Song Spotlight: Charley T's We'll Keep Marching

Charley T (performing name for Charley Tiernan) can belt out those vocals. She played the WFNM showcase at Hotel Ziggy and I was sold from the very first guitar notes of the night. The first song of the set was "We'll Keep Marching." It is an anthem advocating for change. When the song was released a 1.5 years ago, she wrote the following on Instagram, "I was sick of writing love songs so I wrote this. I hope this song motivates people to speak up for what they believe in. Right now I want to use this song to advocate for women’s rights." 

Charley T at Hotel Ziggy

Song Spotlight: Dylan Rodrigue's Pink Balloon

Ryan Pollie's night at The Fable was packed out on a Tuesday night. It was largely driven by the fact that Madison Cunningham was the headliner, but one has to say that everyone had the most amusing time during Dylan Rodrigue's set. Having the most fun were Sie Sie Benhoff and (I believe) Miss Marquez. Miss Marquez in particular had a small wad of $1 bills and was tossing it towards Rodrigue like one would do at a strip club. 

Dylan Rodrigue at The Fable

Song Spotlight: Madison Cunningham's All I've Ever Known

I first ran across Madison Cunningham at the Bootleg Theater (did not re-open after the shutdown if anyone is wondering where that venue is in Los Angeles). It was a venue that I first came across many a band or singer-songwriter. It was 2018 and this is what I wrote after the set:

"Opening up the night was Madison Cunningham. It kind of felt like a showcase for her. As soon as I walked into the Bootleg, the place was packed. It was around 8:45 p.m. so not like I was showing up late. Her set had a wonderful tone to it and one couldn't help but notice her amusing facial expressions that she gave her band mates."

Madison Cunningham at The Fable

Song Spotlight: Starling's Bottlebrush Tree

Starling took to the Zebulon stage with their mystically ethereal sound that emphasized lead singer's Kasha Souter Willett gothic and vulnerable persona. Bassist Grace Rolek could be seen swaying along with her bass. The venue kept the lights low (which isn't at all unusual for Zebulon) as if to emphasize a David Lynch Blue Velvet visual experience for the audience. 

Starling at Zebulon

Song Spotlight: Robert DeLong's Fool Me Once

I came across Robert DeLong by chance in 2011. There was an event called Art Cycle LA that year. It was a combination of both biking and art. I personally don't own a bike, but I went anyways to participate in the art portion of the event. I happened to come across DeLong and I remember that he had his fans out. Jump to 2017 and he stole the show at the Sunstock Solar Festival. I wrote the following about the party atmosphere around his set, "The festival organizers brought out the balloons and a balloon party went on throughout the set. Some of the balloons would end up in the photo pit and various photographers would toss the balloons back into the eager crowd."

Robert DeLong at El Cid

Song Spotlight: Matty Gottesman's Not Scared (Of Being Along)

I had just recently spent a weekend at USC for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Of course, it was time to support UCLA. That occurred when I crossed paths with a Matty Gottesman, an UCLA student, via WFNM's showcase at Hotel Ziggy. He and his four piece backing band are all UCLA students (or maybe by the time this posts some will have graduated). I'm also guessing that their photographer was a UCLA student -- every so often I run into UCLA photographers at various venues who are shooting for UCLA Radio. 

Matty Gottesman at Hotel Ziggy

Song Spotlight: Host Family's Dromedary

Pretty But Wicked put together a solid line-up at Zebulon on a Tuesday night with Host Family as the anchor. The band was celebrating the release of their EP Extended Play. I will admit that the reason I went out to Zebulon was to catch Mo Dotti for the first time in 2025; however, the whole bill was fantastic. Seko opened up the night. The band was joined at different points during the set by Host Family band members Spencer Stange and Zac Hernandez. 

Host Family at Zebulon