Elijah Johnston

Tennis Courts & Elijah Johnston with Cigarettes @ Sunset and Pretty Crimes Tennis Courts: (NYC) Singer-songwriter duo Patrick Walsh and Andrew Clarke began writing and performing music under the name Tennis Courts in 2019. With a fluctuating lineup of local musicians, the pair made a name for themselves in the beer-lit basements and bars of Charleston, South Carolina with their raw and rowdy brand of hyper-caffeinated indie rock. Tennis Courts relocated to Brooklyn, NY in 2021, where they quickly set roots and found a consistent collaborator with guitarist Brian McKenna. In their new home, the band continues to work, play, and hone their craft. Drawing on a wide range of influences from Big Star to Big Thief, Tennis Courts sits comfortably on the fence between power pop glitz and alt-country gloom. Elijah Johnston: (Atlanta, GA) Elijah Johnston is a singer-songwriter from Atlanta, GA whose songs bridge the conversational songwriter fare of now and the hooky guitar based music of the past. His newest album Hometown Vampire provides a guided tour through 50 years of guitar music, calling out to greats like a prayer, asking for the songs we love to act as guidance through the trouble around us. It’s his first release for Strolling Bones Records, an Athens-based subsidiary of the vaunted New West Records family. Elijah began his career in the legendary musical community of Athens, and he was the winner of that city’s 2022 Vic Chesnutt Songwriter of the Year Award. Since then, he has toured nationally and shared stages with acts like Noah Gunderson, Susto, and Elf Power , establishing a name as a recognized songwriter with a potent live show to match. Cigarettes @ Sunset: (Boone, NC) Cigarettes @ Sunset is a five-piece band based in Boone, North Carolina. Comprised of bassist and backup vocalist Wells Whitman, drummer Ethan Moore, violinist Sarah Vann, rhythm guitarist and lead singer Garrett Dellinger, and lead guitarist Ryland Bagbey. The band’s music juxtaposes driving guitar riffs, drums that swerve out of country and punk, with swelling violin, and Dellinger’s semi-autobiographical lyrics anchor the band in both time and place. Their live shows turn any venue into an intimate and energized space, amalgamating shoegaze, old time, and indie rock into a whirlwind of sound. Pretty Crimes: (Raleigh, NC) You could call them genre-fluid. Pretty Crimes creates music that ranges from indie rock to art pop, drawing additional influences from electronic music, country, Motown, and much more. Based out of Raleigh, NC, the band consists of Dan Irving, Em Edgerton, Mike Freeman, and Alan “Chico” Marines. Their first album, You Have Your Mind, explores different sonic territories while searching out the meaning of belief. Their second record, Every Moment All at Once, is out now.