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.

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.

Fort Lowell Records artists featured on Amazon Prime Series 'The Runarounds'

From the creator of Outer Banks (Netflix), Jonas Pate, comes a new YA series The Runarounds (Amazon Prime), which follows the formation of a band of five boys at the end of their senior year of high school in Wilmington, North Carolina.   

The show features music from three Fort Lowell Records artists:

• Kicking Bird
• Summer Set
• Kim Ware and the Good Graces

 EPISODE 1: 
“What Did You Expect (With Such a Beautiful Wife)” by Kicking Bird

 EPISODE 2: 
“Impermanent Assistant” by Kicking Bird


“Comfortable Town” by Summer Set

 EPISODE 4: 

“The Jetty” by Summer Set

“Lauren” by Kicking Bird

 EPISODE 5: 

“Names Are Changing” by Kicking Bird

 EPISODE 7: 

“Stopped Making Plans” by Kim Ware and the Good Graces



CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL LIST OF SONGS FOR ALL EPISODES

New EP: Kim Ware and the Good Graces || Grand Epiphanies

[Repost from Add to Wantlist; by Dennis, September 24, 2025]

Gifted songwriter bares her heart once again

Nearly twenty years after Kim Ware first picked up a beat-up guitar and started writing songs, the Good Graces return with the Grand Epiphanies EP, their tenth studio release—five folky indie pop tracks that wrestle with regret, resilience, and connection. We already knew the only cover, of Jeff Fortgang’s Some Guys Have All the Luck, from the 2023 Homely LP, but it returns here in a different version.

As always, the storytelling of the self-penned tracks is unsurpassed: “There’s a red bird just outside the door // I can’t say what he was sent here for // Maybe he is checking in on me // Bringing me a sense of freedom and serenity” (from Old/New). All those beautiful lines—sung heartfeltly—are framed in warm, full-band arrangements of guitar and piano. A fertile ground to emerge some unexpected truths.

The Grand Epiphanies EP, produced by Steven Fiore and Justin Faircloth, is out now digitally via Fort Lowell Records; a CD version is available through the band itself.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp (Fort Lowell) || Bandcamp (The Good Graces)

REVIEW: Kim Ware and the Good Graces – Grand Epiphanies

[Repost from The Shrieking Fox; by Ms. Fox, September 18, 2025]

Coming out on 9/23/2025 digitally, it’s the newest EP, “Grand Epiphanies.” And, yeah, holy shit, I’m in love. Take the best of jangle pop, add a twang, a dash of nostalgia, indie rock, and a smidgen of country, and you get this absolute dream of an EP. Like, yeah, it’s that good (like HELL YES!). There’s something so soothing about the vocals, and the lyrics are superbly crafted and straightforward. Need I mention that the cover of, “Some Guys Have All the Luck,” is hands down the best I’ve ever heard? Where has this record been all of my life? Where has this band been all of my life? They’ve been around since 2008, so I’ve got a back catalog to explore! Get into them!

https://fortlowell.bandcamp.com/album/grand-epiphanies

OUT NOW: Kim Ware and the Good Graces 'Grand Epiphanies' [Digital EP]

Kim Ware and the Good Graces — who have shared the stage with artists such as Indigo Girls, Sierra Ferrell, and The Love Language — have released their tenth studio offering titled Grand Epiphanies [Digital EP] and it is available today everywhere and anywhere!

LISTEN NOW

REVIEW: Kim Ware and the Good Graces "Missed the Mark"

[Repost from If It's Too Loud; by Ken Sears, September 12, 2025]

Kim Ware started off as a punk drummer, and started the Good Graces after purchasing a beat up acoustic guitar in 2006. Her latest single, "Missed the Mark," is a laid back singer-songwriter track with a gentle country lilt. It has some of that 90's mainstream alt-rock sound from artists like Liz Phair and Lisa Loeb, and doesn't shy away from its country side at all. It's also the perfect song for this time of year, where summer isn't quite ready to die and fall is slowly asserting itself. "Missed the Mark" is also the kind of song that you end up loving more with every listen, as a simple song starts revealing more of itself to you with repeated listens.

You can watch the video for "Missed the Mark" below. Grand Epiphanies is due out September 23 on Fort Lowell Records, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp. For more on Kim Ware and the Good Graces, check out the artist's website.

Will an Amazon Prime Video show provide a needed spotlight for Wilmington music?

The Runarounds

[Repost from StarNews Online; by John Station, March 24, 2025]

For decades, Wilmington's music scene, while vibrant, has rocked out in relative obscurity.

Even as venues like Live Oak Bank Pavilion and Greenfield Lake Amphitheatre have brought more big-name touring acts to town in recent years than ever before, for the most part Wilmington bands have struggled to gain much notice outside the Port City.

It's not for lack of talent or productivity, as one could easily create an hours-long Spotify playlist using only the best songs of Wilmington artists.

But with a Wilmington-shot TV series, "The Runarounds" — about a young band with an infectiously jangly sound trying to make it big — set to hit the Amazon Prime Video streaming service later this year, many have high hopes that the Wilmington scene could soon have something it's long lacked: lots and lots of attention.

Wilmington has had hit TV shows before, from "Dawson's Creek" to "The Summer I Turned Pretty," and fans still come to town to visit the place "One Tree Hill" was made. And while no one knows for sure whether "The Runarounds," will be a hit with viewers — it hasn't yet been given a release date more specific than "2025" — the signs are encouraging.

For one, show creator Jonas Pate, who lives in Wilmington and whose daughter, Lilah Pate, is one of the stars of "The Runarounds," has a proven track record with his Netflix mega-smash "Outer Banks," which will air its fifth and final season in 2026.

Pate said "The Runarounds" will feature music by Wilmington bands in the show and on its all-important soundtrack and playlists.

Veteran Wilmington indie rock band Summer Set, along with the poppy rock act Kicking Bird, both of whom have albums out on Wilmington's Fort Lowell Records, will have multiple songs on the show, Pate said.

Other Wilmington acts with music in "The Runarounds" include Tres Altman and indie-folk band The Paper Stars, and Max Agee of Wilmington band Lawn Enforcement and Wilmington's Suck Rock Records, something Agee called "a nice bit of validation."

Also with a song in the show is former Wilmington musician Kim Ware, who records for Fort Lowell.

The Runarounds have gigged at several Wilmington venues in the past couple of years — the band consists of William Lipton, Axel Ellis, Zende Murdock, Jesse Golliher, and Jeremy Yun — and they played an event for Amazon Prime Video on March 7 at the taste-making South by Southwest festival in Austin. Lilah Pate was there cheering them on.

They have a slot at Charlotte's massive Lovin' Life Music Fest May 3, and their next Wilmington gig is May 17 at Greenfield Lake Amphitheater with another young rock band, The Stews.

Perhaps most important for Wilmington's music scene, however, not only will "The Runarounds" feature lots of Wilmington locations and some Wilmington-born songs, but its setting isn't some fictional place like Tree Hill, Capeside or Cousins Beach but Wilmington itself.

That's key, said Robin Wood of beloved Wilmington punk rock act Tercel, because "not only does it represent the Wilmington scene visually, but it puts the whole idea that there's a music scene in Wilmington out there on the screen."

With multiple talented bands packing out Wilmington rooms on a regular basis, from midtown rock club Reggie's to Fifth Avenue juke joint The Rusty Nail, "There's something to shine a light on," said Tercel singer Savannah Wood. "We have fans. There's an audience that wants music and is willing to go out and pay money to see it."

Robin Wood did some work on "The Runarounds" via Wilmington production company Lighthouse Films, whose founder, Brad Walker, is the show's director of photography. Tercel pedal steel player Chris Vinopal also works for Lighthouse (a pedal steel player in a punk band? Only in Wilmington), and Savannah Wood had worked with some of "The Runarounds" costumers on another locally shot show, "The Summer I Turned Pretty."

All those connections helped the band land one of their distinctive T-shirts — with an alligator screaming "Tercel!" — on Runarounds band member Jeremy Yun during a scene on the show's upcoming first season, Robin Wood said.

It might seem like a small thing for a band to have a T-shirt, or even a song, featured on a TV show. Then again, every little bit of attention can add up, especially if "The Runarounds" attracts an audience similar to the millions worldwide who watched Pate's show "Outer Banks."

"We're on the cusp," said Altman, of Wilmington band The Paper Stars. "Once the show hits, those playlists get a lot of views, and people are going to want to learn more about those bands."

Wilmington DJ and producer RizzyBeats is a regular presence at shows and behind the counter at Castle Street's Gravity Records, and has released music with Fort Lowell.

"Anything on a national scale that will keep Wilmington’s name in people’s minds will be helpful," he said. "The scene here is very vibrant with a ton of incredibly talented individuals that could rival any big city, in my opinion. There are a lot of creators here that are producing quality music."

Sean Thomas Gerard is a 15-year veteran of the Wilmington scene both as solo artist (he has a gorgeous 2021 album, "Finally Found a Paradise," on Fort Lowell Records) and with his previous band, Onward, Soldiers.

"It's crazy to me the scene here doesn't get more attention," Gerard said. "It's as good as anywhere. Maybe not as many bands as the bigger markets, but there's something for everybody. You just gotta look for it."

In 2012, Gerard was featured playing one of his songs on "One Tree Hill," and his band Onward, Soldiers' song "Stick to Your Guns" was used to score a key scene on the show.

"It still gets tons of streams. It's kind of been the gift that keeps on giving," he said. "It just shows the potential of what a TV show can do for a town, or for a scene."

Notes on a scene

"Potential" is probably a good word for what Wilmington's music scene possesses.

More attention could only help a young Wilmington band like the poppy rock act Fudge, which packs out Reggie's on a regular basis and scored a slot at Charlotte's Lovin' Life Music Fest in May, joining The Runarounds as the only other Wilmington act on the bill alongside such acts as The Dave Matthews Band, Weezer, Gwen Stefani and Ludacris.

"It's pretty exciting" that the show could give a boost to the Wilmington music scene, said Fudge's singer, Patrick Riesmeyer. "There are so many bands right now. The original music scene is really growing."

Fudge is an independent band, and while they've made certain inroads, Riesmeyer said, like scoring steady gigs playing college fraternity parties around the state, they spend a lot of time marketing themselves on social media and elsewhere. A hit show about a band from Wilmington could potentially make that easier for a group like Fudge, even if they're not directly involved with "The Runarounds."

It's not like no bands have ever broken out of Wilmington. Hard rock acts like ASG, He Is Legend and Weedeater have fans all over the world, while indie rock acts like The Rosebuds and The Love Language started in Wilmington before going on to sign with Merge Records. Tercel and Wilmington post-punk trio Exercise played the esteemed Hopscotch Festival in Raleigh this year.

Some say the Wilmington scene is already better than it gets credit for.

"We're spoiled. A lot of people take it for granted," said Delia Stanley, a Wilmington singer who can be found playing covers and originals at venues around town. "I'm an old punk rocker, so, the way I look at it, once everybody knows about something," the scene will inevitably change, and not necessarily for the better.

Others aren't certain that the Wilmington scene, vibrant as it is, is ready for prime time.

"There's definitely talent," said Altman, of The Paper Stars. "But something's missing."

One thing that's missing, Altman said, is a midsize indoor venue that could host both local and touring acts year-round. Right now, most Wilmington venues that host concerts are either big and/or outdoors, like Greenfield Lake (1,200) and Live Oak (7,200), or much more intimate, like Reggie's, Bourgie Nights downtown or The Palm Room at Wrightsville Beach, all of which hold 200 or less.

Notable exceptions might be the Brooklyn Arts Center, which hosts more events and weddings than it does concerts, and Bowstring Burgers & Brewyard on Princess Street, which has made inroads booking touring jam and tribute bands.

"We're lacking a serious indoor venue," said Altman, who cut his musical teeth on the scenes in Denver and Boulder, Colorado, before moving here about 15 years. "We need a Fox Theatre," like the one in Boulder, which has a capacity of about 625 and regularly hosts both local and touring acts.

Altman said he'd also like to see better promotion of Wilmington music locally; some kind of big annual music festival with a mix of local bands and touring acts; and more Wilmington bands as openers at Live Nation-run venues Greenfield Lake and Live Oak.

Local acts only rarely get to open for touring bands in Wilmington, but when they do it provides a boost. When The Paper Stars opened for St. Paul and The Broken Bones at Greenfield Lake, "We sold some records, got some social media hits," Altman said. "It lasted like two weeks, then it's over.

"There is a recognizable music thing happening in this town, but it needs some cohesion," he added. "Maybe 'The Runarounds' would be a unifying force, but if there's not a tangible brick and mortar place, that momentum will also be lost."

Wilmington DJ and producer Rizzy Beats echoed Altman's call for "more music-centric and music-focused venues for the artists to build their brand and following."

"Wilmington’s best strength has always been its tenacity, making lemonade out of lemons," he added, noting how the Wilmington scene has faced adversity in losing multiple venues over the past 10 to 15 years, including the legendary Soapbox in 2013. "But there are still so many musicians, artists and DJs here. We’ve got artists representing jazz, hip-hop, folk, rock, metal, punk and so much more. And they’re producing original material at a high level."

This time next year, if "The Runarounds" ends up being a spotlight for Wilmington music, it could be that a lot more people will be listening.