Our second local bands compilation in 34 years.

Last year, Sandy and I attended Overheard’s performance opening for Wild Pink at the O Positive festival here in Kingston. Overheard are an outstanding live experience, with beautiful dynamics and rich, four-part vocal harmonies. They are incredibly talented and we marveled at the fact that there were so many unfamiliar faces in the crowd that night, despite the fact that the band was playing in their own hometown.

Where are these folks on a regular Friday night, when Kingston’s music artists are playing all over the city? When Kingston’s great music venues are curating outstanding music bill after outstanding music bill? Was there anything we could do to help introduce locals to Kingston’s music?

Probably not. But we tried anyway.

Get Your Rond Out! An Incomplete Collection of Kingston-Area Music features 16 of Kingston’s rock and rock-adjacent bands, all on one CD. It’s not a typical Dromedary release – there are artists that aren’t stylistically in line with what you expect from us (although many are), but as local compilations go, it’s a solid one we’re very proud to have released.

This is a love letter to Kingston, NY, its wonderful artists, music venues, and performance spaces. Support your scene.

The CD is dirt cheap (just $5). All proceeds from sales associated with this release will be donated to People’s Place, Ulster County, NY’s largest food pantry, thrift store, wellness empowerment center and community cafe, located in Kingston, NY.

“Doug Gillard record? Would that in any way interest you?”

That was a text I received from Tom Beaujour, recording engineer, guitarist, songwriter, author, and one of our favorite people, back in April of 2025.

Doug Gillard wrote “I Am A Tree.” He’s been the guitarist in Guided by Voices for ten years, and also played with them between 1997 and 2004. Inbetween, he played with Nada Surf, playing lead guitar on the band’s excellent LP The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy. He’s played with Cobra Verde and Gem, and plays in Bambi Kino. He’s also collaborated with a ton of other indie artists. He’s one of Rolling Stone‘s 250 greatest guitarists of all time.

Yes, it would interest us.

Fast forward almost a year, and we’re beside ourselves to announce the forthcoming release of Parallel Stride, Doug’s fifth solo album (plus two EPs and a few singles), and his first in more than a decade.

It’s a pretty phenomenal album, chock full of gorgeous power pop hooks and tasteful-yet-amazing guitar work. Doug plays almost all the instruments on the album, with drum help from a number of friends. Co-produced by Doug and our good pal Tom Beaujour, the official street date is April 24, but you can preorder it now on vinyl, CD, or the high-res digital format of your choice. We’ve also got super-limited red and black “swirl” vinyl, available at our web store only. We’re limiting those to 100 copies, so order quick!

If you’re coming from out of town for Dromfest, here’s why we hope you’ll buy a VIP pass.

The picturesque Hudson Valley is the kind of place where you’ll never run out of things to do outdoors, and its arts and music communities are filled with talented, creative people who make beautiful things. It’s amazing, peaceful place to visit and spend the weekend.

It is a privilege to host an event like Dromfest in a place that’s so beautiful, and to have so many excellent friends helping us make it happen.

But when the festival is over and everyone goes home with a weekend of memories, there are some realities that we live with here, and one of them is the issue of food insecurity. In the Mid-Hudson Valley, about 8% of households are food insecure, and in Greene County, where Dromfest is being held, the number is double that, according to the state Department of Health. It’s a crisis, and it’s not always visible to out-of-town folks enjoying the stunning scenery and wonderful food, wine, beer, art and music.

The Dromfest lineup is pretty special. It’s a great opportunity to see some amazing bands in an intimate space for a very affordable price. We are thrilled to share such a great lineup – in such a beautiful setting – with our out-of-town friends who are planning to spend a weekend.

But we’re also hoping that our out-of-town friends will give a little back by purchasing a VIP pass. The difference is just $25 per ticket, you’ll get a free Dromedary CD sampler, a drink special, and access to the lounge for the Saturday afterparty, and for every VIP pass sold, we will make a $20 donation to the Community Action of Greene County Food Pantry.

There’s nothing cooler than making a record with old friends!

Years ago – maybe 1994 – we walked into the old Under Acme club on Great Jones St, a place we visited and did shows frequently back then. The band onstage – a Columbus, Ohio group called Moviola – had all the things I loved about DIY rock: great songwriting, a swampy groove, and most of all, a homemade, sort of back porch quality that was so endearing.

I bought whatever music they had for sale, and fell in love with their track “Lookin’ In,” which I played incessantly for months. I struck up a pen-pal friendship with the band’s drummer, Ted Hattemer (who now plays bass for the band), and occasionally begged them to let me put out a record on Dromedary. We stayed in touch over the years, first by sending each other records back and forth in the mail, then through occasional emails, finally on Facebook. I bought every record, played them on the radio, posted them on social media – loving every step of their trajectory as a band.

During that time, the band grew and matured – the best description I’d read of them was something to the effect of “Moviola evolved from being one of the best indie rock bands in the country to being one of the best roots rock bands in the country” – their music steeping in the flavor of so many great midwestern indie bands, their songwriting growing to reflect the patience and wisdom that comes with getting a little older.

Last year, Moviola came out to Catskill to participate in Dromfest ’24 – it was so great to see them all, and we had so much fun at the show, it was great to see them live for the first time in 30 years. And now, to announce something we’ve been dying to do for decades – the band’s next album, Earthbound, will be released on Dromedary August 29 – the first day of Dromfest ’25.

It’s an excellent record, and we’re thrilled that Magnet magazine – also long-time fans of the band – will be premiering the first track, “Slage Wave.” You can preorder it today on our web store. Give it a spin and check it out!