Introduction - Country 🐴

This week, I went to a country show and saw Sam Barber and Sam Stoane. Although I don’t often stray far from emo, metalcore, hardcore, there are songs and artists from every genre that I appreciate and find joy in. I thought I was arriving about 25 minutes after doors and would find my way somewhere in the middle of the crowd for this sold out show. I was off by an hour so instead I had 35 minutes until doors opened and found myself 3rd in line.

I always arrive to emo shows early so that I can have a barricade spot for photos and time goes quickly because I am alongside other elder emos reminiscing of prior tours, swapping stories, and sharing our favorite music. This experience was similar, except all of the conversations were deep into the catalogs of outlaw country and unfamiliar songs. I was so out of my league both with the conversations as well as being dressed in my This Wild Life emo rodeo t-shirt (my attempt at country clothing), a black zip-up hoodie, black skinny jeans, and my black Nike SB mid skate shoes. I was likely also the only person there with their latest concert being Thursday, then next week will see The Plot In You and Beartooth.

All this to say, the show was excellent! Sam Stoane is an amazing artist worth checking out and Sam Barber is an extremely talented singer/songwriter. I challenge everyone to stretch their genres and find music outside of their standard listening patterns. You will find a similar creativity, joy, pain, and overall emotion everywhere. I’m excited to watch the future for both of their careers. Was I constantly thinking, when will the breakdown happen to initiate the moshing and occasionally looking over my shoulder in preparation to feed the surfers towards the front? Absolutely. None of that happened. A night without the pit chaos was a healthy change of pace although I am ready to go hard next week.

Thank you for joining me again with this week’s emo setlist! 🙏🏼

Special Moments ✨

1. Mikey Way of My Chemical Romance shared a personal, inspiring post on the journey of becoming clean and sober. 🙏🏼💪🏼 LINK

2. Justin Courtney Pierre of Motion City Soundtrack has been bringing music to kids through schools. This is so awesome! LINK and FULL ARTICLE

Creators 🎨

1. Alberto Villalobos (@shootyourshot_bert) shared a reel of Thornhill photos with an overlay of John Oliver. I have watched it so many times, maybe it is just me but I find it so funny. Not to mention, stunning photos (bangers) 🔥! LINK

2. Something In The Wilderness is listening to a new album every day. This is a really cool idea and an excellent approach to discovering new music and maintaining a depth of knowledge. LINK

Shows/Tours 🎟️

1. Thursday announced a series of small shows combined with a really cool message in the caption. Thank you Thursday 🕊️! LINK

2. Motion City Soundtrack announced a second leg of their “I am the Movie” 20 year celebration tour. LINK

3. Magnolia Park has announced an upcoming tour with special guests, Archers. LINK

4. Matt Pryor announced dates in Chicagor for his living room tour. Note that he is wearing a shirt from The Pasta Shop - a place on my list to visit when in NJ. LINK

Listen 🎧

1. Ace Enders of The Early November launched a podcast, “Pain to Positive”. Episode 1 was powerful, resonating, and well worth listening. LINK

Watch 🎥

1. Riley Breck of Thrice shared a very cool GoPro video of drums to “Paper Tigers”. LINK

2. Slow Joy shared a reel of a new song “Pulling Teeth” which will be released on March 15th. LINK

3. The Plot In You shared a concert reel. I cannot wait to experience this next week! LINK

New Releases 🎵

1. Jon Foreman of Switchfoot announced an upcoming album release - In Bloom - on May 31st. LINK

2. Cool Hand Luke released their latest single, If You Keep. LINK

3. Rarity released a new song, Brain Dance, which will be included on their upcoming album June 7th. LINK and Pre-Orders.

Capture of the week 📸

1. Ray Duker captured this set of photos of Yellowcard during the Emos Not Dead cruise. Ray has some amazing photography and you should follow his account! The last photo with Sean looking through the violin was a photographer’s dream shot! LINK