Shady Bug has been an indie-rock mainstay of the St. Louis DIY scene for the past decade, but their latest album, I wanted to be there, out on October 30 through the Philadelphia label Julia’s War, sees the band reach dreamy, hazy new heights. They will also kick off their Midwest and East Coast tour with an album release show at the Kerr Foundation on November 2.
Led by singer and guitarist Hannah Rainey, Shady Bug started in the fall of 2016 as a way to bring friends from the St. Louis DIY scene together to jam on some solo songs she had written.
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“I’d never been in a rock band before,” Rainey says. “I’d played in my band Dubb Nubb for many years, which was folk music mainly, so this was a new frontier for me.”
This first iteration of the group hit the ground running, releasing their first album, tbh idk, and touring in 2017, and continued to grow and expand their sound with the 2019 album Lemon Lime. As the band kept up with a healthy touring schedule, everything seemed to be coming together for Shady Bug, but the COVID-19 pandemic put the brakes on their momentum. The band eventually returned to touring and playing shows post-lockdown, and released the EP What’s the Use? in 2023.
The current iteration of Shady Bug includes Rainey on vocals and guitar, fellow original member ripple on guitar and vocals, Chris Chartrand on bass, and Ingram Tolish on drums. The core of Shady Bug is how the quartet finds interesting ways to grow and transform songs with dynamic shifts, experimental time signatures, and guitar interplay, juxtaposing Rainey’s simple and pretty style with ripple’s brash and jarring approach. Taken together, these elements help to define the band’s experimental pop-rock sound.
“I always think, Oh, we’re just indie rock, but that could mean anything,” Rainey says. “A lot of my lyrics are very poppy, so I like to use the word pop, then of course it is rock, and we are experimenting a bit too with different time signatures and form and stuff like that.”
Following their 2023 EP, Rainey says the band was keen on releasing a full-length record, with some songs even going back to before the pandemic. The band took an intentional approach to crafting these songs, recording demos in the basement of Rainey’s St. Louis home. When it came time to track the album, they enlisted the help of Philadelphia-based recording engineer Scoops Dardaris, who drove out to St. Louis and recorded the album at The Nest, the DIY show space where Shady Bug recorded their first album.
“Everything you’re hearing was recorded live altogether, except for the vocals,” Rainey says. “It has that energy that we bring to our live shows, which I think is really special.”
As the band was putting the finishing touches on the album, Rainey got the opportunity to move to Philadelphia in June 2025, where she was able to reconnect with a number of folks she had met while touring with Shady Bug. One of whom was Doug Dulgarian, lead creative force behind the Philly shoegaze band They Are Gutting a Body of Water and founder of the record label Julia’s War. Rainey had previously booked TAGABOW for a show at CBGB, and Dulgarian was familiar with Shady Bug’s work, so when their paths crossed again, the opportunity seemed right.
“I kinda bugged Doug at a show like, ‘Oh, maybe you should put out the Shady Bug release,’ and he was really into it,” Rainey says.
Dulgarian was also interested in working with the Albany, New York, tape label Bee Side Cassettes for a cassette release of the album. Rainey also points out that, funnily enough, Bee Side Cassettes also booked Shady Bug to play a show in Albany back in 2019. Even as Rainey has seen scenes change, especially when booking a tour post-COVID, it’s these sorts of connections that are a testament to how DIY music can bring folks together from across the country in unexpected and delightful ways.
“I know it’s not as affordable as it used to be, but I think touring is really awesome, and I hope more St. Louis bands tour, and I hope more bands from out-of-town come through St. Louis, too,” Rainey says. “Me and ripple have been booking shows in St. Louis for over 10 years, and just from booking these bands, we’ve made so many connections.”
With I wanted to be there releasing on October 30, Shady Bug is gearing up for a Midwest and East Coast tour to celebrate both the new album and 10 years of Shady Bug. Their tour kicks off with an album release show in St. Louis on November 2 at the Kerr Foundation, primarily playing songs from their latest record. The bill also features three up-and-coming indie-rock bands from the St. Louis DIY scene: Freckles (which features Rainey’s twin sister and Dubb Nubb collaborator Delia, who also contributed vocals to the song “basket”), Choom, and ninevolt.
On the whole, Rainey sees this album release and tour as a way to celebrate how Shady Bug has grown as a band over the last decade and how they can continue to connect with others doing something they love so much.
“It’s an amazing thing to be able to play music with your best friends and go see the country and meet new people and make these connections with other bands,” Rainey says. “I just feel really lucky to be able to do that and keep doing that.”
