There’s a paradoxically perfect union between a broken heart and cowboy twang. Tyler Dozier’s songs as Lady Dan tap even deeper into that sublime intersection where searing pain can reach sublime heights. Her own tale of hurt comes complete with multilayered existential quandaries, of empowerment and restriction, of life and death, of faith and its absence. On her debut album I Am the Prophet April 23rd 2021 via Earth Libraries, the Austin-based musician weaves intensely personal storytelling, poetic imagery, biblical allusion, immaculate arrangements, and crackling songwriting into an irresistible melancholic melange.

Growing up in Dothan, Alabama, Dozier was drawn to the wide spectrum of possibilities that music offered, even if she didn’t find a specific community she felt akin to. “I just didn’t find my people,” she says. “I was listening to country, psych rock, bluegrass, punk, and old socialist folk.” But as she moved to the big city of Birmingham with her then-boyfriend to attend Christian ministry school, she felt that world closing in rather than expanding. Between a controlling relationship, her father’s battle with cancer, and a wavering certainty in her faith, Dozier’s world was changing. She embraced the rebellion at her core, left school, returned home to care for her father as he passed, eventually moved to Texas for a new start, and began working her way toward I Am the Prophet.

“I learned how to show my strength, my truth, my self through music,” Dozier says. “This is my one place to be a bitch if I want to be a bitch. So many of these songs, at their core, are about me reclaiming ownership of myself.”

What do you get when you mix a little bit of heartache, a touch of Jameson and a healthy dose of soul? Symone French.

Born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Symone's earliest memories are of her parent's eclectic tastes in music. Her father, a collector of vinyl records, encouraged her musical exploration early on by introducing her to acts such as Steely Dan, Hall & Oats and Bonnie Raitt. Her mother, a product of the 70s, helped develop French's love of soul by adding Teena Marie, Donna Summer and Prince to the mix. Those influences cultivated the sound that audiences across the Gulf Coast have come to identify with French's diverse stage show.

French has been declared one of Mobile Bay Magazine's "On the Rise: Artist to Watch", won a Nappie award for "Best Area Voice" and competed in national talent competitions (The Voice, American Idol). With a new, dazzling routine in tow, French is continuing to write new music in anticipation of her upcoming EP, expected in 2020. In the meantime, you're likely to catch her chasing behind her rambunctious toddler - all the while looking fabulous, feeling fantastic and ultimately being free.

Tedious & Brief is a Chicago based alternative pop artist who’s airy synth and smooth vocals create nostalgic anthems. Her debut single “Papercuts,”a sentimental track touching on themes such as longing for the past and its “moments of gold,” is Jamie Jacobsen’s first release as Tedious & Brief. The song serves to set the mood for the rest of Tedious & Brief’s debut self-titled EP. Her latest single “Slow Down,” introduces new pop elements and catchy melodies while maintaining the anthemic feel of the EP. With strong family ties to music, Jacobsen, now 22, took up guitar and songwriting at a young age. Jacobsen identifies some of her earliest influences as Stevie Ray, Muddy Waters and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, though her style has strayed greatly from the nostalgic rock of her childhood to form a more polished sound featuring airy synth elements and smooth vocals akin to Maggie Rogers or Lorde.

Erthling. is a rapper/producer who lives in Birmingham, Ala. His music invokes a spiritual journey where listeners jump through windows of cosmic ideation.

The soundtrack for these journeys consists of beats cobbled together from jazz/soul samples, forceful drums, and pure dirt. Though the "golden era" of hip hop heavily influenced the music, Erthling. often steps beyond to tie in other aspects of hip-hop, or other genres entirely.

After 15 years of collaborating with artists from Birmingham, AL to Perth, Australia, Erthling. has learned, processed, and begun to pour a host of worldly inspirations into future releases.

Mike Mains and The Branches is a pop-rock band based in Michigan. Since their conception in 2012, the group has built a reputation for their fantastical instrumentation and unforgettable live performances. Mains began writing songs early in his career between shifts at a casino, which is an apt illustration of Mains perspective on life: it’s a comedy, a tragedy, and a fairytale.

It’s that perspective that laces itself throughout the band’s catalogue, where the songs make you dance while lyrics make you cry. And while the juxtaposition of glitter and gloom should feel confusing, it renders itself joyfully therapeutic. And that’s their goal—particularly in their live shows—to strap you into a rollercoaster you never want to get off of.

Their boisterousness began when founding members Mike and Shannon fell in love, got married, and in doing so, minted the focal experience of the band’s music and lyrics; not just love, but the swirling highs and the bruising lows of choosing to live life together. After releasing an EP and two full-length albums, they chose to partner with Tooth & Nail Records on their latest release. The record, When We Were In Love, is their most honest yet. Although their agenda remains the same—to combat numbness with joy, pain, and wings to fly—this latest pursuit is more of an honest reflection in the struggle to love. The result is an infectious and colorful album full of tragedy, comedy, and the freedom to forget fairytales.

Jacob Phillips is an interdisciplinary artist whose work takes the viewer on a journey through an imaginary Southern landscape from the perspective of a gay man. He is inspired by queer culture and camp aesthetics. Phillips earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture at the University of North Texas in 2021, as well as a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2017. He is currently an Art Studio Laboratory Supervisor and Adjunct Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Phillips has exhibited in galleries and museums such as the Cora Stafford Gallery at the University of north Texas, Denton, Tx; the Dallas World Trade Center, Dallas, Tx; Greater Denton Arts Council, Denton, Tx; The Limner Gallery in Hudson, N.Y.; Gallery Vox, Birmingham, Al; Space One Eleven in Birmingham, Al; the Wiregrass Museum of Art in Dothan, Al; the Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, Al; Lowe Mill Arts and Entertainment in Huntsville, Al; and the Abroms Engel Institute for the Visual Arts in Birmingham, Ala.

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