americans level up their sound by drawing from a multitude of genres while keeping true to what makes them unique: Telling crooked and catchy stories. Since their debut in 2018, the band has summed over 300M global streams, over 1M monthly listeners, and a 2020 Juno for their song “Brittle Bones Nicky”, a song featured in Warner soundtracks, and a spot on the Billboard Top 100 album charts for their album RA2. 

Watch: The official music video for “Run the World“

Sounds Like: Tally Hall, Weathers, Confetti

Listen: Spotify, Apple Music

Follow: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook

Gear: Regular Slinky Cobalt electric guitar strings, Everlast Light Coated Phosphor Bronze acoustic strings, Hybrid Slinky Cobalt bass strings.