Chad Price and June Star

Get ready for an super cool neat-o awesome in-person experience with Chad Price and June Star. This is your chance to see them up close and personal, enjoy great vibes, smells, feels, and make some unforgettable and regrettable memories. Don’t miss out on this cool event – it’s gonna be a blast!

Chad Price:

An artist entering his staggering fourth decade writing and performing music that weaves in and out of seminal pop-punk, alt-country, metal, and a fascinating indie folk-prog hybrid, Chad Price has made the most of his time.

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In 1993, Chad stumbled into the ultimate rock and roll fantasy when his favorite band, Los Angeles punk stalwarts ALL, tapped him as its third singer. As Price managed to keep up with ALL's breakneck release and touring schedule, he was beginning to open up new musical veins that unmistakably skewed toward traditional folk and Americana. Chad formed the Colorado-based Drag the River with fellow country-curious musicians Jon Snodgrass and Paul Rucker (Armchair Martian) and J.J. Nobody (the Nobodys). Over the next 13 years Drag the River criss-crossed the country with the likes of Chuck Ragan, Rocky Votolato and Lucero and released seven smart and scruffy studio albums.

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Price countered Drag the River’s heartland rock by continuing to push himself in two directions at once. His first solo album, 2009’s Smile Sweet Face, plays like a bruised morning after a rowdy Drag the River show. His follow-up, 2018’s One Week Record expands Price’s personal songs’ sonic territory with more instrumentation but remains direct and unfussy.

Counteracting these sporadic solo releases, Chad formed A Vulture Wake, a truly unexpected detour into prog-metal, grinding through its strident debut The Appropriate Level of Outrage, two subsequent Eps and the sophomore LP One.Kingdom.Animal.

All those miles and artistic transformations have led to a new project – Chad Price Peace Coalition, and the album A Perfect Pearl. While A Perfect Pearl certainly delivers Price’s signature rough-hewn vulnerability, it also kicks up some sublime musical moments that feel distinctly inspired by prog giants like Jethro Tull and Yes.

Chad Price Peace Coalition's A Perfect Pearl is a distinctly compelling listen, and like the best rock albums, it provokes and ultimately rewards an attentive listener.

June Star:

When you have a look at the June Star website, a wonderfully jaundiced and witty description of the band reads – “the band was formed in 1998 by singer/songwriter Andrew Grimm, and since then they have put out 21 records, toured a bit of the US and have gone into debt“. A wonderfully honest approach to PR and one which works brilliantly. One can’t help but be interested to hear what the music’s like when that’s the feel of their creativity. And what an unexpected treat this is – a set of mainly upbeat, rocking tunes with a wealth of musicianship, some superb playing and just fantastic songwriting. This reminded me of the best of Green On Red’s material, grungy, tuneful and catchy songs, aided no end by Grimm’s superb voice.

After making 21 albums, for the songs on this collection to sound as refreshing and memorable as they do is nothing short of astonishing. Grimm is backed up by a stellar bunch of musicians (the line-up of the band has changed a bit over the years), Dave Hadley on pedal steel, David Bryson on drums, Chris Iseli on bass, and Michael Zepeda on guitar. Hilariously, on the publicity material, not only does Grimm say he’s the band leader and singer, but also “Manager/Publicist/Songwriter/Plumber“. I like Mr Grimm – a lot.

Opener ‘Long Time Running‘ has percussion, guitar, and harmonica, with some subtle pedal steel, combining to form an atmospheric introduction to Grimm’s latest selection of gems. Gentle yet upbeat, it’s a lovely start. ‘Give It Some Time‘ has a glorious rock riff as the core to this superb song, with more pedal steel wisely added to the mix. Stand out track on the album – a corker. Next up is ‘Ruins‘, which again balances lovely, raunchy guitar licks with pedal steel, and Grimm’s really effective vocals only enhance the song with a pounding drum backbeat. The perfect combination of electric guitar and pedal steel works well again on love song ‘Bound To Rain‘, chugging guitars abound on another strong track ‘Goodbye Boys‘ and ‘Burn Bright‘ is another catchy, moody rocker.

The Replacements come to mind big time on punchy raunch belter ‘Switcheroo‘, a short but sweet, near-perfect tune. The album closes with a very different feel, an acoustic, heartfelt and bleak yet hopeful ‘This All Will End,’ which has a festive setting but isn’t a jolly ditty at all. Powerful stuff.

This is an excellent release – a near-perfect showcase for Grimm and his myriad talents, and demonstrating his knack for working with only the best local musicians. Production from J Robbins, who used to front Jawbox and owns and operates Magpie Cage studio in Baltimore, is peerless. Try and track this down and quickly.

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Host or Publisher June Star