Released on May 2, 2025
HWY-091
LP, Digital
Purchase Album
Featured Collaborators
Bryan Devendorf
Bryan Devendorf
LANZ
LANZ
Songs
- In My Head
- Motion
- Sometimes
- Blurry Eyes
- Every Time I Feel Afraid
- Share Some Wine
- Mixed Emotions
- Every Time The Sun Comes Up [Sharon Van Etten cover]
- Be The One
Notes
"Today's Top Tune: Recalls early Bob Dylan and Kurt Vile...brings to focus the burdens of daily reality we all must endure." — KCRW
“A grand, neo-psychedelia take on Americana…sweeps along like an old drop-top on a highway." — Consequence
"a mix of dreamy introspection and quiet strength... Carriers have this magical ability to turn raw emotion into sound." — Cincinnati City Beat's Artists to Watch in 2025
Carriers — the project helmed by Cincinnati, Ohio’s Curt Kiser — released Every Time I Feel Afraid, their debut album for Brassland on May 2, 2025. It’s a project that reckons with the realities and hardships of a life spent running down a dream; a cosmic swirl of heartland hallucinations, motorik Americana, and plainspoken poeticism in the vein of Tom Petty or Amen Dunes; the sound of a dreamer faced with a put-up or shut-up moment, and delivering.
A kind of optimism and bounce-back spirit exemplifies Kiser, who has become something of an Ohio talisman. "I have a beautiful, symbiotic relationship with Cincinnati,” he says. Some of Cincy’s most enduring civic entities agree.
During the fall 2024 NFL season, the Cincinnati Bengals tapped him to play a set during a Monday Night Football game. He and his dad ("trust me, he shreds”) rocked out in front of 60,000 fans. Shake It! Records, one of the Queen City’s most beloved local vinyl shops, is working with Carriers on a series of special vinyl LPs. John Curley of Cincinnati alt-rock legends The Afghan Whigs recorded Now Is The Time For Loving Me, Yourself & Everyone Else at his studio. And, finally the Carriers project recently signed to Brassland, an esteemed Brooklyn label co-founded by one of Cincinnati’s most renowned 21st century cultural exports, The National. (That band’s drummer Bryan Devendorf contributed to Curt’s last LP and, in return, Curt did session work on The National’s pair of 2023 albums.)
Love for Carriers extends well beyond Cincinnati city limits. Carriers has opened up for the likes of Big Thief and Damien Jurado and, in summer 2024, nabbed opening slots on tours with Band Of Horses and Fruit Bats. Sharon Van Etten even listed Carriers in the “Recommended Listening” section of the liner notes for her 2019 LP Remind Me Tomorrow.
It’s the result of Kiser’s dedicated songwriting practice. As he explains. “When I was 19 years old, I looked to the heaven’s and asked what I should do with my life. I grabbed the old 1950s Goya guitar which was passed down to me from my great Uncle Andy, sat on my porch in Cinci’s Camp Washington neighborhood and proceeded to write one of the first songs I’d ever written on my own. From that point on, I’ve never stopped writing. It’s my therapy.”
With Every Time I Feel Afraid, Kiser takes heed of all of the little signs the universe has sent his way and commits to his destiny as a songwriter. “It’s who I am and what I’m good at,” he says. “It’s taken a few hundred songs to feel confident in it, but I’m there now. I’ve accepted it as my life’s work no matter how successful I’m perceived to be in the world outside my home.”
SOME WORDS FROM CURT KISER aka CARRIERS ON PRE-ALBUM SINGLES
"Blurry Eyes" - January 2025
This song features performances from Bryan Devendorf (The National), Dave Hartley (The War on Drugs) and Ben Lanz (Beirut, The National). The animation is by Mark Neeley. Find him at markneeley.com or instagram.com/markaneeley
"I wrote 'Blurry Eyes' right before the first live stream show I did on Instagram during the pandemic," says Curt. "What a wild thing that kept us all together while the world was shut down. It was a hard but also an incredibly special time to refocus on what really matters in life."
"Right now is a weird time to be putting out music and promoting myself, but I'm grateful to share art during such a heavy time. I hope the songs find people when they need it most, and that they can provide some kind of solace — whether an escape from the situation, some magic in the atmosphere, or maybe a lyric to help them process what's going on."
"Every Time I Feel Afraid" - February 2025
Video created by Liela Crosset & Egan Parks. Find them at:
• lielacrosset.com | instagram.com/liela.png
• eganparks.com | instagram.com/egan.parks
The album's title track is the heart of the project, one that reckons with the realities and hardships of a life spent running down a dream. “It's a kind of mantra I used to get through a really hard week,” explains Carriers principal Curt Kiser. “While driving, my partner and I were hit by a drunk driver, then assaulted by the guy who hit us. A few days later my van got robbed in Chicago while I was on a short run of shows between Ohio and Illinois. We borrowed some gear, got through the gig, and I returned home. My laptop was one of the things stolen, so I knocked out the song on an old Fostex multi-track borrowed from a friend."
"Motion" - March 2025
Video directed by Romain Mayambi and filmed in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Says Curt: "'Motion' is about pushing through tough times and taking action when things feel impossible. It’s a song for those feeling lost, reminding them that there are better days ahead. It came out of the same time and headspace as 'Blurry Eyes,' but where that song focuses on trusting things will work out, 'Motion' is about taking the leap despite fear and uncertainty. The first step can make all the difference."
"Romain is best known for his photography, and this was his first music video but it has the same fresh, vibrant feel. We thought we were keeping things simple by asking everyone to wear red shirts and blue jeans, but then those colors kept popping it up — both in the urban landscape, and us accidentally filming during SantaCon. It was surreal."
"What makes this video special is how DIY it was. Romain didn’t have a laptop, so we edited it entirely on his phone using CapCut. We would send edits back and forth, then meet up to AirDrop shots from my computer and figure out where they fit with the lyrics. It was super fun, and we ended up shooting five sessions over the course of a few months."
"In My Head" - April 2025 "'In My Head' feels like an introduction to the pop side of my songwriting. It's catchy and easy to connect with."
He continues: "The song was written after meeting my partner Kristin and growing close over the course of a summer, about 7 years ago now. She had just finished her degree, ended a long-term relationship, and in that head space of deciding what could be next. I was busy working two jobs in between preparing to tour around the release of my first album Now Is The Time For Loving Me, Yourself & Everyone Else."
"I had completely fallen for her but knew she wasn't looking to commit to something new. Up to that point I'd never written songs for anyone, but for Kristin they came easy. Late one night I sent her the demo version of the track I had recorded after getting home from the bars. She loves dance tracks, and during that summer there was a new wave dance night we would go to together in Northside, Cincinnati, where we now live. I definitely think the song took some inspiration for those nights. I made the demo on bass instead of guitar, added arpeggiated synth, and sang over that. She loved it."
"She probably thought I was nuts but life just didn't feel right being away from each other."