Happy Monday! Hope you had an amazin’ weekend! We kickoff the first day of the week with Lexi Ziccardi from WEDG (103.3 The Edge)/Buffalo sharing her fun stories on #HAPPENS Famous Firsts.

Fontaines D.C. “It’s Amazing To Be Young” is the #1 Most Picked song on Alternative Picks this week. The band’s new single is buzzing at Alternative and lands a big chart debut inside the Top 30 this week.

The Lumineers “Same Old Song” is your #1 song this week on the Mediabase Alternative Chart. Congrats to Dualtone’s Julie Muncy, Dana Murray & The Lumineers team!

There are 2 new songs on the Mediabase Alternative Chart this week: Fontaines D.C. “It’s Amazing To Be Young” lands the highest chart debut at 29* and Green Day “One Eyed Bastard” debuts at 37*.

Alternative New Music Discovery #HAPPENS with Slow Joy “Gruesome” and Circa Waves “Let’s Leave Together.” Both songs have a heavy backstory. They are now available for airplay on the Happens.vip Alternative Downloads page. I have their new singles queued up for you to listen, download and get song info below. 

Sophia John at KIWR (89-7 The River)/Omaha shares details on the station’s 30th Anniversary concert. Ryan Lang has exited mornings at WNWV 107.3 Alternative Cleveland. Get the details on Alternative News.

Did you see Lisa Worden from iHeart/ALT 98.7/L.A. was featured last week talking about music discovery and more on Barrett Media. Check it out HERE.

ICYMI: Balu Brigada performed their single “So Cold” on Jimmy Kimmel last week. Their single is up to #2 this week on the Alternative chart. Check out their performance HERE.

ALTERNATIVE NEW MUSIC DISCOVERY  

Slow Joy “Gruesome” (Mick Music)

Listen & Download HERE.

Dallas, TX’s Slow Joy released “Gruesome” on February 28th via Mick Music. Singer-songwriter Esteban Flores is the creative force behind Slow Joy, who sings, plays guitar and bass. 

About his new single, he says, “I was talking to a few friends about how easy it is to feel numb nowadays. It seems like it takes exceptionally horrible things to happen to get us to see humanity in others. I just don’t want to need things to be gruesome to feel them.” 

His debut album, A Joy So Slow, At Times I Don’t Think It’s Coming, is coming May 18th. Flores, who grew up in Carlsbad, New Mexico saw the alternative rock project emerge as his full-time calling after the loss of a steady day job and while mourning the death of his mother. Inspired by Nirvana, Modest Mouse, and Tyler. The Creator, Flores says, “I realized music doesn’t have to be a pursuit. It can be a thing you use to process emotion. When I started to write in that vein, my music began to resonate with people.” Slow Joy is on tour through April 19th in Nashville. Find the tour dates HERE.

Circa Waves “Let’s Leave Together” ([PIAS] / Lower Third)

Listen & Download HERE.

Liverpool, England 4-piece Circa Waves released their newest single “Let’s Leave Together” from their sixth album, Death & Love Pt. 1, which was released on January 31st. Both terrifying and liberating to write, Death & Love Pt.1 is a powerful coping mechanism to help process frontman Kieran Shudall’s near-death experience. 

“I needed this record to process what I went through. A letter to tell myself I would stick around,” Kieran explains. “Most of all, I wanted to make a record for me, with music I love and hopefully music to make kids in their bedroom pick up a guitar and believe they can take on the fucking world.” 

Back in early 2023, Kieran received a call from doctors to say that the main artery in his heart was severely blocked. Two days later, he was lying on an operating table watching a wire being inserted into his heart to fix it. What followed was the cancelling of a lot of shows, working out a lot of medication, and most crucially, now having to navigate a new way of life. Circa Waves kickoff US Tour dates April 19th in Washington, D.C. Find The tour dates HERE.