The Rocket Summer

Big love to The Rocket Summer’s Bryce Avary for joining us on “2005” last night in Dallas, Texas at the Echo!

“I Was There” - a live loop jam in the middle of the ocean. I wrote this while jamming in my studio right before we left for the Holiday From Real cruise. I love the islandy vibe of it. I started ad-libbing lyrics and ended up singing a favorite line from an old deep cut of mine, which got me looking through lyrics from other artists on the cruise to see what might fit with it. Do you hear them? I could only squeeze a few in, but I think they fit perfectly. Also - the aesthetics and lighting of this theater is giving strong MTV / VH1 live from the 90s / early 2000s energy and I’m kinda loving it. Hope you enjoy it! Thanks for listening.

Playing my first ever shows in the middle of the ocean was exceptionally cool - an awesome experience meeting so many of y’all and hanging with the other artists & crew on the ship. Thanks to @amnthewilderness and @sxmliveloud for having me and cultivating such a great atmosphere - hope to do it again sometime!

Greetings from Dominican Republic ☀️ The Holiday From Real cruise has been amazing so far. Between the two sets, hosting a silent disco rager last night, and meeting what seems like nearly everyone on this ship, I haven’t been able to grab my phone and get proper WiFi until today. We docked this morning and I went on a jog through Puerto Plata meeting street dogs, locals and more fans from all over the world that came to this special thing. Here are the setlists from the first two shows so far 🌊🤘 - what should we play tomorrow? I’ll repost more of the epic show photos / videos soon in stories and such, but for now enjoy these vibrant colors of the DR. 🙌

HBD, Z 🌊 10! Grateful for this album and the sonic hope that, to me, bursts out of it. A thrilling era of creating. You should jam it today and, here, have one of these cookies. Though probably expired by now. Chew / listen at your own risk. Album stays fresh! What’s your fave song on ZOETIC?

Can’t be bummin’ when ur drummin’ #drums #livelooping

“FL, CA” acoustic & roadside in Marfa, TX. Touring, in reality, often doesn’t present itself with idyllic, classic Americana moments of eating at cool mom & pop diners or playing songs on the side of the road in the desert that I romanticized it would before actually ever touring, but rather it’s a daily race against the clock to make the gig, and then you do it all over again the next day after a few hours of sleep. And honestly I love it. It’s like being on The Amazing Race every day. However, in some rare cases, the stars align, and you hop out of your RV while in the desert and do a quick performance like this one at Prada Marfa before moving along. And it all feels like what you thought it would be when daydreaming as a kid. Just some good times troubadourin’ out on the open road 🤠🤘 #Zoetic #TheRocketSummer #FLCA #Marfa #PradaMarfa Full vid on YT

Feeling Zoetic! Here’s a jam in my studio of the song UNI. All live & unedited, raw & ragey. The album turns 10 this month. Zoetic was a magical era of creating for me. Swimming in sonics and the literal Pacific Ocean. Jamming this gave me all the good vibes. Much gratitude!

Happy Harrydays. Here’s a cool clip from an interview with Harry Styles talking about the first show he ever attended - a Rocket Summer show in Manchester. Too trippy. A million of his fans sent me this interview from way back, and years later, he & I ended up meeting and hanging out a couple times. Really nice guy. He graciously had me out to one of his shows at the Rose Bowl and I’ll never forget being backstage with him and his sister Gemma when she said, “How cool that I took him to his first concert to see you and now he’s introducing me to you at his.” Life is wild. Experiencing the magnitude of what their music meant to fans that night was unreal. Very special. As for these Manchester shows, I never cancel - but this one nearly broke me. I was very unwell and had completely lost my voice. I’ll never forget the awful realization that I couldn’t sing but rather needed to go to the hospital to make sure I wouldn’t risk permanent damage. Walking into a van instead of onto the stage while the sold-out crowd waited outside and found out was brutal. But like Harry mentioned, luckily I ended up coming back, accompanied with a fiery vengeance and had a rather incinerating show because of it. I love Manchester. So glad Harry and Gemma were there and that this story came from it. A couple years ago I had a brief exchange with Matty Healy of The 1975 and he mentioned to me that he came to a show of mine in Manchester specifying the looping I did that night of the backline. I didn’t ask which Manchester show that was, but if it’s the same one, which I suspect it could be, it’s surreal to think these 2 young legends were in one room just rocking to some Rocket and none of us knew. You never know who’s at your rock shows, kids. Always give everything you’ve got… unless you need the hospital—then come back with a vengeance and live to tell 🤘

2016 - the year of Zoetic. Z turns 10 years old in Feb, just next month. Too trippy. Making that album was so special. Thrilling, really! And 2016 was when it finally became ours and I took it on tour. Expect some Zoetic themed posts over the next month to celebrate its 10 year anniversary, but for now here are some 2016 snapshots to join this party.

Ahoy! Surprise, y’all. I’m so pumped that we’ll be playing Andrew McMahon’s Holiday From Real cruise next month. We’ll be sailing the high seas February 28 - March 4 from Miami to Puerto Plata, DR. I can’t wait for this! Can you? What a lineup. Limited cabins are available. Link at bio! 🌊☀️

Exiting ‘25 stage right, y’all. Thanks for such a fun year of shows. My young nephew asked me over Christmas what my favorite part of my music career is. I told him seeing people come together over the music and mostly seeing the way that the music makes them feel is probably the most special part of all of it. Thank you for showing up and signing along. It’s a gift and it means the world. Looking forward to whatever ‘26 brings and I hope it’s a great one for you. Can’t wait for the next time we all hang.