The Districts Coming to Proud Larry’s

By Taylor New

IMC Student

The Pennsylvania-based indie rock band The Districts will play Oct. 30 at Proud Larry’s on the Oxford Square.

The band was formed in the small town of Lititz, Pennsylvania, in 2009, while members Rob Grote, Mark Larson, Connor Jacobus and Braden Lawrence were in high school.

The Districts’ music can be described as a mix of indie Americana and blues-inspired rock. After the group released an EP and full-length album independently, their unique sound caught the attention of Fat Possum Records, the Oxford-based record label. 

Now, with four full-length albums, 300 thousand monthly Spotify listeners and 30,000 Instagram followers, the band is seeing their fortunes really take off.

The Districts are currently on tour ahead of their fifth album, Great American Paintings, set to be released on Feb. 4.

This album was heavily inspired by and created during the two months that Rob Grote, the Districts’ vocalist and guitarist, spent in a cabin in Washinton state during the height of the pandemic. 

Jack Cody, a spokesperson for the band, said the new album fulfills a mission The Districts first embraced when the band was formed. That mission, he said, is “an urge to create undeniably cathartic music that obliterates hopelessness and invites their audience along in dreaming up a far better future.”

The band will be performing at 9 p.m. at Proud Larry’s this Saturday, with opening act Girlpuppy. The event requires proof of COVID vaccination or a negative test within 72 hours
at the door, with doors opening at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $15 in advance from the Proud Larry’s website, or $20 at the door.