We’ve known Babe for years. And yet none of us have ever met.

They’ve been around a couple of years longer than we have; over the years, a few Dromedary bands have shared the stage with them, and I think we first exchanged letters – actual LETTERS because we’re fucking old as dirt – in the 90s when we put out the Mommyheads’ Flying Suit LP. Over the years, Tim and I have exchanged periodic emails – sometimes years apart. Whenever I got an email from Tim, it always made me happy to know that Babe were still out there, making ridiculous, crazy, experimental, unique music.

They’ve got a new album out called What About Today? (all of Babe’s albums are named after Barbra Streisand albums, this one after the 1969 LP that was, up until that point, her poorest performance on the charts). News of the album caused us to reconnect, another of our periodic exchanges of hellos, and this one led to a quick discussion of DromFest, the discovery that their new album was actually recorded in Catskill (where DromFest is being held), and an agreement to add the mighty Babe the Blue OX to the DromFest lineup.

The band will be playing Sunday afternoon, and you should absolutely make it a point to be there.

As Drom30 came to a close last year, a few people reflected on the weekend, and said “You know, you should make this an annual thing.”

We don’t know about that, but we definitely had it in us to reprise last year’s party and give it another try. And as we started asking other bands, we discovered people were enthusiastic about it.

So we’re thrilled to announce the second annual DromFest, a weekend-long celebration of independent rock in New York’s beautiful Hudson Valley, on August 30, 31 and September 1, 2024. The event will take place in and around the Avalon Lounge, one of the most creative and supportive spaces for adventurous music in the area.

This year’s lineup includes a number of musical luminaries, standout DJs, and some of our favorite figures in indie rock. The lineup looks like this:

FRIDAY
The Figgs
The Chris Brokaw Rock Band
The Royal Arctic Institute

SATURDAY
King Missile (Dog Fly Religion)
Scrawl
Antietam
The Thalia Zedek Band
Poem Rocket
Moviola
Karyn Kuhl & the Gang
Dew Claw
Readings by Bela Koe-Krompecher, Karen Schoemer and John S. Hall

SUNDAY
Aeon Station
Cell
Cathedral Ceilings
Sleepyhead
TuscaderoBabe the Blue OX
The Human Hearts
Matt Hunter & the Dusty Fates
Screening of “Couldn’t You Wait – The Story of Silkworm”

We’ve got all kinds of other stuff in the works, including outdoor vendors, and another custom Dromedary beer, craft brewed right in the Hudson Valley in conjunction with another local brewer.

Friday night tickets and Saturday/Sunday Weekend passes are on sale NOW. Buy them here.

We’re celebrating the release of Reindeer Soul, the debut LP by Matt Hunter & the Dusty Fates. We first heard Matt’s band – which included lots of old friends and members of bands we’ve admired for years – when we booked a show at the Avalon in Catskill with our pals in Savak. Matt is Savak’s bass player, and the Dusty Fates came up and played as well.

We fell instantly in love with the quality of the songwriting and the creative musicianship, with a three-guitar lineup featuring Matt, Evans Wohlforth (Glenn Branca) and Jim Santo (The Sharp Things), with Gerard Smith (Phantom Tollbooth) handling bass duties and Jeff Gensterblum (Savak) on drums. And when the opportunity arose to put out their debut, we couldn’t have jumped at the chance faster. We’re big fans of long-timers who are still making interesting, relevant music, and Matt surrounds himself with such people.

Glide magazine calls Reindeer Soul an “expansive and atmospheric stunner,” and we agree. Check it out in our webstore today!

We can’t tell you how excited we are to be once again working with Karyn Kuhl.

Karyn is a Hoboken, NJ legend, dating back to her time with the influential bands Gutbank and Sexpod. She has continued writing music and inspiring her peers with her outstanding guitar work, her spectacular voice, and most importantly, her sense of community. She’s one of the kindest, most supportive people I know.

Back in November of 2020 we both felt compelled to celebrate, and so we released a lathe cut single of her cover of Donna Summer’s classic “I Feel Love.” It was so much fun to be involved, and when she asked if we’d be interested in releasing her new single, we jumped at the chance.

“No Traces” is her latest, and it’s the first actual vinyl 7″ we’ve released in 10 years. It tells a story, and it sticks in your soul, like so many of Karyn’s songs, it’ll rattle around in your head for days. It’s available in our Bandcamp store or wherever Karyn is playing, with digital downloads in all the regular spots and streaming everywhere.