7 Local musicians to watch in 2022
With names like John Mayer, The Carpenters, MGMT and Horace Silver, it’s undeniable that the Nutmeg State has produced some famous musical talent. However, deeply rooted in music scene of the state are budding new musicians that are beginning to make some noise throughout the music industry.
Whether you’re a fan of music that will zen you out, or are looking for someone new to add to your gym playlist, these seven Connecticut musicians are ones to keep your eyes and ears out for in the coming months as they are releasing new music and touring across the country.
Sammy Rae & The Friends
With sold-out shows from Boston to Los Angeles scheduled for 2022 and new music in tow, Sammy Rae & The Friends is producing soul music for the soul.
Lead by Derby’s Samantha Bowers, Sammy Rae & The Friends is an eightpiece indie soul band that features a rhythm section, horn section and background singers and dancers. Think Lake Street Dive meets Ripe.
Even Chris Evans, Captain America himself, is a fan; he posted a video of the band performing on his Facebook page.
After its breakthrough EP, “The Good Life,” dropped in 2018, Sammy Rae & The Friends has been touring its high-energy live show relentlessly. The band has already sold out a number of performances on its 2022 Follow Me Like the Moon tour.
Aside from its own shows, Sammy Rae & The Friends has also popped up on a number of music festival lineups this summer including the Summer Camp Music Festival in Illinois, Levitate Music Festival in Massachusetts and 4848 Festival in West Virginia.
The band dropped its first single of the year, “Follow Me Like the Moon,” on Jan. 14 — it’s first new piece of original music since last January.
Interested in catching them? Sammy Rae & The Friends will be performing its onlyscheduled Connecticut stop on its tour at Infinity Hall in Hartford on March 24.
Anxious
At a time where midwest emo (think: American Football) reigns supreme in the punk genre, Darien’s Anxious is rallying DIY hardcore punk back to the foreground with its proclivity for melodic riffs and emotionally provocative lyrical content.
Paying homage to modern punk heroes likes Knuckle Puck and Boston Manor, Anxious released its first single in 2019 and has been hitting the live concert scene with ferocity ever since.
The band members, some of whom are still under the age of 21, have achieved a lot in their young age, including signing to a record label, earning thousands of listeners on Spotify and playing shows around the country.
The group’s first album, “Little Green Houses,” dropped on Jan. 21 and judging by the first three songs, will fit into the Connecticut punk and hardcore scene that has produced the likes of Youth of Today, Icepick and Hatebreed.
As for touring, Anxious will be spending the beginning of the year opening up for Knuckle Puck and Hot Mulligan on their U.S. Tour.
OTS
Eddie Adei, Ray Quiet and Rey Mula from Off The Strength, also known as OTS, released their first single “Lot on my Mind” back in October 2021. The song was played on New York’s Hip-Hop station Hot 97 by DJ Enuff & the Heavy Hitter DJs.
Adei, Quiet and Mula started making and releasing music separately but thought as a group they would not only sound better, but accomplish more. According to the group, their music and voices are inspired by artists like Ye, Drake, The Weeknd and Majid Jordan, giving them a Rap/Hip-Hop and R&B sound.
They said they take personal experiences like heartbreak, love and struggles they have gone through, and use that as inspiration when creating their music.
For 2022, listeners can expect “new sound” as they are trying out different genres from deep house to 80s pop.
Eggy
If you’re looking for an up-and-coming jam band, it’s currently residing in Woodbridge.
Eggy, a four-piece jam band, has been cutting its teeth during the pandemic with new music, interactive content for fans and sell-out, COVID-cautious shows.
Taking notes from jam band titans like the Grateful Dead and Phish, Eggy also isn’t afraid to experiment with its plethora of influences, which is evident in their live covers, which range from Alan Menken’s “Beauty and the Beast” to Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s “Necessary Evil.”
The band has been testing out its latest batches of new material on the road during the past few months, and some of the recordings are available on the band’s new live album that was released on Dec. 28.
After a pair of hometown shows kick off its winter tour, Eggy will continue touring into the spring while playing with fellow jam band Dopapod. The tour will culminate with a highly-anticipated show at New York City’s Mercury Lounge.
As for the rest of 2022, Eggy is only gearing up with the promise of new music on the horizon as well as a growing legion of fans.
Caroline Polachek
Though Caroline Polachek has been making waves in the indie pop music scene since the late 2000s, she has quickly hit a new level of popularity coming out of the pandemic.
With the resurgence of her 2019 hit “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” via TikTok, Polachek is slowly becoming a household pop name. Currently, the song has amassed over 42 million streams on Spotify and over 49,100 videos on TikTok, as of Jan. 18.
If a hit song wasn’t enough, the Greenwich native is the opener for Dua Lipa’s sold-out Future Nostalgia tour and has even earned a spot of this year’s Coachella lineup.
If you can’t make it out to Coachella or the Dua Lipa tour, Polachek is also making a stop mid-tour to her old stomping grounds to play a one-off show at New Haven’s College Street Music Hall on Feb. 20.
Sammy Maximin
He’s a dad, model, actor and music artist.
Electronic dance music artist Sammy Maximin said it is fun juggling being a dad with work. “It has its moments but all helps the music at the end of the day as the pressure is off and [I] can just create,” he said. Maximin has been in the music game for 13 years now and is currently working on an album that will release in March.
In 2022, people can expect Maximin’s music to “resonate with them,” he said. His songs “Religion,” “Disappear” and “I Dont Want Your Love” have reached over 20,000 views together on YouTube.
One Time Weekend
Funk. Jam Band. Reggae.
Adam Eytan, Ben Sullivan, Zac Mulcahy and Ian D’Arcangelo have been hosting the multi-genre party that is the One Time Weekend since 2016, and it shows no signs of stopping.
The group has hit the ground running in 2022 with a string of local live shows, with a couple more coming up.
Speaking of their live shows, many of their songs can run over 10 minutes in a live setting — a way to showcase their proficiency with their instruments. Also, their cover choices can range anywhere between tunes like Eminem’s “Without Me” to Muse’s “Knights of Cydonia.”
In 2021, the group put out its latest live EP, “Broad Brook Unplugged,” which features a mix of original songs and covers.