SoundCloud Stories elevates artists’ creative journeys, spotlights vibrant music communities and gives a behind-the-scenes look at the defining sounds of today and tomorrow. Original content includes the Sound Advice interview series, exclusive track-by-track artist commentary on Voice Notes, and the Weekly Download playlist, which highlights essential scenes and groundbreaking artists.

David Allen started out singing in bars during his time as a construction worker living in North Dakota.  His style brings you back to the roots of country reminiscent of Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash.  No bullshit, just straight up good music out of the heart and through a glass of whiskey and a cigarette.

“I couldn’t overcome feeling I’d been dropped into the novel world of Cormac McCarthy’s gritty western fiction meets pure Southern Gothic. Lyrics are imbued with a straightforward clarity and darkness.  Melodies echo universal hard-scrabble characters and striking vistas….You can nearly feel the fading heart, the grieving, the loss, the warm fluids running across cold fingers.” -  Refueled Magazine

Formerly the singer & principle songwriter in the Minneapolis-base band Western Fifth, Ryan Holweger is currently embarking on a number of solo shows throughout the Midwest. Raised on country, informed by rock, and illuminated by Americana, his acoustic set takes you on a tour of heartache and redemption that invokes joy, admiration, and pain in equal intensity. While Western Fifth played their own brand of original alt-country songs with a certain heartfelt grit and literary nature, Ryan mixes in a number of covers, ranging from classic country favorites to obscure tunes from the world of indie-rock, and one long lost song that was written by his grandfather in 1947.

mixtapes and bootlegs from the archives of chicago duo THE HOOD INTERNET. listen to @aircredits, their band with @showyousuck

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