Artist Category: Indie Rock

Dwight & Nicole

Dwight + Nicole, based in Burlington, Vermont, traces its musical roots through the blues, soul, and R&B traditions by exploring the spaces between these genres, connecting them with themes found in dream pop and alternative rock. Dwight Ritscher’s warm, soulful tenor would be the envy of many bands, but it is Nicole Nelson’s four-octave vocal range that wowed a national audience during season three of NBC’s “The Voice.”

Dwight, the band’s principal songwriter and guitarist, first started performing live as a child with his grandfather, and it wasn’t long before players were sneaking him into blues clubs around Monmouth Park, New Jersey to man the tubs. Nicole, also a major songwriter for the band, plays bass, her first love was the musical theater, but she also explored musical expression through violin.

Dwight started his first bands while in college in Burlington, and, after graduation, he relocated to Boston to fulfill a recording contract for his band, Red Beans and Rice. He further developed his craft on stages throughout New England. Meanwhile, Nicole was being recognized as a standout jazz vocalist throughout Boston. Their paths crossed around town, and they discovered they shared an obsession with the soul and blues greats like the Staple Singers, Albert King, and Etta James. As a result, it wasn’t long before Ritscher and Nelson formed a duo.

Dwight + Nicole, the duo, began with Dwight on electric guitar and Nicole on tambourine, with both stomping their feet for the beat and singing in harmony. The couple later moved to Vermont, where they met and joined forces with powerhouse drummer Ezra Oklan and keyboard wizard Leon Campos, thus completing the band. They have toured throughout North America with Mavis Staples, Melissa Etheridge, and Norah Jones, among others, as well as performing as headliners.

The band’s live shows have become legendary, with fans expressing that they find comfort in the performances, and the band members’ chemistry has been described as intoxicating. Dwight + Nicole is the recipient of accolades and many awards over the past decade. The band and its members have been named “Band of the Year,” “Vocalist of the Year,” “Best Blues/R&B Band,” “Female Vocalist of the Year,” “Blues Act of the Year” at the Boston Music Awards and also won “Video of the Year” at the Independent Music Awards, as well as earning Daysies Awards from the Burlington, Vermont weekly paper, Seven Days.

With numerous releases in prior years under their belts, Dwight + Nicole released The Jaguar, The Raven, and The Snake in 2024, featuring the single, “Saying Goodbye.” Produced by acclaimed producer Joel Hamilton and recorded at his Studio G in Brooklyn and Ocean Sound in Giske, Norway through 2022, the album features musical guests the Daptone Horns and Arkai Strings, among others. The band rejoined Hamilton in Studio G in January 2025 to record a new album, Day or Night, which will see release on March 20, 2026.

“Dwight & Nicole are my favorite new band!” – MAVIS STAPLES

Veronica Lewis

Veronica Lewis is emerging as a distinct voice in music. Already hailed as “one of the most promising torchbearers of American Rock,” by American Songwriter. Her songs live at the crossroads — carrying the raw spirit of early rock pioneers, the introspective depth of Fiona Apple, and the indie-pop shimmer of Soccer Mommy. At just 21, her sonic odyssey is part of the groundswell of female artists redefining the meaning of singer-songwriter in indie rock.

A multi-award-winning, #2 Billboard-charting artist from the backwoods of New Hampshire, Veronica has built a reputation for performances that balance prodigal musicianship with emotional depth. Her sound is driven by melodic guitar hooks, untamed piano work, and a voice that moves seamlessly from hushed vulnerability to soaring power, she crafts songs that rise and unravel with melodic intensity and raw emotion. Her latest album, Too Late For Tears, delivers anthemic choruses, earworm melodies, and storytelling that rides the line between elation and melancholy. “It’s about the beauty and flaws you find in yourself, and the world around you,” says Veronica.

“Veronica Lewis…from wunderkind to accessible pop artist mirroring the young musical growth of Tori Amos and Fiona Apple” – Glide Magazine

“She’s a virtuoso…national stardom on her horizon.” – PopMatters

“Veronica Lewis sings with a sweet, booming soul voice” – The Boston Herald

Zion Rodman

Zion Rodman is a multi-instrumental singer-songwriter known for his soulful voice, intricate guitar playing, and poignant lyrics. With a melodic style that blends folk and rock influences, Zion’s performances are heartfelt and captivating as he weaves storytelling between songs.

Zion is currently recording a new album following the release of “The Lives I’ve Kept” EP in the fall of 2024.

Kristen Ford

Kristen Ford is a singer songwriter and multi instrumentalist influenced by greats such as Alanis Morrisette, Radiohead and Ani Difranco. She navigates life as a biracial, queer girl and tours globally in pursuit of the perfect show. Her live performance morphs from unplugged solo acoustic to screaming, electric guitar soloing in front of a rock band to her dynamic one woman band using loops, beatboxing and a healthy case of ADHD to her advantage.

Ford’s Righteous Babe Records debut, produced by Ani Difranco and mixed by John Driskill Hopkins (Zac Brown Band), is set to release late 2024.

Miles Hewitt

Miles Hewitt is a songwriter and poet residing in Brooklyn, NY. His debut record, Heartfall, drew critical raves, including from The Boston Globe, who named it one of the 50 Best Albums of 2022 and wrote: “A simply brilliant debut . . . by turns intimate and epic, lush with strings and delicate fingerpicked guitar, languid psychedelia and dreamy pedal-steel painted soundscapes.” Heresiarch proclaimed that “Hewitt is truly in league with the likes of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen” and named Heartfall their favorite album of 2022.

Matt Pond PA

Matt Pond’s very name evokes the natural world in which his songs are so often set, with their evocative lyrics about the sometimes jagged edges of love, the pros and cons of connection, and the agony and ecstasy of memory. He has always mapped the universal emotions of being alive onto the contours of his own stories.

From the band’s beginnings in Philadelphia, to their current home in the heart of the Hudson Valley, through 13 albums (among them Emblems, Several Arrows Later, The Dark Leaves, The State of Gold, and, most recently, the luminous The Natural Lines), Matt Pond PA has always been a living, breathing organism—one that’s constantly changing. Two notable mainstays are Pond’s longtime right-hand man, Chris Hansen, and cellist Hilary James.

“I named the band after myself, but the fact is that this is a complete collaboration,” Pond says. “Everyone I’ve worked with lives in my head and in these songs.”

Mike Viola

Mike Viola is a producer, musician, songwriter and singer. Decades into his career, Viola is cranking out more music than ever including the fan favorites; The American Egypt from 2019 and Godmuffin from 2021. His music continues to resonate with and inspire new generations of musicians and music lovers.

Viola may be best known for his work with Panic! at the Disco, Andrew Bird, Ryan Adams, Jenny Lewis and Mandy Moore, but his solo career stands on its own starting with the acclaimed records as the leader of New York based cult favorite Candy Butchers and 7 critically adored Mike Viola records. His original music has been featured on soundtracks for movies such as That Thing You Do!, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and Get Him to the Greek.

A new album, Paul McCarthy, will be released in 2023 on Good Morning Monkey/Grand Phony in the US, Lojinx in Europe and SONY Japan.

Paul McCarthy was recorded over the summer of 2022 on 1/2” tape at “Barebones” Viola’s home studio in Los Angeles. Joined by his friends Jake Sinclair on bass and Brendon Urie on drums. Viola says, “I set out to make a sonic monster using the legs of James Gang Rides Again, the heart of Black Sabbath Paranoid, with my kid brain inside my greying middle aged head on top. I’ve hit a point in my life where instinct has taken the reigns fully, logic now waits in the wings to sweep up the stage and pay the taxi fare home. This album is the result of committing to this path fully and laughing all the way.

Mint Green

Ronnica was born and raised in Boston in the neighborhood of Dorchester. She started Mint Green with drummer Daniel Huang in 2015. After two EPs, Mint Green released their debut LP “All Girls Go To Heaven” in June of 2022 on Pure Noise Records and have since won a Boston Music Award for Rock Artist of the Year. Mint Green has toured all over the U.S. and the U.K. and most recently have performed at festivals such as Boston Calling and In Between Days Fest. Mint Green’s music hits the sweet spot between indie rock, pop, and alternative and speaks to the members of the rock community that are POC, queer, women, and non-men. Mint Green hopes to continue transcending physical borders and societal barriers with their unique and evolving sound.

Sarah Gyurina

Sarah Gyurina– known as “sarge” to friends and fans– has been writing songs in her bedroom since she was eight years old, equipped with whatever guitar was on hand and an urgency to capture every feeling she’s ever had. Drawing comparisons to the likes of Faye Webster, Adrianne Lenker, and Indigo de Souza, Sarah fronts the Boston-based rock band Hereboy, whose sound ranges from fingerpicking folk to noisy, indie-rock anthems.

The Smallest Town Ensemble

The Smallest Town Ensemble is an indie rock band based in Somerville, MA. The Deli Magazine has praised The Smallest Town Ensemble’s debut EP, ‘Out East’, as a “love letter to the Somerville, MA, community… (that) weaves through a multitude of genres, creating a beautiful and poignant tapestry”.