Rich Howells

SONG PREMIERE: Scranton indie folk band Sweetnest takes time to ‘Heal’ hearts and minds

SONG PREMIERE: Scranton indie folk band Sweetnest takes time to ‘Heal’ hearts and minds

Everyone needs time to heal. For Sweetnest, it has been over three and a half years. The indie folk duo of vocalist/ukulele player Amanda Rogan and guitarist Matt Malone has continued writing music since the release of their split EP with fellow Scranton band A Fire With Friends in early 2020, but the same struggles […]

 Rich Howells

VIDEO PREMIERE: Scranton indie rock pirates Esta Coda ride the friendly seas of ‘Happenstance’

VIDEO PREMIERE: Scranton indie rock pirates Esta Coda ride the friendly seas of ‘Happenstance’

When talking to Esta Coda about their band, songwriting, live shows, or just life in general, the theme that keeps coming up again and again is “friendship.” It’s the force that motivates them, surrounds them, flows through them, and binds them together, to roughly paraphrase a friendly Jedi. It’s key to the longevity of the […]

 Rich Howells

SONG PREMIERE: After ‘The Voice,’ Clarks Summit singer Alyssa Lazar reflects with ‘Dear Universe’

SONG PREMIERE: After ‘The Voice,’ Clarks Summit singer Alyssa Lazar reflects with ‘Dear Universe’

In so many movies, there is a scene when the protagonist has reached a crossroads, hesitating before their next move. Troubled and unsure of themselves, they look up to the sky, picturing something beyond the stars – a higher power, a mentor, or anything else that could guide them – and cry out for an […]

 James Callahan

VIDEO PREMIERE: Elvis Aron Deadly hauntingly laments ‘I Wish I Believed (In Fairy Tales)’

VIDEO PREMIERE: Elvis Aron Deadly hauntingly laments ‘I Wish I Believed (In Fairy Tales)’

Anyone who has listened to a horror punk band may assume they know what they’re going to hear next from All the Damn Vampires frontman Elvis Aron Deadly, but this freshman solo effort from the Wilkes-Barre singer, titled “I Wish I Believed (In Fairy Tales),” is a personal, revealing step away from the genre for […]

 Rich Howells

VIDEO PREMIERE: Death Valley Dreams embrace Noir to ‘Feel This No More’ before Cold tour

VIDEO PREMIERE: Death Valley Dreams embrace Noir to ‘Feel This No More’ before Cold tour

After five years, Death Valley Dreams is feeling something again. Based in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, the indie/new wave/alternative rock band is back to release new music ahead of their return to the live stage – and their biggest tour yet. Filmed by Chad Bonk and premiering today exclusively on NEPA Scene, the neon-bathed music video […]

 James Callahan

VIDEO PREMIERE: Markus A. D. croons haunting doo-wop heartache over ‘Ms. Sery’

VIDEO PREMIERE: Markus A. D. croons haunting doo-wop heartache over ‘Ms. Sery’

Late last year, the Camp Rattler crew helped Wilkes-Barre singer/songwriter and Plains native Markus A. D. debut a moody little folk punk ballad called “Sharing a Breath” on this page, and today we’re back with a new emotional number called “Ms. Sery,” recorded at JL Studios in Olyphant. For the accompanying black-and-white music video, I’ll […]

 James Callahan

VIDEO PREMIERE: Old school Easton punk rockers El Destructo reignite with ‘Live That Way’

VIDEO PREMIERE: Old school Easton punk rockers El Destructo reignite with ‘Live That Way’

An Irish 17th-century folk song passed down through the centuries from campfire to campfire, later to The Dubliners, then to the Thin Lizzy boys in 1963, and eventually found “her” way to metal chieftains Metallica, quips the following: “Now some men like a fishin’ And some men like the fowlin’ And some men like to […]

 Rich Howells

SONG PREMIERE: Scranton hard rock band The Holtzmann Effect leaves impact with ‘Asteroid’

SONG PREMIERE: Scranton hard rock band The Holtzmann Effect leaves impact with ‘Asteroid’

Ever since they debuted at the NEPA Scene Open Mic in the spring of 2018, The Holtzmann Effect has emerged as a natural force to be reckoned with in the Northeastern Pennsylvania music scene. The Scranton-based hard rock band – consisting of vocalist/guitarist Tyler “Beef” Zeiss, drummer Cody Sibio, guitarist Tyler Salak, and bassist Grant […]

 Rich Howells

VIDEO PREMIERE: Scranton alt rock band University Drive lines up together for ‘Execution’

VIDEO PREMIERE: Scranton alt rock band University Drive lines up together for ‘Execution’

Anyone who has seen University Drive knows what a tight band they are, and behind the scenes, the group has become even tighter. Since premiering their first-ever music video on NEPA Scene last October, the Scranton-based alternative rockers have continually rehearsed while playing only a select few shows as they plan to announce something big […]

 Rich Howells

EP PREMIERE: Wilkes-Barre thrash metal band Cruel Bomb drops ‘Man Made’ destruction

EP PREMIERE: Wilkes-Barre thrash metal band Cruel Bomb drops ‘Man Made’ destruction

Much like the destructive weapon they are named after, Cruel Bomb packs a lot into a little package. The Wilkes-Barre band’s new EP, “Man Made,” has only five tracks, but it contains all the fierce firepower of a full album of old school trash metal with only three members – vocalist/guitarist Brandon James, bassist Kennie […]