12.18.25

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We’re barrelling headfirst into the end of the year at this point, and you know what that means: Your favorite SLM staffers, writers, editors, and the like are looking forward to a much-appreciated holiday breather. Which is to say: This newsletter will be taking a break for the holidays, but we will return to our regularly scheduled programming with the January 8 edition. However, in the spirit of continuing to keep you informed about the goings-on in St. Louis’ music scene, we’ve got a bit of a format-buster for you this time around, with twice as many shows featured for your consideration below, in order to make up for the time that we’ll be out. Those include multiple record releases from some of the city’s top talent, a bevy of holiday traditions exclusive only to the Gateway City, and, of course, a benefit for Stray Rescue, because if there’s one thing you can count on the St. Louis music scene for, it’s to show up and show out for our four-legged friends. Read on as well for a deeper dive from the esteemed Christian Schaeffer on local jazz musicians and aficionados Peter Martin and Adam Maness centered their superb podcast, You’ll Hear It, which across more than 1,000 episodes has carefully dissected classic albums from across a range of jazz and jazz-adjacent genres, to fascinating effect. Lastly, allow me to wish you a “Happy Holidays!” to you and yours from your friendly SLM music team!

As always, we’d love to hear from you, so feel free to reply directly to this newsletter with any thoughts, questions, or story tips that you think should be on our radar.

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Sir Eddie C. Courtesy of the artist.

Critic's Picks

DECEMBER 19 | ATOMIC BY JAMO

Squint Record Release Show with Locked Shut, Volition, The Mall, The Chandelier Swing

Knock Down Drag Out: Fast-rising St. Louis post-hardcore act Squint proves that last year’s superb Big Hand LP was no fluke, as the band returns with a brand new six-song EP, Drag. Retaining the seamless blend of alt-rock, hardcore, and power pop influences that is by now the band’s calling card, Drag has already caught the attention of critics and fans alike, with both Stereogum and Brooklyn Vegan lavishing praise on standout track “Overslept.”

DECEMBER 19, 20, 21, 23 | DELMAR HALL

The 17th Annual Funky Butt Brass Band Holiday Brasstravaganza

Horny Holidays: The annual multi-day celebration that is The Funky Butt Brass Band’s Holiday Brasstravaganza overtakes Delmar Hall this week, bringing its booty-shaking brand of holiday cheer to the assembled faithful across no less than five performances, including early and late shows on December 20. Now in its 17th iteration, the high-energy event has become just as synonymous with the holiday season as sleigh bells and hot cocoa, and you can bet the group will have plenty of surprises on hand thanks to its deep bench of close collaborators in the St. Louis music community.

DECEMBER 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 26, 27 | THE PAGEANT

El Monstero

Dolls and Golliwogs: Speaking of holiday traditions, are there any so unique as that of El Monstero’s annual Pageant takeover? For more than two decades now, the St. Louis–based tribute act has somehow managed to make the music of Pink Floyd among that which is most associated with Christmas in the River City, by mounting annual several-day runs that frequently bring the storied venue to capacity multiple nights in a row, in a feat of classic rock holiday whimsy that could only have been born in KSHE Country.

DECEMBER 27 | ATOMIC BY JAMO

Sir Eddie C and Friends 4

Friends Like These: Belleville-born, St. Louis–based rapper Sir Eddie C’s approach to what he calls “regular people rap” has seen his star rise considerably in the years since he got his start, and nowhere is his evolution as an artist and the community he’s helped build more evident than at his annual Sir Eddie C and Friends holiday show. Now in its fourth iteration, the event serves as “St. Louis’ unofficial homecoming,” as it's described in promotional material, and comes each year sandwiched between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Of course, there’d be no “and Friends” element to the event’s moniker if he didn’t bring a few along for the ride, and this year sees fellow standout artists KVtheWriter and Christopher Lay taking the stage as well.

DECEMBER 27 | OFF BROADWAY

Maness Brothers Record Release Show with Irene Allen, Shitstorm

Kings of the Hill: It’s been a protracted period of quiet from the blues-rock stompers known as The Maness Brothers, as the normally hard-charging St. Louis duo saw their plans for world domination put on hold indefinitely by the COVID-19 pandemic. One year and hundreds of show cancellations across the world later, David and Jake Maness set up camp in engineer and producer Carl Nappa’s studio on The Hill and set out to record one song from start to finish per month for eight months in 2021. The resultant LP, appropriately dubbed Hill House, is finally due to see the light of day this month, with a December 27 release show alongside fellow St. Louis staples Shitstorm and Irene Allen.

DECEMBER 27 | HEAVY ANCHOR

Stray Rescue Benefit Cover Show

Dog Days: As seems to happen blessedly often in this town, St. Louis’ music community is banding together once again this month to lend their talents toward the noble cause of helping out our furry four-legged friends and neighbors. December 27’s Stray Rescue Benefit Cover Show will see several of St. Louis’ top acts paying tribute to the bands that inspired them, with members of Call Letters and Bunnygrunt performing as The Fall, Spent Film covering The Damned, Pleasure Center channelling The Cure (complete with stage makeup, we’re told), Breakmouth Annie performing as Mission of Burma, Beau Diamond Band as The Stooges, Mass Arrest as Rancid, and New Offenburg’s PFR as NOFX. Tickets are just $10, and all proceeds go to Stray Rescue St. Louis.

A MESSAGE FROM ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

A symphonic celebration of Dolly Parton’s greatest songs

Experience the heart and soul of an American icon in a multimedia symphonic journey through Dolly Parton’s life and music, featuring powerful new arrangements of her most beloved songs.

Get Tickets »

Newly Announced Shows

Trey Songz and Ashanti

🗓️ February 13 📍Chaifetz Arena
R&B superstars Trey Songz and Ashanti top a lineup that also includes Lloyd, K. Michelle, Plies, and Day 26 for the Valentine’s Mixtape tour, just in time for the holiday. Get tickets.

Gwar

🗓️ April 1 📍The Pageant
The universe’s premier Scumdogs, Gwar, bring their blood-soaked, over-the-top live show to the Pageant on April 1. Get tickets.

David Byrne

🗓️ April 28 and 29 📍Stifel Theatre
Talking Heads mastermind David Byrne comes to Stifel Theatre for a two-night stand supporting his latest solo album, Who Is the Sky?. Get tickets.

Check out the full concert calendar »

Peter Martin and Adam Maness, hosts of You'll Hear It

You like jazz?

With You’ll Hear It, Peter Martin and Adam Maness grow an online jazz empire

When Peter Martin and Adam Maness started the You’ll Hear It podcast seven years ago, they used their experience as top-flight jazz pianists to discuss the nuts and bolts of the genre, largely from a player’s perspective. But after more than 1,000 episodes, the show took on a new focus and a broader footprint; now, Martin and Maness choose a classic (or should-be classic) album to dissect each week.

On shuffle: Some episodes feature albums easily classifiable as jazz music, but many reflect the diaspora of what Grammy-winning trumpeter Nicholas Payton calls Black American Music, the blend of folk, gospel, soul, funk, and beyond. Recent episodes on works by Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, Steely Dan, and Marvin Gaye speak to this expanded approach. The show’s new season doubles down on the classic album approach, as Maness and Martin will tackle such heavyweight LPs as Thriller, Abbey Road, Blue, and more.

Open for business: You’ll Hear It serves, among other things, as a promotional tool for Open Studio, the online instructional jazz community that Martin co-founded. Maness serves as managing director; musicians Kaleb Kirby and Bob DeBoo have production and instructional roles as well. The service has grown over the past decade and boasts more than 50,000 members; jazz superstars including bassist Christian McBride and organist Larry Goldings have recorded lessons for the site. The weekly podcast offers very little instruction these days but serves as the public face of Open Studio.

Listen up: Martin sees the appeal of the show—and the pair’s continuing commitment—in simple terms, harkening back to the podcast’s genesis: two friends talking about something they love in an educational, enthusiastic, and invitational manner. The title itself serves as an open door: Listen along and you’ll hear it, too.