WILLIS | Burlington | 10/12

Name: WILLIS | Burlington | 10/12
Start: 2025-10-12T20:00:00-04:00
Location: Higher Ground

Schedule

Sun, 12 Oct, 2025 at 08:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Higher Ground | South Burlington, VT

All Ages
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WILLIS didn’t blow up overnight — they built something lasting. Formed in Florence, Alabama and now based in Nashville, the band began in 2016 as five childhood friends making music in a bedroom. Nearly a decade later, they’ve grown into one of the most loyal followings in modern indie rock — with over 350 million streams, an RIAA Platinum-certified record, and a fully sold-out national headline tour in 2024.
Their breakout track “I Think I Like When It Rains” became a viral anthem, reaching #1 on TikTok’s U.S. chart in 2023 and remaining in the Viral 50 from 2022–2025. WILLIS made their name where it matters most — the stage. Night after night, fans show up in Locals Only tees, singing every word like they’ve been there since day one. What started as a quiet DIY movement has become a full-on live experience.
Across their beloved Locals EP series (Locals, Locals 2, Locals 3, Locals 4) and 2024’s debut album I Can’t Thank You Enough, WILLIS has developed a sound that’s warm, rhythmic, and emotionally direct — nostalgic but never stuck in the past. It’s indie rock that leaves a mark.
The band continues to evolve while keeping the same heartbeat that’s been there since the beginning: real connection, real fans, and music built to outlast trends.
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Hotel Fiction is an indie rock band from Athens, Georgia comprised of Jade Long (vocals, keys), Jessica Thompson (vocals, lead guitar), Aaron Daugherty (lead guitar, synth), Aidan Hill (bass), and Gideon Johnston (drums). Their sound has often been described as genre-fluid, with indie, pop, folk, and rock influences.
Jade and Jessica began writing, performing, and playing together in January 2019 while students at UGA. In August of that year, Hotel Fiction released their debut single “Astronaut Kids” which received a warm welcome from the indie scene, and went on to amass over 2 million global streams. The band released their debut album Soft Focus in 2021, followed by their EP Enjoy Your Stay in 2022. In 2023, they were a primary feature artist on flipturn’s single “Halfway (Acoustic)”, which has accumulated nearly 1 million streams.
Their music has received recognition from EARMILK, Consequence of Sound, and Early Rising, and been placed on Spotify editorial lists New Noise, wanderlust, Fresh Finds, Acoustic Love, and Fresh Finds Rock: Best of 2022, and All New Rock.
Hotel Fiction has spent the last 3 years heavily touring the US, both headlining and supporting artists like flipturn, The Beaches, SUSTO, Beach Fossils, Adam Melchor, WILLIS, and Sunroom. They played Sister Hazel’s Rock Boat in January 2024, alongside Young the Giant, The Struts, and more.
In early 2024, the band supported The Brook & The Bluff on their headline tour. This summer, they will release their highly anticipated sophomore album, followed by a US headline tour.