17 years to make an EP: Missing hard drives, an artist aging before our eyes, plus titles that morph from representing youth to wise recollections.

The odd “how it started / how it’s going” reality of Pacifico’s upcoming “‘05/’22” EP is only overshadowed by powerful perseverance of its songs.

 
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Pacifico’s Matthew Schwartz as photographed in 2005 (L) and 2022 (R) by Daniel Stabler.
 
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Pacifico | “The Time Has Come My Lover / Alone”
 

[STREAM]: https://Fanatic.lnk.to/Pacifico-TheTimeHasComeMyLover-Alone
 
 
“This song is about wanting that love that you’ve been waiting for to finally happen,” says Matthew Schwartz of Pacifico. “It also could be interpreted to be about the recording itself finally being finished and released.”
 
17 years is a long time to make an EP.
 
Pacifico’s upcoming “‘05/‘22” EP – the title being a literal nod to the how it started / how it’s going nature of the record –arrives June 3, 2022 on the Atlanta-based artist’s own Pacifirecords.
 
What was the artist-in-charge, Matthew Schwartz doing during the 17 years since beginning this Pacifico release in 2005 and completing it in 2022?
 
He was doing Pacifico.
 
Huh?
 
Scroll down for the rest of the story!
 
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Pacifico
“‘05/’22” EP

(Pacifirecords)
June 3^rd, 2022

 
Track Listing:
 
01. The Time Has Come My Lover / Alone (STREAM)
02. Suddenly / Back At The Start
03. The Red Eye / We Won’t Go Back Here
04. Needing And Waiting / Carnival
05. Move On / V2
 
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Pacifico | About
 

 
17 years is a long time to make an EP.
 
Pacifico’s upcoming “‘05/‘22” EP – the title being a literal nod to the how it started / how it’s going nature of the record –arrives June 3, 2022 on the Atlanta-based artist’s own Pacifirecords.
 
What was the artist-in-charge, Matthew Schwartz doing during the 17 years since beginning this Pacifico release in 2005 and completing it in 2022?
 
He was doing Pacifico.
 
Huh?
 
Indeed, this is the story of a lost hard drive. Musicians don’t do back-ups, after all.
 
Teamed with Jeremiah Edmond, Schwartz’s musical cohort in 2005 just prior to Edmond joining Manchester Orchestra, the recordings that have now been realized as the “‘05/‘22” EP were initially intended to become the debut Pacifico album.
 
Schwartz was undeterred when the project was derailed. Quite the opposite, he went on to release three full-length Pacifico albums and eight EPs, along with a handful of standalone singles and compilation appearances.
 
These high intensity, high production value recordings were made with many of Schwartz’s heroes, including Jason Martin of Starflyer 59, Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric, Peter Randall (bassist with The Kooks and Adele), and many more. Compelling artwork during this time was beautifully rendered by Adult Swim’s Trey Wadsworth.
 
Inspired by rock influences as beloved, popular, and revered as Foo Fighters, Radiohead, and Weezer to songwriting powerhouses such as Jeff Buckley, Jeremy Enigk, and Elliott Smith, it’s not surprising that Pacifico songs found their way into films, television, and video games.
 
Unlike the “‘05/‘22” EP, these recordings were backed up!
 
But it’s okay, because in 2020, while everyone was working on sourdough starter during lockdown, Schwartz’s collaborator from the beginning of this story, Jeremiah Edmond, found that missing hard drive.
 
Unintentionally, the “‘05/‘22” EP embodies the same conceit as the Richard Linklater film “Boyhood,” in which the director got together with his actors every few years to shoot more footage, resulting in a final film where we see the actual and realistic aging and maturing of the characters within the story.
 
Similarly, once Schwartz was reunited with his technology, he wasted no time bringing in his current band members, C Jason Mask (Guitar, Vocals) and Wes Clifton (Bass, Vocals) to pick up right where the previous recordings left off. The result is a unique document where youthful exuberance and experienced professionalism meet. The songs are melodic, addictive toe-tappers that say things that only adults can say.
 
As a visual representation that perfectly suits the story, the two images comprising the photo collage of Schwartz that accompanies the release were both shot by photographer Daniel Stabler, one in 2005 and the other in 2022. Even the song titles support the theme, each being named for the placeholder title it was given in 2005 and the final title given in 2022.
 
“Suddenly / Back At The Start” is the first single taken from the “‘05/‘22” EP, in which Schwartz sings, “All these nothings they meant more than me than a million somethings ever could be.”
 
“The song was lost for many years and only found towards the beginning of the pandemic,” Schwartz reminds us, true to form.
 
Fortunately, what was apparently nothing for the last 17 years is very much something now.
 
“‘05/‘22” is the upcoming EP by Pacifico (out June 3 via Pacifirecords), to be preceded by the singles “Suddenly / Back At The Start” (April 15) and “Red Eye / We Won’t Go Back Here” (May 6). Pacifico is currently recoding its next full-length album, scheduled for a late 2022 release.

Matthew Schwartz of Pacifico is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
 
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Pacifico | Links
 
ASSETS : WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : INSTAGRAM : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP : SPOTIFY : APPLE : PACIFIRECORDS
 
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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact
 
WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL

Sloan Brothers includes Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers), David Barbe (Sugar), Carlton Owens (Cracker), Robert Schneider (Apples In Stereo).

“Love You So Good” single from debut by Georgia recordist Sloan Simpson is deeply personal tune for his Mom that brought his collaborators to tears.
 
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Sloan Simpson as photographed by John Lee Matney
 
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Sloan Brothers | “Love You So Good”
 

 

[VIDEO]: https://youtu.be/MG10wOxXUT4 
 
[STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/SloanBrothers-LoveYouSoGood
 
“My mother would say ‘love you so good’ rather than ‘love you so much,’” explains Sloan Simpson about the new Sloan Brothers single, streaming now via The Big Takeover. “Just as a family Southernism, and it stuck with me again after my sister (a progressive Baptist minister in Michigan) mentioned it in her eulogy at my mother’s funeral.”
 
Simpson continues, “I decided to consider the phrase part of my inheritance and built this song around it. All the singers on this choked up when recording their parts.”
 
Featured collaborators on “Love You So Good” include Patterson Hood and Jay Gonzalez (Drive-By Truckers), Robert Schneider (The Apples In Stereo), David Barbe (Sugar), and Carlton Walker Owens (Cracker).
 
In its premiere coverage of the Erica Strout-directed video for the song, Treble calls the track “infectiously fuzzy pop with a lot of warmth and sadness alike,” saying the video is “suitably psychedelic” and “both heartbreaking and richly accessible, a loving tribute to Simpson’s mother that’ll likely bring a tear to your eye.”
 
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Sloan Brothers
System Update
(Science Project Records)
May 13^th, 2022
  

Track Listing:
 
01. System Update
02. Cleopatra Echo (STREAM)
03. Cryin’ Shame
04. Anxiety
05. Songs Like This (STREAM)
06. Love You So Good (STREAM | VIDEO)
07. So Good (Reprise)
08. Amplified
09. Coffee Black
10. Into My Mind
11. Mirrorball
12. Smile Down On Me
 
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Sloan Brothers | “Songs Like This”
 

[STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/SloanBrothers-SongsLikeThis
 
“Punchy indie rock tunes with a touch of power pop... begs to be played on repeat.” — Glide Magazine
 
“The song finds Simpson showcasing his penchant for writing punchy indie rock tunes with a touch of power pop,” says Glide Magazine in its premiere coverage of the Sloan Brothers single “Songs Like This”. “With its bouncy synth and uptempo beat, the song is a fun romp that begs to be played on repeat. In true collaborative fashion, Simpson enlisted some of his favorite Athens musicians to join him on the tune, and the result feels both communal and celebratory.”
 
Simpson says, “I wrote this song after asking Andrew Rieger of Elf Power if he would sing on something, if I wrote one he liked. He agreed. At that point, it seemed like something that was a slight nod to the poppier side of Elephant 6 would be appropriate. Andrew sings the high part in the choruses. After recording basics, I realized it was perfect for Kevin Lane of local pop legends The Possibilities to sing in the verses with me and add some rhythm guitar. I’ve been friends with Bryan J. Howard of Cracker for nearly 20 years now, and he jumped in here on bass.”
 
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Sloan Brothers | About
 

Sloan Simpson has been recording for over two decades. Until now, none of the music has been his own.
 
This changes with the release of his debut album System Update (May 13^th, 2022, Science Project Records) under the name Sloan Brothers.
 
Though Sloan Simpson says that while making his debut album he was “listening to mainly The Cure,” the album’s opening one-two punch of the title track and the instrumental “Cleopatra Echo” feels like Daft Punk invited Herbie Hancock to form a trio jamming with The Grateful Dead during that band’s most spirited era of ever-evolving journeyman collaboration.
 
Wow, how did Simpson get here?!
 
The Athens, Georgia-based musician played rock and jazz guitar growing up, but was frustrated by the hit his talents took when a serious car accident sidelined him. Simpson sold all of his guitars and quit the instrument.
 
With music still in his blood, if not in his grasp, Simpson began to document, through live taping, the local scene in his new hometown of Atlanta, eventually relocating to nearby Athens after years spent driving between the two as part of his recording endeavors. His new hobby had become a good habit.
 
“I had a permanent recording setup installed and the reality of losing my favorite venue really set in when I had to go remove it,” Simpson says of The Caledonia Lounge, a nationally-recognized Athens club that closed in October of 2020, sidelining him again.
 
Like the life-changing event that inspired his recording career of recording others, the closing of the Caledonia was eerily fortuitous for Simpson. While live music was in shutdown, he wrote and recorded his first song.
 
“It was the first vocals I’d ever sung into a microphone,” Simpson says. With his friend, guitarist Kevin Sweeney contributing solos, the first Sloan Brothers single “For You” was released later that month.
 
Pleased with the experience, Simpson picked up a bass, more microphones, and drum software. Though he returned to guitar, he says that even without formal training, “playing keyboards is what allowed me to start writing songs.”
 
He also started calling up more friends.
 
Simpson explains, “I asked my friend Robert Schneider (co-founder of The Apples In Stereo and Elephant Six Recording Co.) if he would record backing vocals on the song “Into My Mind,” and he agreed. As I kept writing more songs, I would ask more friends I knew from recording shows over the years to contribute guest parts.”
 
In addition to Sweeney and Schneider, some three-dozen or more local luminaries also appear on System Update, including current and former members of Maserati, Olivia Tremor Control, Japancakes, of Montreal, Drive-By Truckers, Cracker, Casper & The Cookies, Camper Van Beethoven, Elf Power, and more.
 
In fact, it was Elf Power’s Andrew Rieger that inspired Simpson’s songwriting on the album’s first single, “Songs Like This.”
 
“I asked Andrew if he would sing on something if I wrote one he liked,” Simpson jokes. “Andrew sings the high part in the choruses and it was perfect for Kevin Lane of local pop legends The Possibilities to sing in the verses with me. I’ve been friends with Bryan J. Howard of Cracker for nearly 20 years now, and he jumped in on bass.”
 
The tune has one the most relatable indie rock crush-couplets you’ll ever hear and is a defining example of the quality of Simpson’s songwriting future.
 
“I saw you buying records and I saw you at the coffee shop
 
I didn’t hear your order but I bought the same record you got”
 
These words provide a mere glimpse into Simpson’s ability to explore emotion with the kind of candor that only comes from experience brought by age.
 
“I had long been avoiding expressing feelings as some sort of misguided version of the ‘cool’ that rock ‘n roll had taught me growing up,” he admits. “Once I lost family, I realized that it’s okay to express pain, trauma, and desires.”
 
After half a lifetime taking home tapes of the personal struggles of others in song, it’s about time that Simpson is giving us the same opportunity with his unexpected, thrilling work.
 
System Update, the debut album by Sloan Brothers arrives on May 13^th via Science Project Records, preceded by the singles “Songs Like This” (Feb. 11^th), “Love You So Good” (March 11^th), and “Anxiety” (April 15^th). Sloan Simpson is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
 
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Sloan Brothers | Links
 
ASSETS : WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP : SPOTIFY : APPLE : SCIENCE PROJECT RECORDS
 
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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact
 
WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL

Sixth full-length from “impressively hooky” (American Songwriter), “relentlessly catchy” (Under The Radar) artist The March Divide out June 10.

 Jared Putnam’s powerful rock single “I’m Not Perfect” is “love letter for 1990s rock bands like Gin Blossoms, Counting Crows with a hint of Cheap Trick.”
 
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Jared Putnam of The March Divide as photographed by Short Eared Dog Photography.
 
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The March Divide | “I’m Not Perfect”
 

[STREAM]: https://Fanatic.lnk.to/TheMarchDivide-ImNotPerfect
 
“Fort Worth-based Jared Putnam has a soft spot for ’90s pop rock,” says Central Track in its premiere coverage of “I’m Not Perfect,” the first single from Lost Causes, the sixth album by Putnam’s project The March Divide (June 10^th, Slow Start Records).
 
“The 10-song Lost Causes finds Putnam backed by bassist Ernie Garcia and drummer Jason West. Together with noted producer Mike Major, they made a love letter for 1990s rock bands like the Gin Blossoms, Counting Crows, Tonic and Sister Hazel with a hint of Cheap Trick.”
 
“I’m Not Perfect” might be an open nod to the 1990s rock that was on the radio a lot after Kurt Cobain died, but it doesn’t sound like a retread. Compare it with songs from August and Everything After (Counting Crows) or New Miserable Experience (Gin Blossoms) and it sounds inspired, but not taking direct lifts from those records.”
 
“This song came out completely different that I had initially imagined,” Putnam explains. “Writing mellow sad songs about utter loneliness, for whatever reason, comes very naturally to me. Over the years, I’ve developed a following that has a huge appetite for these songs. These songs are very therapeutic for me to write and it means the world to me that they connect so strongly with so many people.”
 
 “‘I’m Not Perfect’ was going to be one of those songs,” Putnam continues. “I tracked a very rough demo version of what I had and sent it off to Mike Major and he heard it as a full on rock song, which was the opposite of where I had intended to take it. When I realized I wasn’t seeing the forest for the trees, it just totally clicked from there.”
 
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The March Divide | In The Press
 

 
“Impressively hooky.” — American Songwriter
 
“Relentlessly catchy.” — Under The Radar
 
“Bittersweet beauty.” — Impose
 
“Putnam’s vocals pop.” — PopMatters
 
“Hits the mark again and again.” — The Big Takeover
 
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The March Divide
Lost Causes
(Slow Start Records)
June 10^th, 2022
 

Track Listing:
 
01. I Wanna Hate You
02. Tension in the Air
03. I’m Not Perfect (STREAM)
04. Dover Cir
05. Corduroy
06. Giving Up
07. Virginia (STREAM)
08. Mont Del Dr
09. King of the Lost Cause
10. This World is Gonna End
 
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The March Divide | Live
 
03/25/2022: Cibolo, TX @ 1908 House of Wine & Ale
03/26/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Fralo’s
03/27/2022: Corpus Christi, TX @ Executive Surf Club
04/01/2022: Plano, TX @ Terra Mediterranean
04/02/2022: Harlingen, TX @ Hop Shop
04/03/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Fralo’s
04/08/2022: Tyler, TX @ ETX Brewing
04/09/2022: Cibolo, TX @ 1908 House of Wine & Ale
04/14/2022: Wichita Falls, TX @ The High Dive
04/15/2022: Plano, TX @ Terra Mediterranean
04/16/2022: Wichita Falls, TX @ Iron Horse Pub (w/ Brannon Oliver)
04/23/2022: Coleman, TX @ Coleman Film Festival
04/27/2022: Clovis, NM @ Bandolero Brewery
04/28/2022: Albuquerque, NM @ Canteen Brewhouse
04/29/2022: Madrid, NM @ Mineshaft Tavern
04/30/2022: Prescott, AZ @ The Raven Cafe
05/01/2022: Salt Lake City, UT @ The Beehive
05/03/2022: Carson City, NV @ Shoe Tree Brewing
05/04/2022: Sparks, NV @ Elbow Room (w/ Blunderbusst)
05/05/2022: Mindon, NV @ Shoe Tree Brewing
05/06/2022: Ashland, OR @ Art Walk (w/Blunderbusst) (Early Show)
05/06/2022: Ashland, OR @ Oberon’s (w/ Blunderbusst)
05/07/2022: Seattle, WA @ Lucky Liquor (w/ Blunderbusst)
05/08/2022: Salem, OR @ Infinity Room (w/ Blunderbusst)
05/10/2022: Portland, OR @ No Fun Bar (w/ Blunderbusst)
05/11/2022: Medford, OR @ Johnny B’s (w/ Blunderbusst)
05/12/2022: Sacramento, CA @ The Library of Musiclandria (w/ Blunderbusst)
05/14/2022: Landers, CA @ Giant Rock (w/ Blunderbusst, Ryan Traster)
05/15/2022: Vista, CA @ Aztec Brewery
05/17/2022: Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room
05/20/2022: Bisbee, AZ @ Bisbee Grand Hotel
05/21/2022: Alamogordo, NM @ 575 Brewing Company
05/22/2022: Silver City, NM @ Little Toad Creek
06/02/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Fralo’s
06/03/2022: Cibolo, TX @ 1908 House of Wine & Ale
06/05/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Fralo’s
06/11/2022: San Antonio, TX @ The Point Park
06/17/2022: Fort Stockton, TX @ Zero Stone Park
06/18/2022: Wichita Falls, TX @ O’Briens
06/23/2022: San Antonio, TX @ Fralos
06/24/2022: Fort Stockton, TX @ The Old ‘76
06/25/2022: Clovis, NM @ Red Door Brewing
08/05/2022: Corpus Christi, TX @ Art Walk
08/28/2022: Cloudcroft, NM @ Cloudcroft Brewing
 
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The March Divide | “Virginia”
 

[STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/TheMarchDivide-Virginia
 
“‘Virginia’ is the first song that I wrote and recorded for the album and it set the tone,” says Jared Putnam of The March Divide about Lost Causes, his sixth album, out June 10^th on Slow Start Records. “This album is an intentional tribute to 90’s indie-rock. I barely touched my electric guitar in years, but this album seemed to demand it. It took me a little while to get reacquainted with my Telecaster, but I loved doing it.”
 
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The March Divide | About
 

I wanna hate you. I’m not perfect. Giving up. King of the lost cause. This world is gonna end.
 
Jared Putnam is a funny guy. No, really, he is. Don’t let the negative words above, which comprise five of the ten song titles on Lost Causes (oops, he did it again!), Putnam’s sixth album as The March Divide, fool you.
 
Being able to laugh at yourself is one of the tenants of comedy and Putnam’s greatest strength has always been to take his everyman, self-effacing character and wrap it in urgent melodies backed by just-slick-enough production to draw you in and keep you there.
 
It’s why over the years music critics have called his songs “impressively hooky” (American Songwriter) with “classic pop hooks” (The Big Takeover) where his “pop sensibility comes entirely to the forefront” (Under The Radar).
 
As a next-door neighbor who you would actually like to know, Putnam doesn’t try to overstay his welcome, either. Even though he is a prolific songwriter, after the release of his appropriately titled fifth album cinc in April of 2021, he figured he was tapped out of ideas for a while.
 
Instead, he started making the best distillation of his talents to date. As Putnam tells it, inspiration returned as he was just out doing Dad stuff.
 
“I was driving my kid to school and Gin Blossoms came on the radio. I’m a forever fan of Gin Blossoms, but this was ‘Hey Jealousy,’ which commercial radio has been running into the ground for 30 years.
 
“But in that moment, it was the greatest thing I’d ever heard! The hooks, the subject matter, and all the rest were as they’d always been, but I was struck by how it was put together. In that moment, that’s what made the song great.”
 
Putnam has spent years deconstructing pop songs in an attempt to discover the formula. This “Hey Jealousy” epiphany may have been destined, because the blueprint of the connection Putnam realized while just doing Daddy duty allowed him to build Lost Causes.
 
“I’ve always been fascinated with dissecting what makes a song great and trying to find the catalyst for the chemical reaction that emotionally connects us to where a handful of tunes are run into the ground for 30 years,” he says of the rarefied air that a timeless hit song occupies.
 
Joining Putnam under The March Divide banner for Lost Causes are friends Ernie Garcia (long-time player with El Vez and Javier Escovedo) on bass and Jason West on drums.
 
“Our mutual love of Cheap Trick has always made Jason the perfect drummer for my songs,” Putnam says. Lost Causes was mixed and mastered by Mike Major (At The Drive-In, Coheed and Cambria.)
 
“Mike also produced a lot of great bands around the southwest,” Putnam explains. “It wasn’t lost on me that Gin Blossoms are from Tempe and have a very staple southwestern sound. Mike knew what I was going for.”
 
Lyrically, the songs on Lost Causes pick up where the last single from Putnam’s previous album left off. At the time, he had started to write in a more stream of consciousness style, even making a promise to himself not to change his words.
 
“It’s pretty satisfying to just say what you want to say, without worrying about how cool it sounds,” he said at the time.
 
This is why Putnam’s humor shines brighter than ever on Lost Causes.
 
I wanna hate you. I’m not perfect. Giving up. King of the lost cause. This world is gonna end.
 
We have all felt these things, but putting them in song, or voicing them at all could seem whiney or at least cynical and pessimistic.
 
Not so, with Putnam, who has become a master of this somewhat sarcastic craft. Instead, these songs are relatable confessions in a candy coating.
 
“Writing sad songs about utter loneliness comes very naturally to me,” he says. “These kinds of songs are very therapeutic for me to write.”
 
These sad songs are the ones that most connect with Putnam’s growing audience, especially those overseas that have propelled tunes such as his 2019 release “Secrets,” to just-shy of a million Spotify spins.
 
“I’m Not Perfect,” the first single from Lost Causes, started out as one of these “downer” tunes, but in sharing his early demo with his collaborators, Putnam was pushed to make it more, while keeping what makes it The March Divide. The tune opens Lost Causes and is a total success.
 
“Even though writing these types of songs is therapeutic for me, it’s also a rut,” Putnam says. “Emotionally, I got so much more out of working on ‘I’m Not Perfect’ by working with others. I’m hopeful that the fans who crave these songs from me will too. Maybe we can all get out of our sad bastard rut together.”
 
He’s a funny guy.
 
Lost Causes, the sixth album by The March Divide, arrives on June 10^th via Slow Start Records preceded by the singles “I’m Not Perfect” (March 18^th), “Tension In The Air” (April 8^th), “I Wanna Hate You” (April 29^th), and “King of The Lost Cause” (May 20^th.)
 
Jared Putnam of The March Divide is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
 
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The March Divide | Links
 
ASSETS : WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP : SPOTIFY : APPLE : SLOW START RECORDS
 
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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact
 
WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL

“‘Joan To Catherine’ is the latest example of a songwriting powerhouse flexing the depth and variety of her prowess… deathly important and vital.”

 Caitlin Cobb-Vialet assumes Joan of Arc’s voice on latest single; Announces Los Angeles debut for April 7^th, San Francisco record release May 6^th.
 
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Caitlin Cobb-Vialet as photographed by Dawn Lu

 
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PLAY, POST & SHARE
 
Caitlin Cobb-Vialet | “Joan To Catherine”
 

 

[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phphcMokW7Q
 
[STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/CaitlinCobbVialet-JoanToCatherine
 
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“Conjures a medieval setting right out of a natural locale... Cobb-Vialet’s songs create the powerful feel of desperation that confronts us all too often in life,” says music discovery website Americana Highways about “Joan To Catherine,” the second single from the upcoming album by Caitlin Cobb-Vialet.
 
CLOUT says “‘Joan To Catherine’ is the latest example of a songwriting powerhouse flexing the depth and variety of her prowess and managing to make a wide range of scenarios feel deathly important and vital.”
 
“Joan of Arc was one of my quarantine fixations,” Cobb-Vialet says. I wrote ‘Joan To Catherine’ from the point of view of Joan of Arc about Saint Catherine of Alexandria, when Catherine is no longer appearing to Joan in her visions. In the song, Joan is losing faith, suddenly feeling insignificant without Catherine. Faith and religion stand in for love and purpose in this song.
 
“For this video, I was thinking about beautiful locations with a touch of a medieval vibe for a place to shoot. The colors and light of an outdoor setting kept coming up, and in the Berkeley hills there is an unmarked, secret trail into a ravine that ends at a beautiful waterfall.”
 
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Caitlin Cobb-Vialet | Live
 

04/07/2022: Los Angeles, CA @ Le Son (5907 Franklin Ave.)
04/21/2022: San Francisco, CA @ Make-Out Room
05/06/2022: Oakland, CA @ Starline Social Club (Record Release)
 
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Caitlin Cobb-Vialet
Endless Void
(War Chant Records)
May 6^th, 2022
  

Track Listing:
 
01. Not Enough (STREAM)
02. Joan To Catherine (STREAM | VIDEO)
03. Ask Me (STREAM | VIDEO)
04. The Reference
05. Collared Shirts
06. You Don’t Try
07. Useless
08. Disco Ball
09. What’s It With You?
10. Float
 
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PLAY, POST & SHARE
 
Caitlin Cobb-Vialet | “Ask Me”
 

 

[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9WUSpY83mI
 
[STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/CaitlinCobbVialet-AskMe
 
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“There is something disarmingly real and genuine with her approach to the craft.” — SF Weekly
 
 “The song finds Caitlin at her beloved piano, reminiscent of early Regina Spektor, as she plucks out rich chords to accompany her soaring, heartfelt vocals,” says music discovery site For The Rabbits in its premiere coverage of the music video of “Ask Me,” the new single by Caitlin Cobb-Vialet. “That feeling of closeness, described beautifully throughout the track... is punctuated by the feeling that this love is ultimately fleeting.”
 
“‘Ask Me’ is a song I wrote inspired by the newfound feeling of safeness and understanding that I felt in my first queer relationship,” Caitlin Cobb-Vialet tells Adobe & Teardrops. “At the end of the song, I come to the realization that ‘even in love you’re still alone,’ alluding to the temporary nature of even powerful love.”
 
Americana UK states that the song “feels immediately familiar. A gorgeously tuneful but conversational style that feels like she is baring her soul to you.”
 
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Caitlin Cobb-Vialet | About
 

When Caitlin Cobb-Vialet sits down at her grand piano in San Francisco, it feels like you are sitting on the bench right next to her. The young songwriter and multi-instrumentalist creates immediate intimacy in the opening moments of her upcoming debut album. The songs are often fleeting (album opener “Not Enough” clocking at a slim two minutes, for example), but it doesn’t matter; Cobb-Vialet imparts so much feeling in such a small amount of time.
 
Discovered by visionary bay area producer, Jim Greer (credits include Foster The People, Macy Gray, Angelo Moore of Fishbone), Cobb-Vialet is, actually and truly, a discovery. It even feels like the songs must have been hidden from the songwriter herself, only being recognized and realized as they are being performed.
 
Cobb-Vialet’s studies at the Playwrights Horizons Theater School at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts could have something to do with the dramatic effect of that.
 
“The studio encouraged me to be a well-rounded artist who could write, direct, design, as well as act,” Cobb-Vialet explains.
 
Immersed in what she describes as the “busy-ness” of college, performing and composing as part of several productions at once, Cobb-Vialet’s musical theater background and love of the abstract art that she was exposed to in downtown NYC provided the experiences that she had been readied for as a child brought up in a progressive, blended home.
 
“I was raised by four moms,” she explains. “I had two moms, and then when I was in the fifth grade, they separated and partnered with two moms of kids at my school. So I have two moms, two step-moms, my brother, and six step-siblings who I’ve known since elementary school.”
 
As the oldest child, Cobb-Vialet was bound to be looked to in the household as an example (many of her siblings are also in the arts), but her insights hit home outside of her literal home, too.
 
Especially with Greer, who is effusive about their work together.
 
“At our first meeting, she played me a few songs, and right away I heard shades of so many songwriters I’ve always been a fan of,” he remembers. “Bits of Freddie Mercury, Kate Bush, David Bowie, Regina Spektor – the kind of artists that make their own universe and communicate wide swaths of emotion and beauty.”
 
Accessing for herself these timeless artist’s knack for accessibility is part of the inherent potential Cobb-Vialet’s songs have to connect and convey a unique young life that, even now, isn’t often represented.
 
“Besides love and heartbreak, these songs also explore queerness, consent, mental illness, friendship, and coming of age,” she says. “As an artist I would say I am non-linear, emotional, brutally honest, and relentless.”
 
The fleeting intimacy that takes place at the bench of Cobb-Vialet’s grand piano... It is quite grand indeed.
 
Endless Void, the debut album by Caitlin Cobb-Vialet, arrives via War Chant Records on May 6^th, 2022 preceded by the singles “Ask Me” (Feb. 4^th), “Joan To Catherine” (March 4^th), and “Disco Ball” (April 15^th).
 
Caitlin Cobb-Vialet is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
 
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