The Nude Party at the Codfish Hollow Barn -- August 26.
Saturday, August 26, 8 p.m.
Codfish Hollow Barn, 5013 288th Avenue, Maquoketa IA
Touring in support of their springtime release Rides On, a recording that No Depression deemed "thoughtful and wide-ranging, cohesive and tight" and that Glide magazine called "their strongest album yet," the indie folk-rockers of The Nudy Party headline an August 26 concert at Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn, their third and most recent song collection leading American Songwriter to state that "when the album is over, you’ll want to hit the repeat button."
Formed at North Carolina's Appalachian State University in 2012, The Nude Party is a six-piece outfit composed of vocalists Austin Brose (percussion), Alexander Castillo (bass), Shaun Couture (guitar), Patton Magee (guitar and harmonica), and Don Merrill (piano) alongside drummer Conor Mikita. (Jon “Catfish” Delorme also joins in as a live-show band member on pedal steel.) At the end of their freshman year, this group of friends moved into a lake house outside of town and began learning their respective instruments to jam on rudimentary riffs and their favorite garage-rock songs. The sextet quickly gained a following in Boone, North Carolina, often performing in the nude at a Boone party palace referred to as the “505 House”. The informal aggregation of friends melded to become a defined unit calling themselves simply The Nude Party.
Upon graduating from the university, the group hit the national-tour circuit and encountered Oakley Munson (of The Black Lips) when supporting his band The Shine Brothers. Munson offered to produce their debut EP, solidifying a long-term creative and personal bond with the musicians, and the Nude Party's Hot Tub EP led to an increasingly extensive touring schedule. Early support tours with Ron Gallo, Twen, Sunflower Bean, Charlie Megira, Black Lips, and The Mystery Lights resulted in higher-profile opportunities supporting King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Cold War Kids, Cherry Glazer, Insecure Men, The Murlocs, Broncho, and The Growlers.
Released in 2018, the Nudy Party's eponymous album debut received widespread critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone heralding it as "equal parts ‘I'm Waiting for the Man’ Velvet Underground and Exile on Main Street Stones," adding that it was "a flapping-in-the-breeze album that evokes Nuggets garage rock." And arriving two years later, sophomore effort Midnight Manor received praise for its development from the band's debut, particularly the evolution of Magee's songwriting to touch on more personal themes. DIY Magazine described the record as “dripping with exuberant charm," saying that "The Nude Party might throw back to the past, but there's clearly some very present ambition here, too."
The Nude Party headlines their Maquoketa engagement on August 26, admission to the 8 p.m. concert is $25, and tickets are available by visiting CodfishHollowBarnstormers.com.
