If It's Too Loud...

Karly Hartzman of Wednesday Photo by Ken Sears Welcome to the third and final day of the Green River Festival, where if you weren't wearing a piece of Geese merchandise, one was provided for you. It was very obvious who most of the crowd at Green River were there to see (which led to the biggest attendance in Green River's forty years), and the big question was if the band of the moment would live up to the hype. Of course, there was a lot of music to be heard Sunday, and we took in as much as we could! Angela Autumn, Backporch Stage Angela Autumn was one of those artists I discovered while preparing for this year's Green River Festival, and I'm glad I did. She plays that style of Americana/roots music that comes right up against the mainstream while still having her own unique sound. Her songs are beautiful, but with an edge to them. Before Sunday afternoon, I had only heard a handful of songs of hers, and after Sunday afternoon, I'm more than a little obsessed. Au...

Britt Daniel of Spoon Photo by Ken Sears As one of the announcers said, Saturday at the Green River Festival was a marathon. I got there early for Lily Seabird and stayed late for Spoon. It was over ten hours of diverse music, from Americana and folk to cumbia to indie rock to experimental music. It was absolutely exhausting, in the best possible way as I tried to take in everything possible. Here are my highlights from day two! Lily Seabird, Backporch Stage I've been trying to see Lily Seabird live for almost three years now, and the Green River Festival finally let it happen. My expectations were high, and she and her band blew them completely away. I had meant to watch half of her set and then head over to Dean's Beans Stage for the second half of The Animeros, but I was transfixed by Seabird's set. Live she seemed to lean into her more indie rock side with folk elements. It was kind of like if Nirvana or Sonic Youth decided to try out Americana. Lily Seabird set the bar...

Charley Crockett Photo by Ken Sears I was a bit of a hypocrite this year for the Green River Festival. As much as I preached for getting there early, life and the day job got in the way on Friday, and I didn't get there as early as I wanted to. It was still a great day of music, even if I got a late start. Here were my favorites from day one! Tre Burt, Backporch Stage I first discovered Tre Burt opening up for Haley Heynderickx, and I've been dying to see him again ever since. His set at this year's Green River Festival will be talked by anyone who saw it for a while. Burt and his band played incredibly tightly, mixing rock and roots music in a way that has wide appeal but is completely unique to him. I had "Santiago" stuck in my head for a week from listening to the Green River Festival Spotify playlist so much, and now it's embedded there, possibly permanently. His version of folk and roots is so upbeat and catchy that it's practically made for festivals...

Today is the day Green River Festival starts. This week we've been giving you reasons to show up bright and early so you don't miss some amazing up and coming artists. Festivals are about more than the headliner, and it's a perfect way to catch your new favorite. Today is no exception, and we hope you can make it to the gates as they open to catch today's highlighted artist! She Returns From War, Friday, Backporch Stage, 1:00 Opening the Backporch Stage for the weekend is She Returns From War. Charleston, SC based artist Hunter Park has a raw take on Americana. It's a highly emotional blend of country and folk that will instantly grab you. As raw as She Returns From War's music is, it's also steeped in melody and harmony, and every song I've heard is instantly engaging. The songs may be mellow, but nothing you will hear from this artist is even remotely dull. She fits right in with the vibe of Green River Festival, and is the perfect way to start your we...

As we gear up for this weekend's Green River Festival, we're going to preview some of the band's earlier in the day. If you're going, you know you'll be there to see Charley Crockett, Spoon, The Beths, Kurt Vile, Geese, and Wednesday, so I'm going to make the case to show up earlier in the day to catch some up and coming bands that you'll end up loving. Deloyd Elze, Sunday, Backporch Stage, 12:00 After two days of wandering from stage to stage and taking in everything you can, you might be tempted to sleep in a little extra on Sunday and show up late. If you do that, you're going to miss Deloyd Elze. The Jacksonville, FL musician has one of the most unique sounds out there. He has a fairly straightforward folk and singer-songwriter sound, but he combines that with electronic elements like synths and lo-fi drums. It creates a lush soundscape that somehow still fits in with traditional and modern folk. The electronic elements somehow make his music even mo...

Photo by Mike Vanata As we gear up for this weekend's Green River Festival, we're going to preview some of the band's earlier in the day. If you're going, you know you'll be there to see Charley Crockett, Spoon, The Beths, Kurt Vile, Geese, and Wednesday, so I'm going to make the case to show up earlier in the day to catch some up and coming bands that you'll end up loving. Angela Autumn, Sunday, Back Porch Stage, 1:10 I discovered Angela Autumn while listening to the Green River Festival Spotify playlist , and was immediately blown away. The singer-songwriter was raised in the Appalachia region of Pennsylvania and now resides in Nashville. My favorite thing about her music is how she moves between modern folk pop and a more traditional style of roots music with ease. Her voice has such a natural twang, but also a smooth, more mainstream sound to it. I'm hearing a blend of Sierra Ferrell and Madi Diaz in her musical style, and you certainly can't bea...

Photo by Sonny Loya As we gear up for this weekend's Green River Festival, we're going to preview some of the band's earlier in the day. If you're going, you know you'll be there to see Charley Crockett, Spoon, The Beths, Kurt Vile, Geese, and Wednesday, so I'm going to make the case to show up earlier in the day to catch some up and coming bands that you'll end up loving. The Animeros, Saturday, Dean's Beans Stage, 12:15 The Animeros mix bolero, psychedelic, and cumbia into a sound all their own. They were discovered by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, who just happened to hear their music coming from an open hotel window. A year later they were signed to his Easy Eye Sound label, and have their debut album (produced by Auerbach) due out this year. Their music is an absolute blast, and will be the perfect way to get your energy up and your Saturday festival started. Of course, that means they're on right up against yesterday's spotlighted artist,...

Photo by Garrett Linck As we gear up for this weekend's Green River Festival, we're going to preview some of the band's earlier in the day. If you're going, you know you'll be there to see Charley Crockett, Spoon, The Beths, Kurt Vile, Geese, and Wednesday, so I'm going to make the case to show up earlier in the day to catch some up and coming bands that you'll end up loving. Lily Seabird, Saturday, Back Porch Stage, 12:15 If you're a regular reader of ours, you know how much we love Lily Seabird. The Vermont based artist has released two of our favorite albums of the last two years (2024's Alas, and 2025's Trash Mountain ). She has this wonderful mix of traditional folk and Americana along with a more indie rock focused sound that hits us right in our musical sweet spot. Her songs are twangy and vintage while still sounding modern and fresh. Sometimes she's freak or anti-folk, others she's purely folk. Regardless of what style she's ...

Just a few weeks ago we brought you a list of upcoming summer music festivals to check out since Boston Calling, The Capitol Groove, Back Cove Music and Arts Festival, New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, and FreshGrass aren't taking place this year. It was a list of seven diverse festivals, and now we have more to share! Prescott Park Arts Festival, Portsmouth, NH, June 22 through September 6 Not a traditional music festival, but the Prescott Park Arts Festival has been one of my New England summer highlights for over ten years now. The festival is mainly a family friendly play (this year is Cinderella), but for our purposes they bring in some fantastic musical artists throughout the summer. Plus, it's only a $20 suggested donation (we implore you to donate so they keep putting these on) to see artists that would cost far more at any other venue. The artists tend to be more along the lines of folk and Americana, and this year brings a bunch of our favorites to seacost New ...

Normally on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend we're heading in for Boston Calling, but the premier festival in the area is taking this year off. Actually, taking a year off (hopefully) is the theme for 2026, with Hartford's The Capital Groove, Portland's Back Cove Music & Arts Festival, and Worcester's New England Metal and Hardcore Festival all skipping this year. Luckily, there are still plenty of festivals happening this year. Here are our recommendations for the summer of 2026, presented in chronological order! Backwoods Metal Fest, Henniker, NH, May 29 and 30 Taking place up in Henniker, NH, Backwoods Metal Fest is a two day rager in the woods of New Hampshire. It's a hike, but the bands make it well worth the drive. You'll get performances from False Gods, Tree, Afghan Haze, Druid Stone, Suicide Forest, Sick Dude Hell Yeah, Trunk, North Star the Wanderer, Lizzy, Holy Bowl, Eight Foot Manchild, Scuzzy Yeti, VRSA, Witchspire, Hobo Wizard, ERGI, Bvrt B@c...

2026 is a rough year for festivals with many of our favorites either taking the year off or calling it a day after 2025. Nice, a Fest took 2025 off, which had us a little worried, but they are back for 2026 and returning to Davis Square! This year's edition will run from July 24-26 and take place at The Rockwell, Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theater, and Dragons Lair. Of course, the important thing is the music, and Nice, a Fest once again have an amazing all local line up with many, many of our favorites. It will feature Battlemode, Class President, Coral Moons, Downtown Boys, Evan Greer, Gymshorts, JVK, Landowner, Mal Devisa, Meg Elsier, Perennial, Pinklids, Rick Rude, and a ton more! This is always one of my favorite musical weekends of the year, and attending is strongly recommended! Nice, a Fest takes place in Davis Square, Somerville from July 24-26. You can get more information and tickets here .

Last year's New England Americana Festival was one of my musical highlights of 2025. There's just something great about hanging out in a field watching folk, bluegrass, country, and any other branch of Americana that's out there. Plus, I love Bellforge Arts Center, and try to get down there to see virtually anything at that wonderfully underrated venue. Today the festival announces their 2026 line up, and it's simply great. There are a ton of If It's Too Loud... favorites, plus a few new bands we can't wait to explore. This year's festival includes hosts and 2025 Boston Music Awards Americana Artist of the year Kier Burns & The Kettle Burners, Nate Perry & Ragged Company, Other Brother Darryl, Elisa Smith, Jennifer Tefft & The Strange, Tigerman Woah, berm, Regals, Dirt Road Souls, Autumn Hollow, Beware the Dangers of a Ghost Scorpion, Comanchero, Consuelo's Revenge, and damian and the displayers. It's a great selection of some of our favo...

Sunday was the fourth and final day of this year's Boston Bitdown. It was originally scheduled to take place at Moon Base One, but was moved fairly last minute to Bit Bar after Moon Base One's licensing issues. As much as I love the original venue, a video game music festival taking place in an arcade just makes sense. Also, it gave everyone something to do between bands, as much of the stage area cleared out so attendees could play arcade games and pinball. Here's what I saw Sunday afternoon! Opening the day was +LET'S DISINFECT+. Out of Philadelphia, this is a one man band horror punk meets chiptune artist. It was a set of kick ass punk songs about Predator , Night of the Living Dead , and the Saw series... just with video game sounds within the songs. Horror and video games have always gone hand in hand, and this was a perfect pairing that helped set the tone for the day. Plus, songs about horror movies are always going to be a hit in Salem, especially considering we...

Last year's Boston Bitdown was one of my unexpected musical highlights of 2025. I was only able to make it one night last year, but I was blown away by how diverse a festival of chiptune bands could be, and how much fun I had. I wanted to make it to more dates in 2026, but life and family obligations prevented me from taking in as much of the festival as I wanted. I made it on Saturday to bounce between Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theater and The Rockwell. I wasn't able to take everything in, but what I saw was fun and great. The first artist I saw wasn't chiptune at all, but still fit in with the vibe of the festival. Boston Typewriter Orchestra are one of those artists I've been meaning to check out, and Saturday night was my chance. They're a band that consists of all members playing typewriters. Yes, virtually every sound coming from the stage is coming from an old fashioned, non-electric typewriter. It's the sound from the keys, drumming on the back, bel...

One of my musical highlights of 2025 was attending one of the nights of Boston Bitdown. I wasn't sure what to expect from a chiptune festival, but I was pleasantly surprised by how diverse based on Gameboy samples could be, and just how much fun it was. This year sees Boston Bitdown expand to four nights (March 5-8) and taking over eight venues throughout Somerville, Medford, Arlington, and Salem. We had some questions about what to expect this year, so we reached out to David "Biff" Jabinsky of Boston Bitdown (and Battlemode) to fnd out some more! If you're looking for tickets, who is playing this year, and some more info, check out the festival's website . First question we have to ask: What is chiptune? David “Biff” Jubinsky: It’s video game music! There are deeper, convoluted, conversations out there about the definition of chiptune, but to keep it simple: It’s music made with Game Boys. What is it about the Game Boy that makes it so popular to create music? I...

Once again, Something in the Way took over Roadrunner in Boston for two days of killer live music. Twelve bands took over two stages on Sunday, with a surprisingly diverse line up of shoegaze, alt-country, hardcore, emo, slowcore, and more. For all the people that complain about people being on their phones for entire shows, they need to check out Something in the Way, which saw an audience mostly made up of teens and twentysomethings moshing, stage diving, and crowd surfing for hours. It's a much needed relief from the tail end of winter, and the freezing cold. Here were our highlights of Sunday. Glixen Phoenix's Glixen opened up the show and were the perfect way to ease the crowd into a day of mostly heavy music. Taking the stage at 1:30 pm, their version of heavy shoegaze got the crowd ready without being too heavy as we got prepared for nine hours of music. I've been praising Glixen for a while now, and their live show simply can't be beat. Drummer Keire Johnson sti...