Indiana’s Murder by Death (formerly known as Little Joe Gould) layers the vocal sounds of an old saloon with the haunting strings of a Hungarian folk dance and the hard driving rhythms of pure rock ‘n’ roll, producing what Stuff magazine has called “lush, orchestrated songs,” somehow simultaneously reminiscent of Johnny Cash and Radiohead. Added to that thick and intriguing sound are a series of dark and ironic lyrics, combining the mood and tone of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds with the narrative force of The Decemberists or a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Ha Ha Tonka is a rock band from the Ozark region of Missouri. Their music has been described as a mixing of bluegrass and southern rock and a "marrying of influences as diverse as The Replacements, The Band, and Kings of Leon.

Linfinity melds sedate, stately art rock with primal rockabilly bounce, yielding a quirky sound once described as "John Cale meets Alan Vega." The New York-based collective was founded by lead singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and conceptualist Dylan Von Wagner, following the 2004 release of his one-man band debut effort Soundcheck to Carnagie Hall. Claiming to have written a full cycle of seven full-length albums collectively known as The Manual for Free Living, Von Wagner then put together a proper band, adding guitarists Matthew Katz-Bohen and Josh Collins, bassist Nick Hundley, and drummer Conor Brooke, along with guest musicians on keyboards, strings, and horns. An introductory EP, The Manual for Free Living: Installation, was self-released in 2006 and attracted the attention of the indie label Secretly Canadian Records, which signed Linfinity later that year. The label's first Linfinity release was 2007's Live at Marcata: Demos, a limited-edition vinyl release, followed one year later by the digital EP Songs of the Weeping Willow. Linfinity then returned to the studio with producer Josh Hager to begin recording sessions for another full-length effort.