Our newest episode #261 is out now! You can listen to it on most podcasting apps or stream it on our website at https://homoground.com/how-to-listen/ 

Below are artist profiles of the bands featured on this episode. Be sure to follow them on social media and support the artists you like directly! 

"Clever Weather" by Blowboater (Baltimore, MD, USA)

Blowboater is queer heartache dreampop from Baltimore. Ex-Wildhoney lead guitarist Marybeth Mareski brings the tools of shoegaze to a pure pop sensibility that delves deep into the risks and rewards of desire. She sings polyamorous power pop about triads gone wrong with the wry humor of someone accustomed to making bad decisions with the promise of a good song at the end. Her versatile guitar combines with drummer Andi Scotti's unexpected rhythms and bassist Gunnar Isbert's agile licks to deliver wide-ranging styles of satisfying songs.

Blowboater is soft and catchy enough to share the stage w Slumberland's Jeanines and taut enough to be right at home on bills with Get Better Records powerhouses like HIRS and Control Top. To put it in homosexual terms, Blowboater is a switch.

"Portraits" by Low Life Lolas (Toronto, ON, Canada)

"As a non-binary artist, I am always striving to connect with the 2sLGBTQ community in the ways that I can. The virus outbreak has put an abrupt halt to all live performances, so that has been a huge bummer for us. Keeping the boat rowing during these times have been difficult, especially with collaboration/production. I send the new songs to my band mates so they can write their parts, but its not the same as working in out together in person! I have found a lot of inspiration lately with writing. My partner and I have returned home to Thunder Bay while we wait out this pandemic. My partners school program has been cancelled (midwife student) and I am a bartender out of work." - Renee, lead singer, guitar and song writer, Low Life Lolas

"I want You (to be My Man)" by Gary Cawker (London, England)

Blues-tinged psych folk Americana from queer artist Gary Cawker, produced by blues maestro Alex Haynes. 

"Feels good to be able to support (and be supported) by other queer artists, to continue the process of validation and dignity that the world has tried so hard to strip from us. Also, I've written a song about falling in love with my sex buddy. You don't hear many songs blatantly sung by a man to another man."

"Spoon or Fork" by AllegrA (Philadelphia, PA, USA)

AllegrA is a four-piece indie rock band fronted by 25-year-old Philadelphia native Allegra Eidinger. With many shifting members over the years, Allegra has found a home back in Philly after starting the band in Pittsburgh in 2016. Allegra’s songwriting contains catchy melodic guitars, poppy rhythms, and groovy bass lines all resting below their low, raspy and whispery vocals. One of Allegra's goals for their music is to bring you with them into their bedroom studio while they sit and write in the quiet of their mind alone. A little twinkly, a little poppy, a little queer band from Philadelphia.

"It means a lot to me to be connected to other queer folks, specifically queer musicians, right now! It's special to feel a sense of community with folks of similar identity, especially in a time of such isolation. And it feels important to show younger queer folks that they can make music and be creative and that their voices matter! It took me years to realize I could share my music and have a band because I didn't have any nonbinary role models to look up to. For my artistry to be shared on this platform (or any platform, really) means I can have the opportunity to be the role model for younger queers that I never had.

Well, not being able to go on tour is such a bummer. It has definitely made me question this path I've taken as a professional touring musician. It also has felt particularly difficult to make new music because we're all in a time of such collective processing. I think that new music tends to flow out of me when I've fully processed hardships and difficulties. The uncertainty of all of our lives makes it impossible to fully process because we're all still so deep in it, making it particularly hard for me to create anything new. I've been trying to tell myself that it's okay to be feeling uninspired right now."

"The Moon is Still Surprising" by Coley Mixan (Seattle, WA, USA) 

Coley Mixan is a queer musician, video artist and public library activist born and raised on the Nebraskan prairie. Mixan is a multi-instrumentalist interested in songs as living sports: enthralling participations in movement, feeling and a reliance on well-trained instinct. They use guitars, drums and vocal samples to question the anxieties of life in a hypercaptialist society (while also pursuing the hopefulness that the queer abundance resonates throughout the multiverse). They perform live with interactive videos, vegan toast & cake to share with audience members, and work for social justice through free education and creative programs at public library spaces, prairie restoration research and white reparations.

"My current challenge, musically, is to strengthen both my post-production and recording skills and to gain technical knowledge on the drums/guitar (I am self taught but would like to finally learn a little more about rhythmic theory within the next few months). Finances are always a struggle--I was in the process of relocating to Austin, TX from Seattle before the COVID-19 outbreak. I lost all of my savings to putting down a first, last and deposit on a rental in Texas I can no longer move into. Beyond the money, though, I am challenged to work on my spirituality, social work/community building, and confidence at this time. I have never had much confidence in my musicianship and I want to really believe in my music career--that's the current challenge I am rising to in this application."

"Road Home" by Eliza & The Organix (Brooklyn, NY, USA)

Eliza and the Organix is a funk-rock band based in Brooklyn centered around the songwriting of vocalist and guitarist Eliza Waldman. E&tO deals in deep grooves, quirky humor, and high octane playing, drawing from a broad sonic canvas that remains focused in storytelling and soulful sound.

"I did an interview for Audiofemme in March about intergenerational trauma. I feel like a lot of what I'm writing about these days has to do with PTSD and working through relationship trauma and childhood trauma, which I have been realizing is exacerbated by the isolation of this pandemic. I think a lot of people are finding that without distractions, a lot of that stuff comes up. Music has always been an outlet for that for me for the difficult things, and I've also started jumping rope a lot in my backyard to help myself stay emotionally focused."

"Big Win" by Spare Parts for Broken Hearts (Los Angeles, CA, USA)

Sarah Green (SG), is the founder and front person of the melodic, three-piece, Alt Rock band, Spare Parts for Broken Hearts (Spare Parts).  Green’s interest in activism within her own LGBTQIA community became the fundamental root of what would later become the core foundation Spare Parts for Broken Hearts is built upon, noting the band’s tagline, “Everything Heavy, Everyone Here.

"Protons and Electrons" by Trumpet Wom' (Philadelphia, PA, USA)

T-Wom', formerly known as Trumpet Grrrl is a triple threat combining trumpet, keys and singing into her original alt-pop-soul songwriting. Besides sharing her creativity with the world she is on a mission to help humanity evolve to a better way of being.

In this vein her 5th album "Evolution" covers topics such as depression, forgiveness, love, mediation and more. With her deep soulful voice, beautiful trumpet tone and unique songwriting T-Wom' writes music reminiscent of Nina Simone or Grace Jones.