QUICK HITS: Courtney Hartman, TeawhYB, Affid4vit & Humbird
discover recent music releases from artists across the Valley, who remind listeners to focus on the present moment
With You: From The Garden Shed, Courtney Hartman
Courtney Hartman’s fall 2025 release, With You, was born with a a golden-hour quality – a story woven together by creativity and motherhood. For Hartman, songwriting became a means to process, understand and perhaps even sanctify motherhood for herself and others.
Yet, in the months after its creation and release, Hartman found herself playing the songs from With You in much more quiet settings: with her daughter, at home, as she prepared to venture out on tour and share this journey with others.
Inspired by these "audience-of-one performances," With You: From the Garden Shed will arrive to streaming platforms and vinyl on June 12. Its namesake draws attention to the environment which shaped the original record – a garden shed where Hartman would retreat to write and create.
"Most of the songs on With You began in the gentle hold of that space," Hartman said. "It felt right to take them back to the empty room where they began, playing them again against a chorus of May birds and our neighbor’s chimes."
Fellow collaborator in Eau Claire, Shane Leonard, co-produced the album and recorded it live on a reel-to-reel Nagra tape machine. The soothing, intimate record also includes a one new song, "Mama Help Me." Though, admittedly, family and friends have been lucky enough to hear this tune live – in its many variations – at house shows around the Valley.
As Hartman shares with listeners, "it is a treasure to hear the honest, undeniably human renditions of these songs" and to be enveloped in the presence of Hartman's core: the guitar, her voice and rhythm echoing a heartbeat.
Listen to With You: From The Garden Shed by Courtney Hartman – released on June 12 – on Bandcamp and streaming platforms.
"Something About You," TeahwhYB
It will be a summer of TeawhYB here in the Chippewa Valley, with upcoming Eau Claire performances including June 13 at Pride in the Park, June 26 at The Plus and on July 30 during Volume One's Sounds Like Summer concert series.
Now Minneapolis-based, Tyler Baumgart, known musically as TeawhYB, asks listeners: "As one navigates the mystery and refuge of love, why not enjoy the excitement of it all?"
In their latest single, “something about you” – released on June 5 to streaming platforms – TeawhYB blends the signature dance-driven R&B base locals have come to love of their previous releases with lyrics rooted in presence and raw emotion.
The track was produced by Jack Greenwood and features emanant guitar progressions by Jackie Venson.
As the song continues, diving deeper into the melody, TeawhYB faces the truth, "it doesn't have to be a dark cloud when you're comfortable in your skin."
"There is some hard-hitting truths sprinkled in the lyrics, but it's surrounded by a danceable beat and a Prince-like guitar," Baumgart said. "A good chunk of what I have in store for my upcoming project focuses on, 'bringing it back' and just being comfortable with who I am."
Needless to say, we're looking forward to Baumgart's return to the Valley and with him, songs that'll make you want to not just groove, but share enthusiasm for the present moment.
Listen to “something about you” and other tracks by TeawhYB on SoundCloud and streaming platforms.
Self Inflicted, Affid4vit
Eau Claire's Affid4vit – the alternative pop duo of Irie Ulrich and Shawn Peters – has released their debut 10-track record, Self Inflicted on June 5.
Rooted in feelings of heartbreak and personal growth, both instrumentalists bring original songwriting and guitar-heavy inspiration to each song.
"We are trying to make an album that sounds big, like each track is bursting at the seams," Peters said. Whether you begin with "Hitman," "Waste of Time," or "Purgatory," the record offers an uncanny sound for every type of listener.
Track nine, "Sorry Again," exudes the emotional turmoil that unfurls in the mundane.
Ulrich's vocals – featuring Emily V – are poised to become an anchor for listeners, willing to talk about their feelings and the brutal honesty when threads breaks loose and trust in another unravels.
Locals might know the duo best from their appearances at open mic nights throughout the many venues of downtown Eau Claire; both Ulrich and Peters pay homage to these foundational spaces – through its small-town storytelling – which shaped the record.
With these spaces in mind, Affid4vit will offer Self Inflicted on vinyl at The Venue in Eau Claire on July 18.
Listen to Self Inflicted by Affid4vit, now available on streaming platforms. See when Irie Ulrich and Shawn Peters will perform live next in the Valley, online through social media (@affid4vit).
"Daughter of Empire," Humbird
"Daughter of Empire," a melody that first resonated with local audiences during the Humbird residency at the Pablo Center in Eau Claire last November, has officially made its debut on streaming platforms.
The single release also comes with more exciting news from the now Eau Claire-based musician, Siri Undlin; "Daughter of Empire" introduces a new energy infused in her forthcoming record, Morning When It Comes, to debut this fall on Sept. 25.
Written by Undlin with the company of her oldest collaborators and friends – Pat Keen and Shane Leonard – the trio has will take new chances on the new record, with songs to make curious minds "fly and swoop and swirl," she said.
"Daughter of Empire," track one, invites listeners to Humbird's timeless Americana sound – with a dash of Midwest flare – influenced by Undlin's comfort in the cosmos and reflections on the natural world.
As Undlin shared with Eau Clairians earlier this fall – when she introduced new songs on the record – and now audiences online "what began as a deeply personal, self-soothing songwriting process in isolation transformed into a grand, universal conversation about stability, surrender and the power of community."
With a shimmering folk-pop chorus reminiscent of fresh dew in early morning, Humbird's clear melodies and bighearted musical score is certain to inspire any friend of Eau Claire to join in and sing along. All the while, she challenges listeners to reflect exactly how she – and our local communities – show up in a world dominated by capitalistic greed and blurred boundaries between connection and corruption.
Listen to "Daughter of Empire" and other tracks by Humbird on Bandcamp and streaming platforms. Pre-save and order Morning When It Comes – released on Sept. 25 – online through Bandcamp.
