Mount Vesuvius. Mount Olympus. Mount Tarsus. Mount St. Helens. Leslie West's Mountain. Winechuggers. What do these things have in common? Nothing much, although some of them are mountains. One of them is a musical group, a very special musical group. And then there is WINECHUGGERS. Winechuggers is the codename for a group of friends who have banded together to lay down some simple pop music about complicated emotions and situations. The new Winechuggers recording is Grand Rapids, available now from The Arena Rock Recording Company. The record is a pastiche of classic pop and rock maneuvering tempered with the swiping of the best ideas from today's top songsmiths. A casual listen offers echoes of critical and popular favorites like Big Star, The Go-Betweens, Jeff Buckley, The Beach Boys, American Music Club, Arab Strap, Elliott Smith, Scud Mountain Boys, Sebadoh, and more. Take some time away from this world and slip into a new world... a sound-world... the world of WINECHUGGERS.

Michael Talbott and The Wolfkings exist to throw fire in the face of anyone who believes that the eloquence and mystical nature of music has been lost. Like glimpses of hazy days and memories half-remembered and half-imagined, the songs of the Wolfkings offer up a collective window in which to view the less tangible aspects of life. Named for a mythical creature that used to roam the Southern California hillside, soaking up the influence of a harsher world and spitting out glowing amber stones - the Wolfkings have grown in stature as of late. In addition to Talbott, the group currently counts adventurers M.C. Taylor, Scott Hirsch and James Kim (all members of the Court & Spark) as members. Other Wolfkings include, but are not limited to: Luke Top (Cass McCombs, Ceramic Isles), Paul Kahler (Antenna Farm Records) and Patrick Main (Oranger, Paula Frazer).

Based in San Francisco/Oakland/Berkeley, The Bel Hevis (pronounced "heavys") play twangy yet edgy pop songs blended with dark lyrical undercurrents shaded by melodic overtones. The Bel Hevis formed in 2004 and currently include Jason Byers (guitar/vocals), James Kessler (bass/vocals), Kyle Williams (keys), and Clay Walsh (drums/vocals).  Both James and Jason have been involved in several musical projects together for years including their early days in Oedipus Rex, the Lawn Project and Junior Rifle Club. Kyle is also in a band called Volunteer Pioneer and hails from outside of Chicago. Clay is a Georgia girl and has bounced around between drums and guitar in the queer music scene including The Little Deaths, Running Ragged, and Fighter D. The term "bel hevi" (bell heavy) is from the Tok Pisin dialect of Papua New Guinea, which translates as “belly heavy” and refers to that heavy sinking feeling in the stomach that often accompanies extreme sadness.

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