SWOMP

The Band Feel are opening for Big Wreck & performing at Bourbon & Beyond, SWOMP re-visits our November 2024 interview

The Band Feel is set to open up for one of our favourite Canadian artists, Big Wreck, for three dates in New York in April of 2025, they are also on the incredible bill for the Bourbon and Beyond Festival, which we discussed in our last episode, in Louisville, Kentucky this September.
Follow the band at https://www.thebandfeel.com/.
SWOMP had the opportunity to chat with lead singer Garrett Barcus back in November 2024.
This band is a group we stumbled upon by accident late in 2024, but have had them on our daily playlist ever since.
They deliver a sound that captures the raw energy of late ’60s and ’70s rock, with up-tempo guitar riffs, acoustic-driven melodies, and progressive elements layered with R&B and soul. 

Jonah Kagen performing at Bourbon & Beyond 2025, SWOMP re-visits September 2024 interview

Have you seen the lineup for Bourbon and Beyond 2025?
It’s phenomenal.
Organized by Danny Wimmer Presents, the World's Largest Bourbon, Food & Music Festival is taking place September 11-14, 2025 in Louisville, KY.
Headliners include Jack White, Phish, Noah Kahan, The Lumineers, Sturgill Simpson, also on the bill, Ringo Star and his All-Star Band, Cage the Elephant, Alabama Shakes, Benson Boone, Pixies, Pat Benatar and the list goes on.
Tickets are available at https://bourbonandbeyond.com/.
We’ve been to this festival a couple times over the years, seeing Eddie Vedder solo in 2017 and also Pearl Jam and Greta Van Fleet back in 2022.
The event is held at the Highland Festival Grounds, and it basically transforms into a small city, thousands and thousands of people, it’s a brilliant experience, awesome food, this is the place where I first tried a rattlesnake and rabbit sausage, it was delicious. It’s the same venue as Louder Than Life, which SWOMP has covered the past couple of the years.
It’s a four-day festival and the days are jam packed with performances running all-day long, on multiple stages, 110+ performers this year alone.
One of the artists on the bill is Savannah Georgia native Jonah Kagen.
SWOMP had the opportunity to interview Jonah ahead of his performance at the Sommo Festival in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island last year.
So, from September 14, 2024, SWOMP re-visits our LIVE interview with Jonah Kagen.

Renowned Canadian vocalist Holly Cole on her 13th studio album 'Dark Moon'

Renowned Canadian / International vocalist Holly Cole released her 13th studio album, Dark Moon, on January 24, 2025.
Teaming up with her long-time live performance partners, along with additional musicians to create rich harmonies and layers, this album is a true ensemble project that highlights her signature style.
Dark Moon is available via Rumpus Room/Universal Music Canada.
SWOMP caught up with Cole for an interview to discuss her album.
"I really wanted this album to embrace the spirit of spontaneity," Cole said.
"At the same time a quintessential part of the sound of my music is in the arrangements. So, we did very little rehearsal in advance, and the songs were incredibly fresh for us while we were in the studio. The musicians that I play with contribute greatly to the arranging of the songs, and I wanted to hear the sound of when the light goes on for each one of us and many of the arrangements fell together as we played them. What we end up hearing on this record is the moment when we discover what we love about the song, and what its essence is for me."
Cole isn’t one of those artists who falls into any one category.
Her smoky voice is sultry, her arrangements smart and sexy and all the while she and her musicians very uniquely reshape traditional Jazz, Pop and Country standards this time particularly from the New American Songbook writers including Marty Balin, Peggy Lee, Hal David, Burt Bacharach and Johnny Mercer.
Follow Holly at https://www.hollycole.com/.

Tigercub releasing ‘The Perfume of Decay (Redux)’, episode re-visits interviews from May & September 2023

Brighton, UK’s Tigercub is releasing The Perfume of Decay (Redux) on March 28, 2025. 
The album is a reimagined version of The Perfume of Decay, which was Tigercub’s third album released on June 2, 2023, via Loosegroove Records, the label co-founded by Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard. 
The ‘Redux’ version features new, stripped-down arrangements.
They’ve sharing some of the tunes on their social media, most recently alongside a haunting video of ‘Play My Favorite Song’, which looks like it was shot in an old attic, filled with cobwebs, really a grainy, cryptic aesthetic, which is just amazing and absolutely on point with front man Jamie Hall’s vibe and art. 
You can pre-order now at Loosegroove Records website, lsgrv.com.
For a bit of context, we recently started publishing our interviews for SWOMP on an array of different platforms, basically wherever you can listen to your podcasts, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Podbean, Player FM, Podchaser, Listen Notes and BoomPlay. 
Up to this point we’d just been uploading our interviews to YouTube and of course embedding them onto SWOMP.ca.
So as opposed to just dumping all of our interviews onto these new podcast channels in bulk, we wanted to slowly re-issue some of our favorite ones, but at the same time, share new information or the latest news of the different bands, musicians and artists that we’ve spoken to.
So the stars aligned with this first episode.
‘Redux’ album from Tigercub?
Time to start re-issuing our interviews into this new podcast format!
The episode features a LIVE interview Dana did with Tigercub on September 21, 2023, when we first met the band and right after their opening performance at the Louder Than Life Music Festival in Louisville, Kentucky.
The episode concludes with a May 2023 interview, even prior to the release of Perfume of Decay, with Dana and Tigercub front man Jamie Hall. 
They go in depth about the making of the record, signing with Loosegroove Records. 
Follow Tigercub at https://www.tigercubtigercub.com/.
And follow us at https://swomp.ca/.

Crystal Shawanda on new single 'Would You Know Love', big plans for 2025 & being an Indigenous ambassador

Chart-topping, JUNO Award-winning powerhouse Crystal Shawanda just released a brand new single 'Would You Know Love' on January 10, 2025 via New Sun Records on all streaming platforms.
Shawanda told SWOMP in an interview the song is set to be on her forthcoming album, which set to be released in April.
Produced by Crystal’s husband and long-time collaborator Dewayne Strobel, 'Would You Know Love' is a heartfelt ballad that beautifully explores the depths of love.
The track features Crystal's unmatched raspy vocals and strikes a perfect balance between old and new, blending the raw emotion of the blues with the storytelling soul of country.
“When I sing it I get emotional thinking about who wouldn’t be in my life, if I had let love slip on by,” said Crystal, in a press release.
“I think sometimes people walk away from love too easily when it gets tough, but that’s what makes it love. It endures.”
Crystal was the first Indigenous woman to win a Canadian Country Music Award for Female Artist of the Year (2009) and the first to win a JUNO Award for Blues Album of the Year (2020).
She became the first full blood Indigenous woman to appear in the Top 20 on the American Billboard Country chart, sell over 300k records and to sing at the Grand Ole Opry.
Her album Midnight Blues debuted at #8 on the American Billboard Blues chart in 2022, making her the first Indigenous woman to appear in the Top 10.
Her debut single "You Can Let Go" (2008), was the fastest climbing single on the Canadian Country Singles Chart since Carolyn Dawn Johnson's "Georgia" (2000) and reached the Top 10 in only five weeks.
Born and raised in Wikwemikong First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Northern Ontario, Crystal discovered her love for blues music through her brother and old-time country from her parents.
Her professional music career began in country music, signing with RCA Nashville in her early 20s.
Her debut, Dawn of a New Day (2008), topped Canadian country charts and set a record for a Canadian Indigenous country artist.
After leaving the label, she launched New Sun Records, and made the change to the blues with 2014’s The Whole World’s Got The Blues.
Follow Crystal at https://crystalshawanda.co/.

Trentemøller on his new album 'Dreamweaver', North American tour, including Feb. 6 show at the Axis Club in Toronto

Copenhagen’s Trentemøller is set to embark on a North American tour, which includes a February 6, 2025 stop in Toronto, Ontario at the Axis Club.
SWOMP caught up with Anders Trentemøller to discuss his brand new album 'Dreamweaver' and his North American tour.
The tour begins on February 5 at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg, in support of last year’s Dreamweaver (In My Room).
Receiving praise from outlets like Stereogum, KEXP, Brooklyn Vegan, FLOOD Magazine, Under The Radar, XLR8R, PopMatters and many more, the record offers another artistic leap for Trentemøller, fusing together psychedelically-tinged elements of shoegaze, dark wave, motorik, noise rock, and somber, introspective takes on electronic dream pop. Tickets are on sale now here.
Dreamweaver is an absolutely lush endeavor that demands to be heard live.
The chronology of its 10 songs are an immersive experience with repeated listens promising new rewards; from geysers of white noise propelling songs further forward, to jarring otic dissonance playing against honeyed vocals, and jangling guitar bends blanketed in tidepools of reverb.
With Icelandic singer Disa along for the ride again after featuring on two singles in 2022 (“Into The Silence,” and a cover of The Raveonettes “Cops On Our Tail”), her contributions sit in the balance between vocal performance and instrumentation.
The album’s singles provide a perfect preview for the rest of the music held within.
More information and ticket details can be found at https://www.trentemoller.com/.

Dead Pioneers' Gregg Deal on opening for Pearl Jam in the spring of 2025

In continued support of their 3x GRAMMY-nominated album Dark Matter, Pearl Jam will be heading back on tour for 11 shows in the spring of 2025.
Indigenous led punk/post punk art band Dead Pioneers will serve as support for the opening two dates in Hollywood, Florida on April 24 and April 26, along with the following two shows in Atlanta, Georgia on April 29 and May 1.
Dead Pioneers vocalist, nationally known Indigenous artist of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Gregg Deal says he started this project as an extension to a performance piece titled 'The Punk Pan-Indian Romantic Comedy'.
With the intent to create original music for this performance piece, the Dead Pioneers was born.
Dead Pioneers is rooted in creating and performing a sound heavily influenced by the punk aesthetic with an edge built on a First Peoples perspective and not afraid to tackle hard political and social issues, standing in solidarity of Indigenous rights, Black rights, Brown rights, Asian rights, Gay rights, Trans rights, Workers rights and beyond.
SWOMP caught up with Gregg for an interview to discuss the launch of the band, along with the gigs opening for Pearl Jam.
Follow the band at https://www.deadpioneers.band/.

Winona Fighter on their forthcoming album, 2025 tour, plus a spot at the Innings Festival in Tempe, Arizona

Nashville punk rockers Winona Fighter have a massive year in store in 2025.
After releasing the single 'R U FAMOUS' on January 10, 2025, the band is about a month away from releasing their latest full-length album 'My Apologies To The Chef' on February 14, 2025.
SWOMP caught up with front-woman Coco, guitarist Dan Fuson and bass player/producer Austin Luther to discuss the new music and their 2025 tour, which includes a Friday, February 21, 2025 spot at the Innings Festival in Tempe, Arizona.
SWOMP saw the band tear it up on the Decibel Stage at Louder Than Life on Sunday, September 29, 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Follow the band at https://winonafighter.com/.
Photo credit: Lindsey Byrnes

54-40 guitarist Dave Genn on their 2025 Ontario tour, latest album & vodka surprises

54-40 is a legendary Canadian rock band that emerged from the vibrant music scene of Vancouver, British Columbia. 
Formed in 1981, the band have earned a reputation as one of Canada's most enduring and influential rock acts, captivating audiences with their distinctive sound, thought-provoking lyrics, and powerful performances.
SWOMP caught up with guitarist Dave Genn, who goes into detail about their latest album, 2023's 'Westcoast Band'.
He discusses their upcoming 2025 Ontario tour, which stops at 11 cities across the Province from January 22 to February 4, including a show at the Capitol Theatre in Chatham-Kent, which SWOMP is excited to cover.
Genn also shares some tips on his famous "vodka surprises", which the band uses on the road "to get in the rocking mood."
Follow the band at https://www.5440.com/.