Probably 30 years ago, Doug Larkin of Cuppa Joe mailed me a mixtape of his favorite songwriters. He and I had had a lengthy phone conversation one night, chatting about our current favorite bands, and he said he’d send me a tape. I assumed, based on Cuppa Joe’s music, it would be pretty twee. I assumed wrong.

I don’t remember a whole lot about the tape, other than it containing a lot of music from New Zealand, but there were several songs on it by Nothing Painted Blue. Doug included some narrative with the tape, and he raved about the songwriting of Franklin Bruno. Those songs were the ones I liked the most on the tape – specifically what songs they were have long dripped through the sieve on top of my shoulders, but suffice to say at that point I started paying attention.

Franklin Bruno is one of the finest songwriters I know, with a gift for language and ideas and pairing the two in a wonderful rhythmic way. He’s also a tremendous musical talent, and all those things put together make for wonderful songs. We first met when he accompanied Jenny Toomey at the very first Dromfest in 2023, and we bumped into each other at the NYC Jazzfest early in 2024, and his band, The Human Hearts, played Dromfest that summer.

At some point after that, he mentioned on social media that he was looking for a label to release the next Human Hearts LP. In general, I don’t often chase after bands for Dromedary; if there’s a synergy and a friendship and we can somehow help a band, we’ll make a record together. That’s kind of how it works.

But I really wanted to put out the next Human Hearts record. So here we are. I’m thrilled to welcome Franklin (and his fantastic band, which includes Bob Bannister, Pete Galub and Matt Houser) to the label. Their wonderful new record, Faith & Credit, is out November 14 on all formats. You can get your copy from our webstore, or from all self-respecting indie record stores.

These are pretty masterful musicians; if you have an opportunity to catch them live in support of this record, I recommend it – the songs are wonderful and they perform them impeccably. I couldn’t be more excited to put out this record!

We’re thrilled to welcome the legendary Antietam to the Dromedary family, and to announce the forthcoming release of The Counting Game, out September 4.

Antietam has long been a band we’ve admired, one of the bands that helped shape the community that welcomed us when we started Dromedary in the 1990s. A band associated with the great Homestead and Carrot Top labels, fronted by Tara Key, one of the great postpunk guitarists.

I guess we first met some time in the early 2000s, maybe at a Speed the Plough show, almost certainly at Maxwell’s. Over the years we would bump into Tara at Yo La Tengo Hanukkah shows and chat for a while; she was always friendly and warm, and at some point around 2015 or so we booked a show at the Mercury Lounge with Antietam, Philadelphia’s Honey Radar, and NYC’s Big Bliss.

Just before the venue opened, a fire broke out underground outside the venue, filling the place with smoke and chasing everyone outside. They wound up canceling the show that night due to the fire, and we had to try again a few months later. At that point, the joke – Tara Key is such a smoking guitarist that the Mercury Lounge caught fire – became one I’ve repeated so many times I’m sure everyone I know is sick of it.

Antietam played the first Dromfest in 2023, and their set was so explosive that it was hard to believe such sounds were coming out of these three pleasant people – after their set they sat outside for a photo session with Sleepyhead to accompany a joint interview that would appear in a subsequent issue of Maggot Brain.

The following year, at Dromfest, we began talking about making a record together. The band had recently released their brilliant EP Pitch & Yaw, and the idea of doing a full-length album together was almost too much to comprehend. And yet here we are, adding this amazing artist to the Dromedary roster. The Counting Game will be available on vinyl, CD, and the high-res digital format of your choice from all the soulless, sterile digital platforms. If you preorder it now, you’ll get an immediate download of the album’s single, “Way Too Well.”

At the conclusion of Dromfest the first two years, we’ve sat back and reflected on how fun the weekend was, how many friends we got to spend time with, how many new friends we’ve made, and enjoyed the afterglow. After a few months of thinking it over and speaking with friends and bands, we ultimately decided that we should do another one.

Last year, there was no question. Dromfest wasn’t even over yet, and Sandy and I looked at each other and said it: yep, I guess this is something we do now.

So almost instantly, we started thinking of ways we could make this year’s festival even cooler than the last ones, and how we could improve on the things we did last year.

We think we’ve got the best bill yet. Here’s what it looks like:

Friday, September 4:
Dumptruck
Consonant
Karen Schoemer & her “August” band

Saturday, September 5:
Wussy
Antietam
Doug Gillard
Moviola
Via
The Martha’s Vineyard Ferries
Barbara Manning
Stuyvesant
The Human Hearts
Tiny Blue Ghost
P.G. Six
Readings from Erica Fletcher, Scott Seward and Tim Sommer

Sunday, September 6:
Come
Scrawl
Nice Strong Arm
Hypnolovewheel
Sleepyhead
Beth Kaplan
French/Cell
Purple Ivy Shadows
Creative Writing
R.B. Korbet
Sweet Harm
Special screening of the film “Radiation” by Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley

Plus, all weekend long we’ll have the Steve Keene Art Store and a photo exhibit by Michael Galinsky, a great new festival brew by our friends at Return Brewing, and some other surprises as well.

As always, we’ve got tons of stuff we’ll share with you as we get closer – you’ll just have to follow us on social media for details.

Tickets are on sale now at THIS LINK.

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!