Paper Castles / The Riverboat Gamblers / Strawberry Runners
Wed, 14 May 2025 (EDT)
08:00PM - 10:30PM
Event past
WEDNESDAY 5/14, 8PM
$12 ADV / $15 DOOR
Paper Castles is the songwriting project and band fronted by Paddy Reagan and bolstered by drummer Brennan Mangan, guitarist Wren Kitz (a Sophomore Lounge and NNA Tapes recording artist), and bassist Emily Tompkins. Throughout its existence, PC has warmed Vermont stages for literally every single artist touring through, including Big Thief, Sheer Mag, Explosions in the Sky, Chris Cohen, Frankie Cosmos, William Tyler, Protomartyr, Pile, and The Wallflowers to name just a few.
Some background on their catalog: if 2011’s
Bleating Heart had Reagan making sense of Bill Callahan and Jeff Tweedy’s respective songbooks, then 2013’s
Vague Era had Reagan making sense of Pavement and Deerhunter’s respective sonics. Those poles were channelled into the DMZ of 2018’s
Acceptionalism while upping the recording fidelity thanks to Ryan Power and Urian Hackney (Rough Francis, The Armed) behind the decks.
“Avalon” is the group’s first new music since 2018’s
Acceptionalism, released March 2025. Sipsman will release the next Paper Castles record later this year.
https://papercastles.bandcamp.com/track/avalon---------------------
The River Boat Gamblers gradually met through the 2010s at different corners of the Hudson valley after leaving behind a life of chaos, unattainable dreams of lofty expectations, half empty ballrooms, and high debt in gambling and car repairs. They have settled for something much more amusing & satisfying, playing music for fun. No longer in debt and free of credit collectors, they get together when they please in whatever four walls allows them to.
https://theriverboatgamblers.bandcamp.com/track/all-creation---------------------
The musical project of Emi Night (they/them),
Strawberry Runners has existed in some form since 2013, capitalizing on their early acclaim with the releases of the 2015 tape Hatcher Creek and the 2017 EP In the Garden, In the Night; Night's songs have garnered acclaim from the likes of Pitchfork, Stereogum, FLOOD, Wired, and NPR among others. From there, the journey which has led to Strawberry Runners has been a long and arduous one.
Night's compositions navigate themes of heartbreak, solitude, and belonging on the terrain of pop, folk, and country-reminiscent instrumentation. Their voice's ASMR-inducing textures melt into syrupy harmonized refrains, creating the album's alluring, bristling warmth. Amid the unfolding landscape of familiar yet abstract arrangements, Night wields the heavy lyrical material of failure, grief, and uncertainty with grace and disarming candor.
https://strawberryrunners.bandcamp.com/