R. Ring will release a handmade, limited-edition CD at Omega Music in Dayton, OH for Record Store Day 2012. RSD is tomorrow – Saturday, April 21. R. Ring will play live at Omega Music alongside Buffalo Killers, Mitch Mitchell’s Terrifying Experience, and many more.

We have included both songs on the R. Ring RSD CD for you to listen to here. Check out “Scary” and “Steam” and head to Omega Music tomorrow – 318 E. Fifth St. Dayton, OH.

Our beloved R. Ring – featuring The Breeders’ Kelley Deal & Ampline’s Mike Montgomery – will be opening for slowcore legends Low in Cincinnati this Wednesday, April 18 @ The Taft Theater. Check it out and buy tickets. We’ll have some wonderful record store day news on the band here soon.

The press continues to love on Water Liars. The two-piece band released their debut album just weeks ago and it’s seen wonderful praise from NPR, Paste, The Onion A.V. Club, VICE, Daytrotter, and so many more. Here are three new pieces. That interview with Chris Mateer of Uprooted Music Revue and No Depression is quite in-depth and intriguing.

No Depression//Uprooted Music Revue Interview
Blurt Review
KMUW (Wichita) Strange Currency Session

Misra manager Leo DeLuca is now writing for Donewaiting. The Ohio-based music blog just celebrated its 9-year anniversary (with Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments and Bill Fox, no less) and continues to gain momentum with each passing year.

The Black Swans and Southeast Engine are both featured on the recent release of Sunshine Off the Tracks: A Benefit Compilation for Gems. The comp features Nat Baldwin (Dirty Projectors) and artists from K, Domino, Western Vinyl, and more. It was released by our good friend David Pokrivnak of Wild Kindness Records to help GEMS – a New York-based organization designed to serve females, ages 12-24, who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking.

Misra Manager Leo DeLuca wrote the press release for Sunshine, which you can read here:

Sunshine Off the Tracks: A Benefit for GEMS – Press Release:

On March 31, 2012 Wild Kindness Records will release Sunshine Off the Tracks: A Benefit for GEMS. Girls Educational & Mentoring Services (GEMS) is a New York-based organization designed to serve females, ages 12-24, who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. GEMS’ mission is to empower girls and young women to exit the commercial sex industry and develop their full potential. Sunshine Off the Tracks features contributions from a wide array of independent musicians and record labels.

The idea for a benefit compilation was first conceived when members of the Wild Kindness team viewed Very Young Girls – a documentary detailing the atrocities of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. Deeply moved by the film, and surrounded by a community of talented artists, the WK team decided to cull a songset to benefit the cause. Envisioning it to be solely released by Wild Kindness, this notion quickly changed when artists and labels across the country began to show great response and an eagerness to contribute.

Sunshine Off the Tracks is one small way to spread the message of GEMS and work toward ending the commercial sex industry. Wild Kindness would like to extend its sincere gratitude to GEMS, the many artists and labels who contributed to the cause, and those who show their support through the purchase of this album. Thank you.

Bears — the Cleveland/Chicago-based indie pop band comprised of Craig Ramsey and Charlie McArther (Misra’s web designer) — were on NPR Song of the Day. Check it out in all its radiant glory. Bears’ most recent album Greater Lakes was released on Valentine’s Day and distributed by Misra and our sister label Bloodshot Records.

The band will also play two rare shows:

CHICAGO
Schubas
Friday, 4/20

CLEVELAND
Frankies Inner City
Saturday, 4/21

Shearwater stopped in to do an NPR Tiny Desk Concert. NPR call it “a glorious four-song set that’s at once pristine and ramshackle — equal parts clarity and clatter — not to mention one of our best Tiny Desk Concerts yet.”

You can view it here and pick up Misra’s reissue of Shearwater’s Winged Life here. Thanks!

Paste Magazine just compiled their list of “10 Missouri Bands You Should Listen To Now.” Lo & behold, the boys of Water Liars made it on there, alongside a streaming of the song “$100.” Check out the piece here.

Oh, Holy Night! Listen to Kelley Deal’s voice in this live video of R. Ring performing “$100 Heat.” The video was taken at a super secret Misra Records show in the basement of the Texas state capital during SXSW. Be on the lookout for more R. Ring videos from the event, along with videos featuring The Black Swans, Southeast Engine, and Water Liars.

We are happier than Grandma Moses at the art supply store to announce that Misra’s Southeast Engine will be playing the Pickathon Music Festival in Happy Valley, Oregon this year. They will join a lineup that includes Neko Case, Dr. Dog, Blitzen Trapper, and Misra labelmates Phosphorescent.