A foreign Discotech ablaze, trapped in a dungeon, slugs wrapped around your brain, a hidden killer on the loose.

These are the central themes of the music of Close to Good: the Philly-based quartet of Carl, Dave, Rob & Kevin. A unique mix of heavy dance, jazz, dark, and 8-bit-nostalgia takes audiences to the lunar surface and back.

Over the past year, Close to Good has become most known for their high-energy live performances that deliver an aggressive burst of progressive dance-funk that often builds into a tightly composed tension-release, peaking in kick-driven melodic reprisals of their distinct central lyrical themes.

Their continually honed sound is beginning to find itself lying somewhere near the edge of space-time, transporting listeners to the buzzing land of Transylvania where the quartet is playing the anthem for the battle of the century between Dracula and Megaman.

Song Dogs formed in Philadelphia in 2009. The musical vision of singer and multi-instrumentalist Michael Southerton has ignited with the dynamic energy and enthusiasm of Sam Conver (bass), Mariama Koroma (percussion), Scott "Elmo" Galper (kit) and Ryan McCloskey (guitar) . They have come together under a common vision to play a scorching brand of independent rock recognized by fans as genuine and soulful.

The Slackwater News is a musical group from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We spend lots of time together crafting creative, meaningful, and tight arrangements that serve the motive of our songs. Sometimes that motive doesn't become clear until we huddle together in a windowless room and chip away at it with wooden axes and dissolve its tough outer shell with contemporary elixirs. We rehearse and record in a studio we put together in an old warehouse, where we recorded our debut EP, "All You Creatures," in 2008 and 2009.

Our core instrumentation is two electric guitars, electric bass, trap set, and mechanical keyboards, but when the song is hungry for something different we are not afraid to feed it trumpet, ukulele, cardboard box, desk stomp, synthesizer or whatever else it wants.

We play electric rock music that owes to psychedelic, indie, mod, and classic rock and pop. People always say we have a unique sound, but have compared our music to the Beatles, The Kinks, and Pavement. "Psychedelic Indie Rock" might sum it up as well as three words can.

Our lyrics tend to be inspired by the magic and strangeness of things in our lives. A song about loving someone becomes an invitation to share a burial plot. A trip to the basement of the natural science museum down the street becomes a dreamy ode to the art of taxidermy. A desire to travel becomes a sea-shanty about love and longing. Throughout the songwriting process, we try to be true to ourselves and make new and fresh music.

We play regularly around our area, at places like the Chameleon Club, Isaac's, and the Rock Hill Tavern in Lancaster, Dragonfly, Gullifty's, and Local Beat in Harrisburg, and a host of other nightclubs, festivals, and public and private events. We've been working together for a little over a year, but most of the band has been performing music publically since they were schoolboys. We have been chosen to showcase at several music conferences, such as Launch and 4+3, and receive airplay on commercial terrestrial radio (WRVV) as well as several internet radio stations.

Right now, we are starting to record our second album, in addition to booking live shows in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions in support of our EP.

The members of The Slackwater News, and their main instruments at live performances, are:
Dan Zdilla - Electric Guitar and Voice
Hans Wheelersburg - Electric Bass Guitar and Voice
Daniel Ramirez - Mechanical Keyboards and Voice
Matt Blank - Trap Set
Matt Johnson - Electric guitar