From her early days, staying late after-hours at her video rental store job in Maine to record songs, to co-producing and arranging her four studio records, Aly Spaltro has remained focused on music that connects, empowers and builds community. She built her fanship the old-fashioned way, getting in front of audiences and projecting her poetic confessionals, silencing rowdy crowds with an a cappella opening song in the center of a dark stage. Spaltro was quick to develop a reputation as a breakout star in New England, and then expanded slowly outwards, moving to New York at twenty to continue work on the songs that would become Ripely Pine. Her voice has never wavered, has grown more honest and open with time, and anyone witnessing the long lines of fans seeking signatures after her performances can see how her work has impacted fans. Her live shows are revelations, a further deep dive into what makes Ripely Pine such a mainstay.

Spaltro is celebrating ten years of Ripely Pine with the release of a 5xLP Box Set, IN THE MAMMOTH NOTHING OF THE NIGHT out August 18 on Ba Da Bing Records. With the original songs remastered, as well as reams of additional material produced and arranged by Spaltro and mixed by original co- producer Nadim Issa, IN THE MAMMOTH NOTHING OF THE NIGHT captures the time, mood, art and ambition of Aly Spaltro in her early twenties, who had already accumulated years of playing and self-recording experience before laying down tracks for this giant of a debut.

“I wrote some of these songs when I was 18, learning how to play the instruments and record with my digital 8-track along the way,” Spaltro says, reflecting on the time. She talks about IN THE MAMMOTH NOTHING OF THE NIGHT with a sense of a mission. “These tracks have haunted me, because they haven’t had a home for all these years. I found all these alternate track listings in my notebooks. Any of them could have ended up on the record,” Spaltro says. “This box set is a way to honor that whole time, the beginning of the path of my life. Releasing this project feels like just that; I’m able to look back on where I’ve come from, and then gently close that door behind me and keep moving, keep growing.”

Sima Cunningham is a Chicago-based musician, songwriter, producer, presenter, and a founding member of Finom. Her second solo album, High Roller, will be released in August 2024 on Ruination Records. Heartfelt and adventurous, her solo music is for fans of Harry Nilsson, Fiona Apple, Wilco, Aimee Mann, and Big Thief.

Over the past 15 years she has worked as a recording and touring musician with Jeff Tweedy, Richard Thompson, Iron & Wine, Edith Frost, Chance the Rapper, Twin Peaks, and been featured on multitudes of records. She co-owns a recording studio in Chicago, Fox Hall, where she produces records for her own projects and other artists.

In 2015 Sima formed Finom (fka OHMME) along with Macie Stewart, and it has been her primary project for the past decade. Finom has been celebrated as “the heart of the Chicago music community” by Vice Magazine. They have released three acclaimed albums including Parts (2018), Fantasize Your Ghost (2020), and Not God (2024) with Joyful Noise Recordings. The band has been featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert, Pitchfork, Paste, Chicago Tribune, Spin, Interview, and Rolling Stone and was recently commissioned to write and perform a piece with Seattle’s Pacific Northwest Ballet and Orchestra.

An Armenian-American artist and descendent of genocide survivors, Sima has focused much of her work on building connections and healing divides through music. Over the last ten years, she has traveled to Armenia and the Caucasus to perform, participate in workshops, and foster creative cross-cultural opportunities between artists in Armenia and the United States. Her work as an artist-presenter includes founding a small music festival, Postock, that will celebrate its 16th year in 2024; curating and hosting the I Hear Voices series in Chicago at Constellation; and working as a lead organizer for the Pitchfork Music Festival.