Created by Justin and Conor Oberst (a.k.a. Bright Eyes), Saddle Creek grew from a simple tape-releasing effort to a full blown record label featuring Omaha, Nebraska's finest with artists like Bright Eyes and The Faint. Recently the roster has grown to include Athens, Georgia's Azure Ray and Now It's Overhead, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina's Sorry About Dresden.
Azure Ray
If you waited all night for the sunrise only to be thwarted with a sweet and warm summer rain at dawn, your simultaneous sense of serenity and despair would be much like listening to this graceful female duet.
Bright Eyes
Bright Eyes is the expressive and passionate pen name of one Connor Oberst. His frail and energetic voice and indie folk musings produce a tapestry of youthful angst.
Cursive
An excellent Nebraska quintet with tangled, dissonant, guitar-driven sound and a lot of pain. Hard and loud, but often quite beautiful in a twisted, frantic way.
Desaparecidos
Bright Eyes without the quiet side or something entirely new? You decide. Either way, Desaparecidos comes kicking and screaming to you, straight from Omaha.
The Faint
The Faint take the essense of New Wave and a hint of 80's synthesized flare and infuse it into a modern sound and style that is as harsh as it is fun.
Mayday
The new vehicle for Ted Stevens of Lullaby for the Working Class, Mayday features members of Azure Ray, Now It's Overhead, Cursive, and Bright Eyes. The ensemble offers gently lilting compositions that merge a quiet spoken simplicity with powerful emotional underpinnings.
Now It's Overhead
Featuring members of Azure Ray and the Athens/Omaha indie rock diaspora, Now It's Overhead has hit on a tuneful kind of space rock that could be the new sound of Georgia.
Rilo Kiley
This L.A. quartet blends a strong helping of indie rock with a dash of
country. The balance is damn near perfect, with wonderful songwriting,
beatific vocals, and superb instrumentation.
