I married the love of my life on August 1st.
That's the big news. We're on a party boat this week — floating somewhere on the water with the people we love most, doing absolutely nothing productive. I wouldn't trade it for a single one of the gigs I'm missing.
There's something worth saying here, because this newsletter is about music, and music is about the same things marriage is about: showing up fully, being present, making something real with other people. The reason I stepped away for these two weeks is the same reason any of us make art. Connection. Commitment. Something that actually matters.
MRC doesn't stop, of course. July was an incredibly busy month — Jose Moreno, John Riziki, and Fern Spores all came out to Mount Si and recorded, and all three sessions are now published and live on the channel. I'm genuinely grateful for each of them. The mountain barely had time to breathe before the month closed out with a wedding.
We'll be back at full speed shortly. In the meantime, keep making music.
— Kyle
Three days of live music in our own backyard — and two Si Sessions alumni are on the lineup. Sheyenne Leonard and Albuquerque Press are both playing Friday night’s Downtown Music Crawl.
★ PNW dates
Tickets & details ↗* Aug 9: Joining the Bishop Funk Band
Got shows coming up? Hit reply and I'll add them to the next issue.
Jose Moreno, John Riziki, and Fern Spores all filmed at Mount Si this month — all three sessions are now live on the channel.
Flamenco fire. Two masters in conversation.
Rhythm and groove, rooted in tradition.
Just the box and the hands. Everything you need.
An original — Seattle via Accra.
A cover done with real feeling.
Hard to categorize, impossible to forget.
Exactly what it sounds like.
More in the archive:
Watch All Si SessionsBandcamp drew a line on AI music — and it matters.
In January 2026, Bandcamp officially banned music "generated wholly or in substantial part by AI." It's one of the clearest policy stances any major platform has taken, and it signals where audiences who care about authentic music are gravitating. Bandcamp paid out $218 million directly to musicians in 2025, leaving artists about 82% net after fees.
Independent artists now earn nearly half of all Spotify royalties.
Spotify paid more than $11 billion to the music industry last year, with roughly half flowing to independent artists and labels — not the majors. Independent labels now hold 44% of US recorded-music market share. The infrastructure is real and growing.
Songwriters got a raise in 2026.
As of January 1, songwriters and music publishers receive 15.3% of US streaming service revenue — up from 14.55% the prior year. Small percentage, massive pool.
The direct-to-fan model is winning.
The clearest trend across the industry this year: artists with trust-based relationships in specific communities are outperforming artists chasing algorithmic placement. This is why MRC exists.
Femme folk-rock out of Olympia — psych, garage, Americana, and something that defies easy categorization
Fern Spores just published their Si Session at Mount Si, and if you haven't heard them yet, now is a good time to get familiar. They're a femme-folk-rock band rooted in Olympia: vintage psych folk, garage rock, careful covers, and soulful Americana — with a sound that's genuinely hard to pin down and easy to love.
Their session is live on the channel this month. This is exactly the kind of band MRC exists to support — thoughtful, original, deeply Pacific Northwest, doing it the right way.
Go find their music. Go watch the session.
The MRC Gig Map is at 150+ PNW venues and growing. If you've played somewhere great lately that isn't on the map — or know of a room worth adding — hit reply. Local knowledge is how this thing actually gets better.
Open the Gig Map