Over the past five years, arguably no one has done more for Wilmington's indie music scene than Tracy Shedd and James Tritten.
A regular presence at area concerts and other happenings — they share a DJ set every Tuesday evening at the Satellite Bar & Lounge on Greenfield Street, during which they spin, on vinyl, everything from classic hits to obscure bangers — the married couple has helped highlight Wilmington music in a way few others have.
Since moving to town in 2018 with Fort Lowell Records, the independent label they started in Tucson, Arizona, in 2009, the couple has released a steady and diverse stream of music by Wilmington acts, from indie rock and dream pop to punk and hip-hop.
Consider this stat: Since October of 2020, when Fort Lowell released the Wilmington music compendium "GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter," the label has issued nearly 30 albums and singles, over half of them by Wilmington acts.
And the hits keep coming. May 12 saw the release of "The Time Space Continuum Redux," a lush remix of a 2006 album from Wilmington hip-hop group MindsOne by Port City DJ and producer RizzyBeats. (There's a listening party for the album May 18 at Flytrap Brewing.)
May 19 marks the release of "Original Motion Picture Soundtrack," the incendiary new album from Wilmington sweat-pop rockers Kicking Bird. (Album release show is May 19 at Reggie's 42nd Street Tavern.)
Indie rock mainstay Shedd's new single comes out in June, and July 21 will see the release of "Colors," a new EP from veteran Wilmington songwriter James Sardone. Coming later this year will be the first official album release from iconic Wilmington indie rockers Summer Set. And that's just for starters.
Brian Weeks, the guitarist and songwriter for Summer Set and for the moody electro-pop act De La Noche, has been playing in various Wilmington bands since the '90s.
"There's been other local labels before, but not like this," Weeks said of Fort Lowell. "One of the strengths they have, especially James, he's just relentless and he's got the business side down."
RizzyBeats, the Wilmington DJ and producer who can often be found behind the counter at Gravity Records on Castle Street or spinning at various venues around town, said Fort Lowell has helped push artists to the next level.
"As creators, it's nice to be able to focus on the work," Rizzy said. "James is good about getting all the things together, taking it off our plates," including getting crucial publicity for new releases by Wilmington artists.
Both the MindsOne and Kicking Bird releases have gotten attention from national music sites, and Fort Lowell artists Lauds, who released the throwback shoegaze album "Imitation Life" in January, are featured in the current issue of national music magazine The Big Takeover.
Tritten and Shedd say it's a labor of love for Wilmington and its music.
"I already have a full-time day job," Tritten said, working for Kwipped, an online equipment rental marketplace.
"Honestly, I think I'm so obsessed as a record collector, that's the only reason I run a label. I just fall in love with a band and it's like, 'All right, I'll put your music on vinyl, just because I want it,'" Tritten said recently from he and Shedd's super-sweet downtown Wilmington apartment, which comes complete with a low-ceilinged, noggin-bruising recording studio space replete with music equipment. "It just boils down to, I'm a fan of it. It's really that simple. And it's never just me, it's me and Tracy, both of us together. That's the key part."
James Sardone, who's been part of the Wilmington scene for 30 years (aside from a decade-long stint in New York, where he earned a write-up in the Village Voice as the rockabilly act Jimmy Nations), said that "Fort Lowell is important to Wilmington ... They've given a boost to the music scene by participating and promoting, as well as providing a voice and label support for local artists."
Tom Michels of Wilmington rockers Kicking Bird said Tritten will "send you a song or tell you about something you'd be into, and he's always right. He's got this amazing, encyclopedic musical knowledge."
Wilmington on their minds
Natives of Jacksonville, Florida, Shedd and Tritten have known each other since the early '90s when they played in a band called Sella. Later, Tritten would form the band Audio Explorations and back up Shedd, now his wife of 23 years, during her long career as a solo artist. The couple toured relentlessly for years, with Tritten also serving as a booking agent for dozens of acts.
Ask most anyone in Wilmington who knows them, and you'll probably hear the word "supportive." Tritten, often clad in a trucker cap, is loquacious and has an easy smile, while Shedd has a shock of wavy gray hair and a winning laugh, with a friendly manner that immediately puts folks at ease.
And even though they've only lived in Wilmington since 2018, they've got deep roots in the Port City.
"In 1996 we got invested and tied into the Wilmington scene very deeply and very quickly," Tritten said. That was when Audio Explorations played its first show here, and he and Shedd met Wilmington folks that they're friends with to this day. "All through the late '90s, all through the early 2000s, we were coming here multiple times per year."
In 2006 the couple moved to Tucson, Arizona, for what they thought would be forever. There, in 2009, they started Fort Lowell Records, named after a U.S. Army fort in Tucson that later became an artists' colony.
Then in 2013, Tritten got a job offer to be the general manager of the legendary Cat's Cradle music venue in Carrboro, and the couple moved to Chapel Hill.
That job didn't work out long-term, but it did lead the couple to Wilmington in 2018, where the scene here reinvigorated Fort Lowell, which had gone largely dormant in the Triangle. Shedd completed her 2019 album "The Carolinas" at their home studio downtown and they played a release party at downtown venue Bourgie Nights that same year. It's been on ever since.
You'll often find them at local "makers" markets, with stacks of vinyl next to the apothecary concoctions Shedd makes. The couple created an even deeper connection to their new hometown with "Water Is Life," a blend of photography, music and environmental activism that adds up to an ongoing series of vinyl and digital releases split between Wilmington indie rock and hip-hop acts. The the third release in the series (with rocker cydaddy and rapper Sheme of Gold) is coming soon, with two more in the works.
At the same time, Fort Lowell continues to work with national artists. Upcoming albums include solo projects from Coley Dennis of Athens, Georgia, psyche-rock act Maserati, and from Neko Case guitarist Jon Rauhouse.
Fort Lowell band Lauds is starting to make some ripples nationally, and there's a rising wave of younger Wilmington acts like Pleasure Island (probably the most popular band in town), Doggy Daycare and Lawn Enforcement, all of whom regularly play at Cargo District hotspot The Place and are represented by Wilmington's newest label, the Gen-Z-centric Suck Rock Records, a label Tritten and Shedd both praise.
"I put blinders on with that kind of stuff," Tritten said, when asked whether Wilmington music is ready to step into the national spotlight. "We're just releasing music we like. It's really that simple."
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| All photos by Mary Riley; StarNews |
