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Originally Published in The Buffalo News
March 20, 2019
By Toni Ruberto

The sixth annual Alternative Buffalo Kerfuffle returns to Canalside with a lineup of familiar musical friends and some new faces.

Walk the Moon, the Head & the Heart, Bishop Briggs, Catfish & the Bottlemen, Atlas Genius, Houses and Matt Maeson are set to perform at the daylong music festival June 21. Gates open at 2 p.m. with the show at 3:20 p.m. The all-ages event will be held rain or shine.

Tickets are $35 general admission and $50 for premium view, and they go on sale at 10 a.m. March 22 via alternativebuffalo.com. A limited number of VIP packages will be available. An #AltFamily pre-sale starts at 10 a.m. Thursday for Alternative Buffalo A-List members at alternativebuffalo.radio.com/list.

Here’s a look at the bands:

Walk the Moon catapulted to prominence with the catchy single “Shut Up and Dance,” a song that was downloaded more than 6 million times with 850 million streams. The Cincinnati band has earned two Billboard Music Awards.

The Head & the Heart is an indie folk band that formed out of open mic nights in Seattle. The band’s 2011 self-titled debut album became one of the best-selling debut releases for Sup Pop Records. The group’s fourth album, “Living Mirage,” is set for a May 17 release.

Bishop Briggs got her start singing in Japanese karaoke bars when she was just 4 and was writing songs by age 7. She had her first hit with “Wild Horses” and her song “River” is now an alternative radio staple. She’s working on her second album.

Catfish & the Bottlemen is a Welsh indie rock band that has been a big draw locally since playing a sold-out club gig at Studio @ the Waiting Room, followed by sold-out shows at Town Ballroom, an opening slot for Green Day at Darien Lake and a recent gig at the Rec Room.

Atlas Genius is an Australian alt-rock band led by brothers Keith and Michael Jeffery. The group’s breakout hit “Trojans,” heard in a 2013 episode of “Grey’s Anatomy,” earned a gold record.

Houses is the duo of Los Angeles-based songwriter and producer Dexter Tortoriello and singer Megan Messina. In 2018, Houses released its first new music in five years, “Drugstore Heaven.” The dynamically textured music, Tortoriello said, feels “very reflective of who I am really am.”

Matt Maeson is a singer and songwriter from Virginia whose debut album “Bank on the Funeral” is filled with his cathartic musical style of storytelling. “Songwriting’s always been very therapeutic for me,” Maeson said. “Wherever I’ve lived, there’s always been a secluded closet or bathroom where I could sing really loud and not bother anybody.”