REVIEW: Tercel 'Tercel'

[Repost from Rosy Overdrive; December 15, 2025]

The self-titled EP from Tercel is the Wilmington, North Carolina band’s first record in which they don’t have to share the main billing (they took the unusual step of releasing a split EP with hip hop duo Fuzz Jaxx & CoolOutSessions last year despite only having a couple of one off-singles to their name at that point). They’re a quartet co-led by Savannah Wood and Robin Wood and rounded out by Chris Vinopal (pedal steel, guitar) and Taylor Salvetti (drums); on our clearest glimpse of Tercel yet, we start to be able to see them as big-picture, earnest, pop-forward indie rockers. The exuberant, in-focus guitar work reflects a band who’ve taken cues from their home state’s indie rock history (maybe more Superchunk than Archers of Loaf, but probably both), but all five songs on Tercel shoot for giant, polished choruses (call them heartland rock, Americana, power pop…) that skip right past the 1990s into the following decade. The more electric songs on Tercel (like “Stuck and “Strange Energy”) work because the band are just scuzzy enough to give the tracks the sharper edges they need, although my favorite song on the EP, “Decoder Ring”, cuts the fuzz and chases after an overwhelming, immaculately-building post-alt-country indie rock ball of emotion and melody. And if you’re looking to understand Tercel, that’s probably it.

Favorites of 2025: Kim Ware and The Good Graces – Grand Epiphanies

[Repost from Your Tuesday Afternoon Alternative on WUDR Radio; by Dr. J, December 8, 2025]

I’ll just say it: Grand Epiphanies is one of the most human records you’re going to hear in 2025, and maybe one of the few that doesn’t insult your intelligence along the way. While many releases this year seem hell-bent on either drowning themselves in studio varnish or hiding behind hipster irony, Kim Ware walks in like someone who’s survived a few things and isn’t afraid to speak plainly about the bruises. These songs don’t howl, they don’t posture—they breathe. And in an era when pop throws confetti over every emotional breakdown and calls it catharsis, Ware has the guts to sit with the silence, to let the ache settle, to make music that’s actually about feeling something and not just Instagramming the wreckage. This is a record that believes in sincerity, and for that alone, it hits like a revelation.

Deepening the craft: Why Grand Epiphanies matters

When Grand Epiphanies was released in September 2025 via Fort Lowell Records, it arrived not as a gimmick or a throwback — but as an earnest statement from a songwriter who has spent nearly two decades refining her voice. For fans of Kim Ware and The Good Graces, the EP represents both continuity and evolution. It retains the emotional honesty and Southern-tinged indie-folk roots listeners have come to expect, while embracing fuller arrangements, sharper lyrical clarity, and a maturity of perspective that only time (and living) can provide.

What emerges is a collection of songs that treat heartbreak, regret, longing, and self-doubt not as melodrama, but as shared human truths. Ware doesn’t write to shock, to boast, or to gloss over. She writes to reach — to offer a mirror to listeners, and maybe a little company in whatever dark or quiet moment they find themselves. This EP is a reminder: vulnerability doesn’t have to be pretty. It just has to be honest.

The team: musicians behind the music

Although Kim Ware remains the creative heart of The Good Graces — vocals, guitar, and songwriting — Grand Epiphanies is a collaborative effort, supported by skilled players and producers who understand how to highlight nuance rather than mask it.

On this release, producers and multi-instrumentalists Steven Fiore and Justin Faircloth play central roles, adding guitar, piano, keyboards, bass, and even backing vocals, and in doing so, help shape the record’s rich but still intimate sonic layers. Their presence builds on a long tradition within The Good Graces: throughout previous albums, different collaborators have drifted in and out of the lineup, each contributing something distinct to the band’s evolving sound. That kind of fluid membership has always been part of the project’s identity, keeping Kim Ware’s songwriting deeply personal while allowing the music itself to remain open, flexible, and continually renewed rather than fixed in a single form.

This flexible model echoes what Ware once said about the band: not as a fixed entity but as a “very talented group of friends,” coming together when inspiration, time, and circumstance allow.

In practice, this means Grand Epiphanies doesn’t feel overproduced or manufactured. Instead, it feels like friends gathered in a room, listening, playing, and creating together — a mood that invites trust and intimacy rather than distance and gloss.

Sound and style: picking up old threads, weaving new ones

Listeners familiar with earlier Good Graces albums — from Sunset Over Saxapahaw (2008) through Ready (2022) — will find much that’s familiar on Grand Epiphanies. Ware’s Southern-tinged twang, her blend of folk, country, and indie-rock sensibilities, the unhurried melodies, the earnest vocal delivery — these remain essential.

Yet this EP also feels more expansive than some earlier efforts. The production, led by Fiore and Faircloth, layers guitars, piano, subtle harmonies, and occasionally banjo or other acoustic touches to build a richer emotional landscape around Ware’s voice. Although personal taste will always shape which tracks linger the longest, several songs on Grand Epiphanies stand out for the way they crystallize what the record does best. Take the track “Old/New”: its guitar strumming and vocal lines evoke late-afternoon melancholy, but as the song unfolds, piano and backing instrumentation widen the space — giving the listener room to sink into memory, longing, and possibility. unfolds like a gentle meditation on what we leave behind and what we carry forward, its subtle layers of instrumentation creating room for genuine emotional reflection.

“Wish I Would’ve Missed You” approaches heartbreak without melodrama, turning regret and longing into something more like the experience of leafing through old photographs—quiet, tender, and unexpectedly overwhelming. And then there is “Missed the Mark,” a song that speaks directly to the insecure, the hopeful, and the uncertain, offering both an appeal for human connection and a confession of imperfection that feels disarmingly honest.

The choice to include a cover — a reimagined version of Some Guys Have All the Luck — also signals the confidence in balancing reverence and reinvention. On this EP, the cover doesn’t feel like a novelty; instead, it sits comfortably alongside Ware’s originals, transformed gently to align with the EP’s mood and tone. “Some Guys Have All the Luck” serves as a bridge between past and present, inspiration and reinterpretation. It doesn’t overshadow the original; it complements it, reminding listeners that songs evolve just as people do.

Overall, the sound of Grand Epiphanies suggests maturity without restraint, emotional depth without melodrama — the kind of record that lingers long after the final note fades.

The gift in the songs: everyday life, honest reflection, and human connection

What often sets the best singer-songwriters apart is a gift for translating ordinary moments into emotional touchstones. On Grand Epiphanies, Kim Ware exercises that gift with clarity and courage. Rather than lean on clichés — heartbreak melodrama, romantic tropes — she mines the subtler, messier terrain of real experiences: regret, nostalgia, second chances, self-doubt, hope, and quiet resilience. Many of these themes resonate universally: longing and loneliness, memory and loss, the ache of roads not taken, the fragile optimism that hums beneath everyday life.

In “Wish I Would’ve Missed You”, Ware reflects on regret and longing with a spare lyricism that strikes more powerfully than most breakup ballads. “Spent it all on grad school… every now and then a memory stops me in my tracks,” she sings — not flaunting heartbreak but confessing to being human, vulnerable, flawed.

Elsewhere — in songs like “Missed the Mark” — she turns the lens inward, wrestling with feelings of inadequacy, uncertainty, and the desperate hope to connect. “I scan the room and hope the messages I send / Somehow reach a brand new stranger, and they become a brand new friend,” she confesses, exposing the artist’s fear and longing behind performing.

The album doesn’t promise closure. It doesn’t pretend that “everything works out.” Instead, it offers companionship: a voice that says, “I feel a lot of this too.” In that way, Grand Epiphanies avoids insulting the listener’s intelligence by offering simplistic solutions. It acknowledges complexity. It honors pain. And it believes in healing — not as a fairy tale but as a slow, sometimes messy process.

How Grand Epiphanies compares to previous work

To appreciate Grand Epiphanies, it helps to see it against the backdrop of Kim Ware’s musical journey. The Good Graces began in 2006 after Ware picked up an old acoustic guitar and started composing songs rooted in Southern indie-folk traditions.

Earlier records, like Close to the Sun (2014), showed a willingness to experiment — to mix folk and country, to play with ambient touches, drum machines, and subtle electronic textures. But even then, the core remained familiar: Ware’s voice, simple guitar patterns, emotionally candid lyrics.

With Ready (2022), the songwriting felt sharper, more intentional; melodies caught between wistful longing and restless urgency. Yet Grand Epiphanies pushes further. The songs are more cohesive; the instrumentation more deliberate; the emotional stakes clearer. Listeners can trace how time, experience, and loss have deepened Ware’s perspective.

This latest EP also suggests a renewed trust in collaboration. Rather than relying solely on acoustic minimalism — the refuge of vulnerability — Ware embraces fuller arrangements. The result isn’t flashy, but it feels abundant in feeling. It’s as though she’s saying: “These aren’t just my stories alone anymore; they are ours.”

Why Grand Epiphanies feels especially relevant in 2025

We live in a time when noise is constant — in our politics, our social media, our media cycles. Simplicity and quiet reflection often feel like luxuries. In that environment, an EP like Grand Epiphanies doesn’t just matter musically; it matters morally. It represents a kind of resistance — not flashy or confrontational, but human.

Kim Ware doesn’t demand answers; she offers empathy. She doesn’t pretend life gets clean after the hard parts; she reminds us that even when scars remain, beauty can survive. For listeners who feel worn down, uncertain, or haunted by memory, these songs can be small lamps in a dark room. For those simply seeking honest songwriting in a sea of glossy distractions, the EP offers relief.

Moreover, the collaborative, evolving model of The Good Graces — weaving friends, producers, rotating musicians into a living tapestry — speaks to music as community, not commodity. In an age of streaming algorithms and viral hits, that matters.

A few honest limitations — and why they don’t hurt the EP’s purpose

As with any release built around vulnerability and introspection, Grand Epiphanies may not cater to all tastes. Listeners expecting polished pop hooks, glossy production, and immediate gratification might find its pacing too slow, its mood too muted. The EP’s strength lies precisely in its restraint — in accepting that some feelings don’t come wrapped up neat and loud.

And with only five tracks, Grand Epiphanies can feel more like a snapshot than a full portrait. Themes are introduced, emotional arcs hinted at, but not always resolved. The sense is less of closure and more of continuation. Which, in many ways, may be the point: life rarely offers tidy endings.

Still — if you’re open to being held in uncertainty for a little while; if you’re willing to sit with a guitar, a voice, and a few gentle chords — the EP offers something rare: a place to breathe.

Kim Ware and The Good Graces — still speaking, still feeling

In a musical climate often dominated by spectacle, loudness, and overstated sentiment, Grand Epiphanies stands out not because it demands attention, but because it deserves it. Kim Ware’s songwriting remains a gift: honest, gentle, unguarded, but never cloying or insincere. Backed by The Good Graces, she continues to prove that folk and indie rock can still speak to our messy, uncertain lives with clarity and heart.

For longtime listeners, the EP will feel like a meaningful evolution — a band maturing, growing more confident, more open to collaboration. For those just discovering Ware, it offers a doorway into a catalogue full of stories that don’t hide behind cliches or affectation. And for anyone longing for music that reflects rather than distracts, that comforts rather than commodifies — Grand Epiphanies is a small, glowing jewel.

In 2025, when the world often seems determined to overwhelm us with noise, Kim Ware and The Good Graces invite us to slow down, listen, and remember: we are not alone. We are human. We are trying. And maybe — just maybe — that’s enough.

REVIEW: Tercel 'Tercel'

[Repost from Swim Into the Sound; by Parker White, December 9, 2025]

After a handful of singles, splits, and regional shows, Wilmington, North Carolina’s Tercel have introduced themselves to the world with a self-titled EP - a rollicking, tight collection of five tracks that they’ve written and recorded over their first couple years as a band. It’s an exciting start that features a mix of early fan favorites and a couple more recent tracks that show off their chops as a band and introduce their unique flavor of indie rock to a wider audience.

Nostalgia is certainly at the core of what Tercel is doing on this project. They wear their 90s guitar influences on their sleeve but wield them in dynamic, exciting ways that dodge many of the typical labels (post-grunge, shoegaze, etc.) that are so often cited in the modern indie landscape. Their press materials list two dozen RIYL bands that span from Broken Social Scene to Japandroids to Sonic Youth to Sleater-Kinney to Yuck, and that’s a good way to describe Tercel’s synthesis of influences. They take tiny elements from a wide array of inspiration that date back decades, and the result is something that is at once nostalgic and timeless.

Every piece of the band sounds sharp, confident, and energetic, but the vocals are the standout. Savannah and Robin Wood share the mic gratuitously, but they share a similar emotionality and effort. On both the electrifying opener “Heron” and the second track “Decoder Ring,” the band borders on a yell as they aim to be heard loudly and clearly over Chris Vinopal’s buzzing guitars and Taylor Salvetti’s thundering drums. You could imagine a different band sounding discordant as they all play at 110%, but Tercel sound comfortable and in-sync, even at maximum effort.

The band’s clarity, energy, and unabashed effort harken back to an era where trying was cool, and frankly, that’s an attitude I think we could all stand to embrace. When Tercel decide to take that approach to their debut full-length, I’ll be lined up to listen.

Interview with Kim Ware and the Good Graces

[Repost from Aldora Britain Records; by Tom Hilton, October 11, 2025]

Some Guys Have All the Luck

Kim Ware and the Good Graces exist in the ear-candy space between timeless power pop and cosmically inclined Americana. This whimsical, mystical melting pot of sound forms the basis of their fantastic new record, Grand Epiphanies. Across five brilliantly crafted songs, Kim and her band snapshot their individual and relatable approach to songwriting and songcraft, allowing the space for stories to grow and connections to evolve. The set is pinned together with exceptional musicianship and creative camaraderie, unquestionably a hallmark for the Good Graces. And as the buzz and excitement surrounding Grand Epiphanies continues to gradually build, Kim sat down for a chat with Aldora Britain Records to reflect on her musical journey so far. We discussed formative creative memories from her adolescence, the beginnings and early days of the Good Graces, a selection of their recorded output to date, and much, much more. That exclusive in-depth conversation is published here in full for the very first time.

Aldora Britain Records: Hello Kim, how are you? I am excited to be talking with such a fantastic artist from over in North Carolina. It is amazing how music can bring us together. Let’s start off by travelling back in time. What are some of your earliest musical memories and what was it that first pushed you towards pursuing this passion of yours?

Kim Ware: Thank you! I'm good. Trying to keep it together, so much going on here in the States in regard to political and social turmoil. It's nice to have your questions as a distraction today. So, earliest musical memories, (this is really going to show my age!), are playing eight-track tapes, (yes!), in my 2XL. Gen X folks might be familiar with this, at least if they saw a picture. It's a little toy robot with an eight-track player in it, if I remember correctly it came with its own sort of educational tapes or you could also play music in it. The first eight-tracks I got were from my uncle and they were a ‘Greatest Hits’ collection by The Beatles. I remember specifically playing ‘Penny Lane’ over and over.

“I came to realise that I had the ability to take all the jumbled, messy thoughts spinning around in my head and make some sort of sense with them by putting them to song. That's always been amazing to me, how you can say so much in just three and a half minutes.”

Around that same time, I was maybe about seven or eight years old, I recall listening to my mom's 45s. My favourite was Nancy Sinatra's ‘The City Never Sleeps at Night’. I still love that song. It was songs such as these, pop songs with interesting lyrics and good melodies, for the most part, that first inspired me. It would be years before I'd pick up guitar and start writing my own songs, but it seems like I've always had little melodies in my head.

Aldora Britain Records: And now, let’s take a leap forward to the present day and a brilliant project of yours out of Kings Mountain. The beginnings of the Good Graces must have been an exciting, invigorating time. How did it all come to be? What was the initial spark? Is it an outlet for your solo musings or more of a collaborative kind of feel and approach?

Kim Ware: I'm a drummer, that was my first instrument. I got my first kit when I was sixteen, then joined a band while in college, in Wilmington, North Carolina. I've continued to play drums to this day, with only a few breaks here and there, mainly a few years ago due to the pandemic. 

In 2004 I moved to Atlanta and met a few songwriters, namely Jeff Evans and a couple years later Mary O. Harrison. I ended up joining both their bands for a while as a drummer. This was the first time I had played with singer-songwriters, and I became really interested in the craft of it. I was an English major in undergrad, so I think I've always been drawn to words and using them in some creative, artistic way. It's all kind of funny I guess, verbally I often feel challenged to say what I want to say clearly and concisely and feel like I'm understood. But I came to realise that I had the ability to take all the jumbled, messy thoughts spinning around in my head and make some sort of sense with them by putting them to song. That's always been amazing to me, how you can say so much in just three and a half minutes.

Aldora Britain Records: You are fresh from releasing an exceptional new record called Grand Epiphanies. This was also my introduction to your music, so it already holds a special place in my record collection. What are your memories from writing and recording these songs, and how would you say you grew and evolved as an artist throughout this process?

Kim Ware: Thank you so much, I'm glad you like it. Most of these songs were written a few years ago, with the exception of the cover, of course, ‘Some Guys Have All the Luck’. I tend to write songs when, kind of like I mentioned above, I'm struggling with making sense of something. I rarely write with much more intention than that really. It's all pretty organic, which is, to me, one of the most interesting parts about it. Almost like the song has always been there, I'm just in the right place and time for it to emerge, if that makes sense. 

I recorded the EP just up the road from where I live, at Union Recording Co. in Gastonia, North Carolina. I had seen a Facebook post from a musical acquaintance of mine, Justin Faircloth, about the studio, which he had just opened with Steven Fiore, who writes and releases songs under the name ‘Young Mister’. I thought it would be worth checking out due to its proximity to my house in Kings Mountain. Fast forward a few months, this was in early 2024, and we got to work on the songs. 

Making Grand Epiphanies was a different process for me, in that I pretty much gave Justin and Steven full rein over the production and arrangement of the songs. I quickly saw that they were just so good at it. I thought, this might be a good experiment in relinquishing control a bit. But also, at the time I was finishing up grad school and doing my internship which was incredibly challenging. I honestly didn't have much mental capacity left to do much more than bring the songs in on acoustic guitar, sing them, and then let them make them what they thought they should be. It was really neat to listen to them evolve, and Steven and Justin picked everything up so quickly, like they had known the songs all along. Observing that was very rewarding, to see someone so good at what they do treating my songs with so much thought and creativity.

“I tend to write songs when ... I'm struggling with making sense of something ... It's all pretty organic ... Almost like the song has always been there, I'm just in the right place and time for it to emerge, if that makes sense.”

Aldora Britain Records: I am definitely drawn in by your dynamic songwriting and songcraft. That initial foundation for the songs. How do you approach this part of your creative process? Are you drawn to specific themes or topics? Perhaps coming from more of a personal, observational, or even fictional perspective or point of view?

Kim Ware: Pretty much like I said above, very organically. I'm drawn to real life as art, always have been. From the more mundane, personal stuff, like that conversation you had with a friend that didn't quite go the way you would have intended, or that book you read that you can't stop thinking about, to the bigger, more universal stuff, like the sociopolitical conflict that's happening not only in my country but seemingly most everywhere, all of these things end up in my songwriting. I also tend to use songs to sort of pay tribute to people or places that had an impact on me. My dad passed away back in 2019 and as a result, and even leading up to, I must have five to ten ‘dad songs’. I reference my grandma from time to time too. I released an album in 2019 with lots of references to ‘home’, and this was before I even knew that the very next year I'd be moving back to my old hometown in North Carolina. It's so fascinating to me how songs do that sometimes, how even the songwriter might not realise what they're ‘about’ until years later.

Aldora Britain Records: Let’s get more specific with this now. I would like to focus on two personal favourites, ‘Wish I Would’ve Missed You’ and ‘Missed the Mark’. For each, what is the story behind the song, and can you remember the moment it came to be? Did anything in particular inspire them and what do they mean to you as the writer and performer of each?

Kim Ware: Ah, you like the sad ones! ‘Wish I Would've Missed You’ was simply an attempt at capturing a feeling. While some of it is somewhat autobiographical, I took a lot of creative liberties. It was written in January a few years ago, just after the winter holidays had concluded. I tend to get pretty sad during the winter, and that year was no different. I'm not a big fan of Christmas, in general, all the focus on spending money really irritates me, and I'm not particularly religious. But that particular holiday season, once it was over, I found myself really missing the visual part, the decorations. Like, literally missing how it seemed to serve as a mask of sorts, or a temporary distraction, from not only stress I was feeling personally but just the collective tension that's been present in our country for a while now. I found myself reflecting on that, which then probably led to more introspective thoughts about regret and grief and tried to put all that to song. I wanted it to also sort of have this 70s, sad, singer-songwriter sort of vibe.

‘Missed the Mark’ I wrote back around 2021 or ’22, I believe. It came to be thanks to someone in the ‘industry’ suggesting that I write some songs from a less personal perspective, less vulnerable. More third-person sort of thing. I thought about it, but something about that suggestion bothered me a little. I guess because I knew I had never purposely tried to write from any perspective. And I liked that, it had never felt forced or unnatural to me. So, I think I sort of doubled down on the vulnerability! I was thinking about imposter syndrome, so many creative types deal with it, and how all we really want is to be accepted, to feel like we belong. But for some, like me, even when we experience that belonging, we're afraid that there's some sort of catch, that the other shoe will drop somehow, and it'll be taken from us. It's something I've struggled with for a long time, and I guess I just wanted to try and be really honest about it.

“I was thinking about imposter syndrome, so many creative types deal with it, and how all we really want is to be accepted, to feel like we belong. But for some, like me, even when we experience that belonging, we're afraid that there's some sort of catch.”

Aldora Britain Records: I have been doing some crate-digging over on Bandcamp, leading me back to 2023’s Homely. This is another stellar snapshot of you as an artist. Thank you for the music! Let’s explore it in more depth. How do you reflect back on this record as a whole now, and is there anything that you would edit or change when looking back with the benefit of hindsight?

Kim Ware: This one is only available on Bandcamp so I'm so glad you found and mentioned it! I wanted something that was super stripped down, something that sounded more like my solo and duo performances. And I wanted it to be homemade. So, I recorded it myself, at home, and I mixed it as well. It was my first time doing that and it was definitely one of those experiences where I just jumped in and learned by doing. That was the intent, so it completely served its purpose. While I love hearing the full-band arrangements of my songs, it is really good to have this more stripped-down representation of what I do, for folks who might be into hearing the songs closer to how they originated.

Aldora Britain Records: As you well know by now, I love that Good Graces sound and your approach to making and creating music. That soulful and rootsy foundation that comes through. How would you say this style of yours came about, what goes into it for you, and who are some of your biggest influences and inspirations as an artist currently?

Kim Ware: Well, as a drummer, I think I've always had a very rhythmic approach to playing guitar. So that's definitely been there since the beginning, and I guess that's the more obvious answer. But something that I actually haven't ever really thought about until just now is how drums are traditionally background and foundational, which is also much more comfortable for me, as an introvert. So, I suppose approaching guitar more like a percussion instrument is a way for me to be more comfortable with being centre stage too. To this day, even though I've been writing songs on guitar since 2006, I feel far more comfortable, more ‘me’, when I'm playing the drums. All of that is to say that I guess songwriting, for me, is almost a way to explore that discomfort. To not run away from it. To accept it for what it is and know that it's still okay, even lean into it.

As far as influences, the 90s is a big one for me, stuff like Liz Phair, Juliana Hatfield, Tanya Donnelly. When I first heard the Indigo Girls, also back in the 90s, I really started to pay attention to and play around with vocal harmonies, even before I was a songwriter. I'll always be a fan of their songs, and them as people, and while my stuff is probably more akin to Amy's songs, I got to say Emily Saliers is about the best bridge writer out there. It took me years to even understand how to put bridges in my songs. Lucinda Williams is another big influence, but she's not big on bridges. I'm also a big fan of more recent Americana stuff like Kathleen Edwards, Lydia Loveless, Jaimee Harris, Neko Case, and indie artists like Courtney Barnett, Phoebe Bridgers, Waxahatchee, and MJ Lenderman. And I adore Rickie Lee Jones. I got to see her for the first time a few months ago and I'd go as far as saying it was lifechanging. 

My friends influence me a ton too. Writers like David Childers from nearby Mount Holly, Danielle Howle from the Charleston, South Carolina area. I used to listen to so much Danielle stuff in the early 2000s. Many years later we became friends which is a little wild to even grasp sometimes, given how important her 2002 album, Skorborealis was to me. I mentioned my friends Jeff and Mary O that I used to play with. They are both amazing songwriters from Atlanta. My friend Andy Gish, also from Atlanta, writes for a band called the Yum Yum Tree, they are wonderful. A guy named Jackson Harden from around Charlotte, he writes these beautiful, delicate, Elliott Smith-like tunes. Another friend Mike Nolan has such a pure, 90s-ish voice that I could listen to for days. My friend Wyatt Espalin, we've toured together a few times, he's amazing. Tracy Shedd, who has released records for Teen Beat and more recently the label that releases my music, Fort Lowell.

“I suppose approaching guitar more like a percussion instrument is a way for me to be more comfortable with being centre stage ... even though I've been writing songs on guitar since 2006, I feel far more comfortable, more ‘me’, when I'm playing the drums.”

And some of my friends out of the Chapel Hill area, like Jphono1, Erie Choir, Mayflies USA, Regina Hexaphone. An old friend named James Reardon from Wilmington, North Carolina, wrote some incredible songs in the early 2000s with his band Rodeo Boy. He was one of the first local songwriters I came to know who really had a knack for clever wordplay. My friend Chris Jackson from Greensboro and his old bands Lookwell and Citified, I'd just as soon listen to them as just about anything. I know that's a lot! But I could add even more. All these folks have influenced my writing in some way, I'm sure. And I'm not ashamed to admit my admiration of Taylor Swift. She's so prolific that some stuff I could do without, but I really loved 1989, Lover, and the Folklore / Evermore stuff. I like to think my music might be a hodgepodge of all those influences, and some are more evident than others depending on the song.

Aldora Britain Records: A broad question to finish. There have been a lot of changes in the world in the post-COVID era, both throughout society, with political turmoil and even bloodshed in Ukraine and Palestine, and within the music industry too, AI for example. How would you say these several years have impacted you, both personally and as an artist? How do you think this time has changed the music

industry, both for the good and the bad?

Kim Ware: The impact has been pretty profound, really, and will probably continue to be. If anything, I've become more grateful for music as an outlet. They haven't taken that from me yet. It's something I can go to any time I need it. More and more I just appreciate that part of it, almost at a very spiritual level. Like this is such an honest, real part of me that, when it works, can facilitate a connection with other people, and that is more important now than ever. I wasn't around in the 60s but I hear lots of folks comparing this time to then, and many even say this is worse, as far as the division, the fighting, the uncertainty.

Personally, I have a very collectivist mindset. When my community is hurting, I'm hurting. And while I may not agree with my neighbour down the street, we're still all connected. So, from that respect their wellbeing matters to me. As humans we are all in this together and unless we just hunker down and never leave our homes or interact with another human at all, we have to coexist with each other. So, each person's wellbeing really does affect how well, or not, our entire system operates. Currently, it needs a lot of help. It's scary and exhausting and affects nearly everything.

“I have a very collectivist mindset. When my community is hurting, I'm hurting. And while I may not agree with my neighbour down the street, we're still all connected. So, from that respect their wellbeing matters to me.”

I have never really considered myself part of the ‘industry’, but I guess I am. I mean you can find my music on outlets like Spotify and YouTube, so I'm part of the machine, albeit a teeny tiny part. I play drums in a punk and riot grrrl band, and we collaborate on the songwriting, each member contributing pretty equally. Some of that music is outwardly political in a way that is critical of the current administration. Heck, a few of my own songs are too. So that's an obvious way that the turmoil has affected my art. In regard to AI, honestly it scares me too.  I've never used ChatGPT and don't intend to. Even if something takes longer to make and has imperfections. That's what makes it real. We need that.

Quickfire Round

AB Records: Favourite artist or band? Kim: Lydia Loveless has been my favourite writer and singer for several years now because of how raw and real she is, so I'll go with her.

AB Records: Favourite album? Kim: That's tough! I have several desert island albums, but honestly, again, thinking about Lydia Loveless, when her album Real came out in 2016, I think I listened to it every single day for a solid year or so.

AB Records: First album you bought with your own money? Kim: Neon Nights, a various artists cassette of pop and dance hits from that time, around 1982.

AB Records: Last album you listened to from start to finish? Kim: Waxahatchee, Tigers Blood.

AB Records: First gig as an audience member? Kim: Huey Lewis and the News, Charlotte Coliseum, 1984. I think for the Sports tour.

AB Records: Loudest gig as an audience member? Kim: Probably Weedeater at some little bar during SXSW around 2008, but I was standing about two feet from them.

AB Records: Style icon? Kim: Not a single person but the SNL skit, ‘Forever 31: Styles for every color of the bummer rainbow’.

AB Records: Favourite film? Kim: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

AB Records: Favourite TV show? Kim: I'm revisiting The Office, American version, and it's so comforting. So, I'll go with that for now. I love ensemble casts, it's hard to top that one.

AB Records: Favourite up and coming artist or band? Kim: I mentioned MJ Lenderman in regard to influences, I really love his writing and the other acts that he's associated with too, Wednesday and Waxahatchee.

Single Premiere: Tercel - "Stuck" (Fort Lowell Records)

[Repost from Big Takeover; by Zack Fraser, November 24, 2025]

A storm is brewing in Wilmington’s indie scene, and Tercel is at the heart of it. Tracks such as “Heron” and “Typical” summon a tsunami of nostalgia via exaggerated vocal inflections, addictive guitar riffs, and raw tones. All are necessary ingredients for the cocktail that is true indie rock. The band embraces alternative culture by displaying vulnerability and rawness in both their lyricism and instrumentation.

Tercel transports the listener to a fonder time with its reverb-filled early 2000s flair while keeping in touch with modern themes, as seen in the lyricism of the song “Stuck.” Savannah Wood, the lead singer and bassist of the group, had this to say regarding the track: “Stuck is a reaction song about the world around us. A world that feels over, done, ruined, on fire. But it also makes us think if we can’t keep pretending everything is alright, are we going to do anything about it?”

December 5th marks the release date of Tercel’s self-titled indie rock EP, courtesy of Fort Lowell Records. Enjoy the World Premiere of Tercel’s song “Stuck” here with The Big Takeover.

Written by Zack Fraser

REVIEW: BBgail & Weston Smith - "if you let it"

[Repost from If It's Too Loud; by Ken Sears, November 14, 2025]

Lately I've been on this weird kick of wanting to listen to laid back but highly dance friendly electronic music, which is kind of a hard thing to look up. Luckily, BBgail has teamed with Weston Smith on "if you let it," which is exactly what I've been desiring. Big Takeover has described it as sounding like "... a Grimes and Kenny G collaboration," and I never knew how great that would sound. It's fun and highly vibey indie dance pop heavy on saxophone and synth, and I've been listening to "if you let it" on a possibly never-ending loop for an amount of time I'm embarrassed by, but this one is just so great. It's a perfect warm up for your weekend, while you're counting down the hours until you can leave.

You can watch the video for "if you let it" below. The single is out now on Fort Lowell Records. For more on BBgail, check out the artist on Instagram.

Wilmington band plays loud, pretty rockers with 'heavy words thrown lightly'

[Repost from StarNews; by John Staton, November 21, 2025]

Since emerging on the post-pandemic scene like a sleek gator coolly rising from the murky depths of Greenfield Lake, the melodic Wilmington punk rock act Tercel has become a beloved favorite of many a local music aficionado.

With a sound that can range from raucously rowdy to delicately introspective, the band's songs often use poetic lyrics to tackle subjects social, environmental and personal.

On Dec. 5, Tercel — which is Robin Wood on guitar and vocals, Savannah Wood on bass and vocals, Chris Vinopal on guitar and pedal steel, and Taylor Salvetti on drums — will release a self-titled, five-song EP on Wilmington's Fort Lowell Records that was recorded locally at Ian Millard’s Dogwood Studio. That same night, Tercel will play an album release show at public radio station WHQR's MC Erny Gallery.

Standout tracks include the bracing "Heron," which features Savannah Wood's razor-sharp vocals ("I could be your heron heroine") and Robin Wood's loping, punchy guitar work. "Decoder Ring" starts softly before building into Vinopal's otherworldly pedal steel wall of distortion, while lead single/duet "Stuck" has the Woods singing, "World's on fire and I'm not fine/ Can't keep pretending, not this time."

Robin Wood called Tercel "a band that loves louder, punk, aggressive music but also cares a lot about melodies and riffs." Or, as his wife Savannah Wood puts it, "We like to be loud and rock but also sound pretty."

Tercel formed in the late 2010s in a practice space above the old Finkelstein's music store downtown. Robin Wood grew up writing songs and playing in Wilmington bands, but Savannah "had never played before," she said. "I had never sung. I didn't think I had a singing voice."

She came up to the practice space from her old job around the corner at the Edge of Urge boutique "and I was handed a bass," she said. "Within a month we'd played our first show."

That was at a backyard party/house show on South Fourth Street in November 2019, but Tercel — which included Vinopal from the get-go, while Salvetti would join later — didn't get in too many gigs before the pandemic struck.

Once the lockdown eased, the band began rocking venues all over the area, including The Sandspur in Carolina Beach and the late, lamented Opera Room downtown.

Tercel will play anywhere, from the cozy confines of Luna Caffe's Tiny Caffe series to the main stage of the recent Port City Blitz music fest at Waterline Brewing, and they rarely play the same room twice.

Though the band wears its environmental activism on its record jacket — its (un)official mascot is an alligator screaming "Tercel!" designed by Wilmington artist Genna Collier — its songs don't come off as strident because of how the band wraps its stances into lyrics that deepen and personalize their message without sacrificing passion.

"Singing and lyric writing is its own form of poetry," Robin Wood said. "I grew up playing and writing music about how I feel while masking how I feel."

Savannah Wood, a Georgia native who's been in Wilmington for about nine years, said the band's drummer, Salvetti, describes their style as "heavy words thrown lightly," and that writing their songs is "a group effort. Robin and I might come in with an idea or a seed, but it grows in that room" where the band rehearses.

Singing about causes feels very personal to the band, "Especially environmental causes," Savannah Wood said. "It's who Robin is and it's who I've become by being with him. It's right there next to our hearts."

Many Wilmingtonians know Robin Wood's father, the environmentalist and conservationist Andy Wood, who used to record pithy, heartfelt commentaries for WHQR when Robin was growing up. So it'll be a bit of a full-circle moment for him when Tercel steps into the station to play its EP release show Dec. 5.

And while the band has played elsewhere, including in Raleigh at the Hopscotch Music Festival, "Us being a Wilmington band is very much a thing," Robin Wood said.

From playing Wilmington Earth Day at Long Leaf Park to rocking the recent Dram Jam music fest with other Wilmington acts at Dram Tree Tavern in Sunset Park, "2025 has been this year of, it still makes sense to be making music here."

Single Premiere: BBgail & Weston Smith - "if you let it" (Fort Lowell Records)

[Repost from Big Takeover; by Zack Fraser, November 7, 2025]

Arizonian natives BBgail and Weston Smith are excited to share their new single, “if you let it,” with the world. The new track, to be released on November 14 with an accompanying music video, will serve as the duo’s debut on Fort Lowell Records. BBgail and Smith’s fresh release displays a unique blend of electronic trance-inducing synths paired with an eloquent saxophone. The visual, featured here on The Big Takeover, feeds into the fanciful nature of the song with its candid and scenic shots.

Not every song has to be a lyrical masterclass that demonstrates adept storytelling or triple entendre; sometimes all one needs is a single line that encapsulates a meaningful message. That’s exactly what BBgail employs on the duo’s upcoming jazztronica-esque track. “Life only happens to you if you let it” is the single line that is repeated throughout the composition. She reveals that the lyric was conceived as a result of “…doing a lot of shadow work and tearing down walls that keep me from living a life that feels fruitful to me…” The Phoenix duo’s offering proves to be a gift that keeps on giving if one is willing to put in the effort and reflect on the deeper meanings within the art.

BBgail took to Germany to shoot footage for the music video. The visual is a testament to her many growing pains throughout life. She had something to say when asked about how fans should receive the artists’ music: “For so long I’ve struggled with what other people think of me, letting that dictate my day-to-day decisions. I’m finally starting to put into practice the art of living life for myself.” With this unfettered perspective in mind, what once might’ve been a compilation of memorable vacation moments now looks to be more of a proclamation of inner healing and personal development.

If you were ever curious as to what a Grimes and Kenny G collaboration would sound like, BBgail and Weston Smith have just the song for you.

Written by Zack Fraser

OUT NOW: Tercel 'Tercel' [Digital EP]

Tercel fans have long awaited the release of their self-titled EP. Stalwarts of the NC music scene, Tercel is composed of Savannah Wood and Robin Wood, forever workshopping jangley guitar parts in open tunings, Chris Vinopal on resonant beauty of the pedal steel or his 6 string bends that last forever, and Taylor Salvetti using the drums as a binder between indie-rock-wall-of-sound guitars and the lyricism to reflect the struggle of nature, existence, woman-hood, and finding one’s self through it all.

Drawing sonic inspiration from the 90’s and early 2000’s indie scene, Tercel camped out in Ian Millard’s Dogwood Studio, a Wilmington mainstay of the underground music scene. What came from those sessions was this EP. Most of the songs, like “Heron” and “Typical,” had only been played for crowds for close to two years. With fresher tracks, “Decoder Ring, “Strange Energy,” and “Stuck,” Tercel has entered a new phase of song creation. Still focusing their efforts on a pure wall of sound, the textures and dynamics have turned into anthemic indie hits that feel familiar. 

Tercel will remind you of your favorite band, the one you listened to that summer you were driving with the windows down at the turn of a season. The guitar leads, swathed in fuzz and reverb, will bury into your psyche. The lyricism, yearning for a brighter future, a cold swim, a world where women don’t live in fear, and when the sun comes up we greet it with open arms.

Tercel's new self-titled Digital EP is now available everywhere and anywhere.

LISTEN NOW

LET'S DANCE at The Underfront Co. in Wilmington NC on Saturday, December 6th

LET'S DANCE is a Vinyl DJ Night hosted by Fort Lowell Records, featuring a variety of music — Pop, Disco, Boogie, Indie, Hip-Hop, R&B, Electronic, etc. — including the latest hits and spanning the past five decades.  Dancing starts at 8:00pm and goes all night. A $5.00 cover charge will be collected at the door upon entry paid via Cash, Credit Card, Venmo, or CashApp.

Enjoy the Spotify Playlist we put together for you that provides a sample of what to expect: https://tinyurl.com/letsdanceplaylist

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE for December 6th

OUT NOW: BBgail & Weston Smith "if you let it" [Digital Single]

BBgail, a self-produced musical vagabond, and Weston Smith, a dungeon-crawling wizard never seen without his mighty saxophone and synth, are two young talents hailing from Phoenix, Arizona, who come bearing a gift in the form of their shimmering new single, “if you let it.” The duo’s track sees BBgail's ethereal vocals combine with Smith's soulful saxophone contributions. This creates a rich dichotomy atop the glitzy and hypnotizing instrumental. “if you let it” is an addicting taste of BBgail’s whimsical and boundary-pushing sound, which will leave the listener yearning for more.

BBgail & Weston Smith "if you let it" is available now as a digital single everywhere.

LISTEN HERE

LET'S DANCE at The Underfront Co. in Wilmington NC on Saturday, November 8th

LET'S DANCE is a Vinyl DJ Night hosted by Fort Lowell Records, featuring a variety of music — Pop, Disco, Boogie, Indie, Hip-Hop, R&B, Electronic, etc. — including the latest hits and spanning the past five decades. 

LET'S DANCE is held monthly at The Underfront Co. on the Saturday following every First Friday — AKA: RizzyBeats' Hip-Hop Fridays. Dancing starts at 8:00pm and goes all night. A $5.00 cover charge will be collected at the door upon entry paid via Cash, Credit Card, or Venmo.

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE for November 8th

LOW STOCK WARNING!

These following releases are all about to sell out, so if you wanted to grab a copy for your own personal vinyl record collection, now might be a good time to place an order:

• This Water is Life, Vol. III ft. Sheme of Gold + cydaddy
• This Water is Life, Vol. IV ft. Fuzz Jaxx + Tercel
• Female Gaze Tender Futures
• Forest Fallows Palisades
• Naïm Amor Stories
• Tracy Shedd The Carolinas
• Moyamoya Hawn