Heyward Howkins’ music transports my jaded urban heart to a rural landscape saturated with the smell of pine needles and the serene sounds of a rolling brook. It’s escapism at its finest with the simplicity of genteel vocals, polished songwriting and a lone guitar. After cutting his teeth in the local music scene as the guitarist for defunct outfit The Trouble with Sweeney and founding member of The Silver Ages, Howkins has been delighting audiences around town with material from his debut album The Hale & Hearty. Tonight at Ortlieb’s, leave your worries behind by taking in his set alongside a mixed bag of artists like Dreambook, Break It Up and Taggart. It’s good way to get you over the hump this week. Ortlieb’s Lounge, 437 N. 3rd St., $5, 21+ - H.M. Kauffman

Ladyfest Philly, an activism, music and arts festival, will be held from June 7 - 9 at various locations. They made a compilation to showcase the talent that will be performing at their events, and will also be selling it on cassette to benefit Project SAFE and Women in Transition. Check out the mix that incldues such artists as Screaming Females, U.S. Girls, Void Vision, Trophy Wife and much more! You can purchase your tickets for Ladyfest Philly HERE.

Reef The Lost Cauze and producer Haj of Duhmi just dropped a badass new EP entitled Sirens on Snyder. It features contributions from Ethel Cee, Burke the Jurke, Random and Side Effect. Below is what Haj had to say about the evolution of this collaboration, and you can also check out the music video for their track “Moonshine” HERE. Enjoy!

Here's a long-awaited new track from Break It Up called "New Penzance." The song will appear on their upcoming debut self-title LP, which was recorded with Uniform Recording's Jeff Zeigler. The trio will be popping up tomorrow night at Ortlieb's Lounge to perform alongside Dreambook, Heyward Howkins and Taggart, and the first 25 attendes will receive a download code for their latest single.

Local indie vets The Strapping Fieldhands just shared their first new song in 10+ years called "Impossible to Say" that will appear on their upcoming release later this year. It's a good one too! Special thanks to TestosterTunes for posting.

It's been quite a bit since we've received any original material from Psychic Teens after loudly bursting onto the Philly music scene. The gothic post-punk outfit recently shared an explosive new track "RIP" from their upcoming release COME that is scheduled to drop on August 13 via local area label SRA Records. You can catch the power trio at Kung Fu Necktie this evening opening for No Joy. (Photo by Greg C)

Tonight YVYNYL (a.k.a. Mark Schoneveld) continues this month’s curation of Tuesday Tune-Out at PhilaMOCA with Jesse Sparhawk. Though Sparhawk is a multi-instrumentalist, he is probably best known for his nimble plucks on the acoustic guitar. The gifted musician has worked with a diverse list of artists throughout the Philly music community so the billing of “Jesse Sparhawk and friends” should gather an array of talent to help him perform live scores over recorded footage. Expect a peaceful calm to takeover the multi-purpose art space this evening. PhilaMOCA, 531 N. Front St., 8pm, $5, All Ages - H.M. Kauffman 

You may have caught Arrah Fisher of Arrah and the Ferns at work last night on The Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Well, here she is working hard at rocking out the first single from the band's forthcoming LP Make Your Mind called "Go Back." Arrah and the Ferns will be celebrating the release of their new record on Friday, May 24 at PhilaMOCA, which will be the group's last show "indefinitely."

Philly emcee Gliss just premiered a new single earlier today via VIBE called “Inner Visions,” which was produced by Chigz. The track will appear on his forthcoming LP High on a Weekday due out this summer, but you can listen to and download it for free below. We’d also like to congratulate Gliss on his recent nuptials this past weekend - wishing him and his lovely wife Tiara all the best! Cheers!