Experimental folk act vireo will celebrate the occasion of their newest album, a rustic, sun-fed work called The Great Golden Gloom, with a release show at the Government Center Friday, January 23rd, supported by fellow PGH ramblers Horace Whisper & the Empty Hand and Clear Creek SP, as well as Asheville’s dumbest fella alive.
In advance of the show, vireo’s Suzanne Gomes, Chris Beaulieu, and Anthony Capozzi were kind enough to answer some questions about the band and the new album, one of Pittsburgh Manifold’s best of 2025.
Pittsburgh Manifold: Cliche question out of the way early; who/what are some of your influences, musical or otherwise?
CB: For this album, Broadcast, Norma Tanega, Roger Miller, Atlas Sound, The Books, Annie Dillard, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gary Snyder, water, cartoons, friends, paddle boarding, my bedroom, the grind
SG: Playing The Sims, taking baths, and the golden curtain in the old vireo house that’s the cover of the album
AC: Moe Tucker, Paul English, electronic music, the movie Fantastic Planet, and living room plants.
PM: How did you get your start as a band?
CB: It started as a recording project, and then I started playing solo around Pittsburgh. As I met people in the scene, their instrumentation and musicianship kind of shaped how the band grew and turned into what it is now. There’s still a big separation in the recorded music versus what you hear when we play live. We think that’s something that makes us unique and also something that keeps the music evolving.
PM: It seems like money (and the lack thereof) is a recurring theme on The Great Golden Gloom. What’s it like making an album on a tight budget? Do you think of it as a restriction, or as a form of freedom (or a little of both)?
CB: Making an album on a budget is really fun and you get unlimited time to work on things which has pros and cons. I think it forces me to be more creative. I think there’s less pressure and it’s fun to just look around the room and see if I can add something like a running faucet, pots and pans or a bowl of water in the song. Doing it by yourself though is a lot of work and there’s definitely a lot of things we’d like to achieve if we had a bigger budget. Our friend Noah Carlson helped us mix and master the album which was amazing and definitely a labor of love.
SG: And in general, people are very generous and want to help and support the band, which is super special to us and something we love about the scene.
PM: Is there a song on the album that you’re especially proud of? If so, why?
SG: “Popchop” is a special song to me because it’s the first song Chris and I ever wrote together. I also think Catching Minnows turned out to be something totally different than we originally had written. We were kind of stuck, and our friend Abi Gray wrote this amazing fiddle part for the song and totally saved it, and I’m super proud of how it ended up.
CB: I agree with Suz! Also “Just Like Me/Sleep After Sleep” was a challenge to work out. Our friend Jacob Ryave added some vox and I love hearing his voice harmonize with Suz’s!
PM: How’s the album tour been going? Any anecdotes or experiences that stand out?
CB: Great! Lots of snow.
SG: Touring with 7 people is a new experience for me, but I’ve really been enjoying playing together every night and getting to share that experience with our friends. It’s always a really special experience being on the road because the people we meet are so wonderful and generous and are so willing to help us book shows and open up their homes to us. It’s a nice feeling to have such good people everywhere willing to help.
AC: This tour has been particularly fun since we are touring with two drummers. Zach Wood and I have been collaborating and trying to bring the many percussive layers to life that, to me, helps define vireo’s sound.
PM: Who are some other Pittsburgh artists that you’ve been listening to?
CB: There’s so many great bands, I hate to leave anyone out. This past year I’ve been listening to some of the alt-Americana, folk musicians that we’ve shared bills with, like Westinghouse Atom Smasher, Horace Whisper and the Empty Hand, Rowan Erikson, ianianian, and Clear Creek SP to name a few. Also Sneeze Awfull and associated projects.
AC: I like Pat Coyle.
SG: Westinghouse Atom Smasher’s live set is so nuts, they’re incredible. And I've been listening to a lot of the new ianianian album a ton. So much epic music is happening in Pittsburgh right now. Also Pat Coyle's solo drum set at Bottlerocket was awesome.
PM: Is there anything that I forgot to ask or that you’d like to let people know about you, your music, or anything in general?
Vireo: Fuck ICE.
Weekly featured track: “Lorca-Cola” by Westinghouse Atom Smasher
Westinghouse Atom Smasher, a group that specializes in weirdo, tech-fried country music, boasted one of 2024’s best local records in Pittsburgh, Transylvania. A few months back, they released their latest single, “Lorca-Cola,” and it’s as haunting and melancholy as anything they’ve done. The slide guitar is gorgeous, curling and weeping like a gust of winter wind through a window seam, the strings engaging in a lonesome duet with Jozef Kukula’s plaintive croak. While you’re waiting for the group’s upcoming February LP, tide yourself over with their Friday, January 23rd show at The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls. WAS, along with mannequin-worshiping oddballs Scrum Force, will be supporting the twangy Beach Boise, ID, as the group plays through Daniel Johnston’s outsider classic Hi, How Are You. Doors at 7, music at 8. Tickets are $15.65.
Upcoming shows + news and notes
- The release of November’s Out Here Bleeding Again marked beloved Pittsburgh rock trio Donora’s first album since 2017 . On Friday, January 23rd, the group will hold a vinyl release show at Pittsburgh Winery with support from Morgan Erina. Doors at 7, music at 8. Tickets are $26.88 advance, $33.60 day-of.
- Crafted Sounds–the tireless, Pittsburgh-born label home to local standouts like The Zells, forty winks, Gaadge, Silver Car Crash, and Lys Scott–announced the signing of a Brooklyn-based act called Photokem. The group’s new single, “Cactus Flower” (featuring Horsepower) sets baritone croons and spoken word against airy harmonies, slow-blooming guitar, plinking synth, and mournful strings. Their Crafted Sounds debut, A Mat in the Garden, is due February 27th.
- Jam in the Van, a Los Angeles-based mobile recording studio, recently hosted Pittsburgh’s own Zack Keim for a four-song set. The performance’s setting–the inside of a tie-dyed Winnebago–was a perfect fit for Keim’s brand of retro road music. If you like what you hear, check out Keim’s, Battery Lane, one of our best albums of 2025.
