It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for… Raleigh’s infamous LONNIE WALKER returns! They’re putting out their new record Easy Easy Easy Easy (out July 12th on Sleepy Cat Recs) and we are throwing down with the likes of Carrboro’s gaze-ful VERITY DEN and local indie supergroup: QWILT. This is going to be one that the indie heads will not want to miss.
LONNIE WALKER
Website | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Brian Corum formed North Carolina indie rock band Lonnie Walker while he was still a student at East Carolina University. After filling out the rest of the lineup with guitarist Eric Hill, drummer Raymond Finn, keyboardist Justin Flythe, and bassist Josh Bridgers, the band released its debut These Times Old Times
Lonnie Walker toured steadily throughout the South, with bassist Mike Robinson joining prior to the release of follow-up Earth Canals. That year, however, Corum — the group’s primary songwriter, in addition to its vocalist and rhythm guitarist — was swept up in the opioid epidemic, and eventually ended up at a homeless shelter in Raleigh.
As Corum slowly rebuilt his life and considered his future as a musician, he began writing new songs — with “one of the only guitars I didn’t sell,” he notes — and eventually, the band returned in 2017. “I really can’t help it. I enjoy it,” Corum says of playing in Lonnie Walker, before adding: “I really can’t help it.”
Easy, Easy, Easy, Easy was recorded with Colin Swanson-White at Synaesthetics Studios in Raleigh in late 2019, and sees the band further develop its unique stamp on the Carolina music scene, driven by raucous sound and Corum’s intensely personal songwriting.
VERITY DEN
Bandcamp | Instagram
Verity Den was born of chance meetings and life-long dedications. The band is comprised of Casey Proctor, Trevor Reece and Mike Wallace, all of whom spent considerable time in their respective and shared DIY-music communities before converging to form the group in early 2023. Casey and Trevor initially met as members of an ad-hoc improv ensemble performing tape loops, strings, and electronics as part of a multi-disciplinary series hosted on a rooftop in Chapel Hill called Attic 506. Soon after, the three shifted from long-running musical projects to focus on exploring new sonic territories together. The band operates in an ever-evolving dynamic of group improvisation and studio experimentation, capturing moments of coarse circuit completion and bringing to fruition long-gestating ideas and songs. The sound is raw and largely unadorned, transmitting both truth and wildness.
QWILT
Spotify | Instagram
Qwilt, formerly and briefly known as Wilt, is a supergroup based out of Raleigh, North Carolina. A collaboration between Emma Stees (lead vocals, guitar), Jonathan Crews (guitar, noise), Max Gowan (bass, engineering), and Adrian Teegarden (drums, vocals), the project weaves together dreamy, haunting melodies with powerful, distorted noise. The band is a unique combination of shoegaze and post-rock fueled by unleaded gasoline, junk food, and the power of friendship. Sometimes nauseating, sometimes sickly sweet, Qwilt is a midnight Sonic blast, a bologna sandwich at the speedway, a Cheerwine on an inner tube.
