MALI VELASQUEZ, Bloomsday

18+When Nashville-based singer-songwriter Mali Velasquez traded her Texas panhandle home for the verdant foothills of Tennessee, she did so with a newfound perspective that mirrored her environment, culminating in the lushly raw edge of her folk-rooted indie rock. Wistfully openhearted and incisive, Velasquez tips the fulcrum between reflection and remedy with melody-forward unction and lyrical tenderness. Her forthcoming debut, I’m Green, is a perennial introspection into the wild animal of young adulthood and the renewing realization that the person we’re most often seeking permission from, crucially, is ourselves.Bloomsday is the tender, cerebral project of the New York-based Iris James Garrison (they/them). The way they write songs sits somewhere between a mirror and a memory. Spacious, full-bodied folk songs, they’re an ode to things that are good no matter how small. Bloomsday’s new record, Heart of the Artichoke (2024, Bayonet Records), is a relic of unfettered creativity and community. They recount the miracles of the mundane, the memories that become sacred, an ode to all that is holy: nightswimming, songs plucked from the ether, the ways friendship can endure. Like their 2022 debut Place to Land, the work here is threaded with warmth; it’s simmering, crisp and deeply human, encapsulating the present moment.Since the project's inception in 2019, Bloomsday has toured the US extensively, including supporting Becca Mancari, Joe Vann, and Charlotte Cornfield, sets at Hopscotch Music Festival and SXSW, and playing with Courtney Barnett, Bonny Doon, Katie Kirby, Babehoven, Hovvdy, and others. Their music has been featured on NPR New Music Friday, Nylon, FLOOD, and Paste, among other publications. Their tracks have been placed on editorial playlists including Spotify’s Fresh Finds,Lorem, All New Indie, and more.