Last Friday, independent recording artists the Wide Eyed Lounge Cats (WELC) released their third studio album The Watermelon Sessions on all major streaming services, and after 3.5 days can report 5400 streams on the entire album and a 33% save rate on the Spotify platform alone, crushing the total streams of their first two releases in short order and tripling the Spotify save rate.
“The energy of our monthly residency at The Cats Eye Pub, is spilling into the interwebs,” said electric-upright bassist, Reggie Stiteler.
Known for their unique arrangements, unorthodox compositions and dynamic live shows, WELC’s first two albums, Le Cirque (2020) and Cats in a Coal Mine (2021) received critical acclaim, including a feature in Relix January/February 2022 "On the Rise" issue and nomination for the 2021 London Music Video Awards for "Fantasy."
“We’re certainly grounded in theory and have a desire to be technical in nature, but at the end of the day we just want to feel something and be moved by the expressions,” says vocalist & keyboardist Christian Ventimiglia.
Founded in 2017, the Wide-Eyed Lounge Cats (WELC) are an Americana Jam/Jazz quintet born in the basements, living rooms and bars of Fells Point, Baltimore. An amalgamation of bands and acoustic acts, the Lounge Cats have become one cohesive musical mind. Their original sound takes influence from the jazz and jam band greats and blends it with the classic Rock’n’Roll and R&B music we all know and love. Through original music and clever covers
spanning artists from Talking Heads to Ella Fitzgerald, to Dave Brubeck, the Wide-Eyed Lounge Cats sculpt a soundscape of lucid dreams and improvisation taking you for a musical ride!
Wide-Eyed Lounge Cats are Christian Ventimiglia (keyboards/vocals), Ryan Comstock (saxophones/vocals); Reggie Stiteler (bass/vocals), Tore Dalaker (guitar), Ben Graham-Putter (drums) & Chris Peacock (percussion)
