Frank Ricci

Veterans of this past spring’s Riverside Takeover show, Strawberry Girls demand your attention like your trigonometry professor once did.

In the continuing and endless story of how relentlessly demented and unfair the music industry is, Nashville’s fantastic Be Your Own Pet formed in 2003 and did not become a household name.

Daikaiju move the whole shebang all over the venue, including outside when they feel like setting shit on fire.

Themes of “dark” and “progressive” have been getting along a little too well lately, but this is the kind we can use more of.

From the ashes of local metalcore band Vatican, Agonize trades in the former band’s melodic edge with a healthier dose of raw brutality and chaos.

Brooklyn’s A Place to Bury Strangers were known for being as loud as loud can be. Founder Oliver Ackermann was a gear nut, creating bespoke ear-destroying effects that drenched the live audience in noise rock and shoegaze mayhem.

A collection of fellow Charleston musicians helped fill out the sound and lay a foundation for a vocal delivery with the twang dial set to the sweet spot.

The original idea was to create music that complemented skateboarding video content effectively. Needless to say, it’s grown into something much bigger.

Chamomile & Whiskey call themselves a Blue Ridge Mountain rock and roll band, and there’s no point in arguing.

The latest version of the patented El Rocko metalcore mosh-a-thon is loaded with known quantities of the region’s beasts of breakdown.

Rachael Sage is a star in the small universe of cabaret indie folk.

The Little Venue That Won’t somehow scored quite a coup by landing the local appearance of emerging country-rock star and corporate-friendly personality Savannah Rae.

The newest reason to head an hour south, aside from the genuine Texas brisket or a bag of Beaver Nuggets from the new Buc-ee’s, is The Maple Street Band.