While evolution in nature can take eons, The Bed Heads are trying for a much more rapid musical evolution. In just over a year of existence, the Spokane indie folk band has already established itself as one of the Lilac City's premier groups thanks to its incredibly accessible melodic folk tunes. But rather than take a victory lap after finding an audience early, The Bed Heads are striving to keep up the momentum while also pushing their sound in new directions.
The core of The Bed Heads sound emanates from frontman Landon Spencer's thoughtful songwriting and tender voice, with the rest of the instrumentals working in harmony to elevate his history major lyricism. Those songs can range from stripped-down sun-drenched reflections on everyday beauty to an entire EP based on Homer's Odyssey (My Name is Nobody).
"To me, the fun part about songwriting is figuring out what a song can be and where you can take it," Spencer says. "Even writing for My Name is Nobody, it wasn't necessarily trying to write songs about the Odyssey, but trying to write from the perspective of the characters from the Odyssey if they were trying to write a song. It's just really, really cool to figure out different ways of storytelling, because songwriting can be super, super logical and next step big picture painting, or it can be incredibly abstract. But they can each paint an equally vivid picture for the listener."
The Bed Heads' origin story can be traced back to Spencer and bassist Sam McQuarrie's high school days at Mt. Spokane in 2017, when the pair played in the band Spilt Milk. The group kept things going through the guys' collegiate years, before disbanding in 2023. Still wanting to play together, Spencer stepped from just being a guitarist to the center of the stage to create The Bed Heads in February 2024. The group's initial folk sound actually was based on not having a full band more than anything else.
"A lot of people in the band weren't really folk artists before we started, but the restraints that we had on production really made us into a folk band," McQuarrie says. "And we just kind of leaned into it at first."
But over the course of the last year, The Bed Heads solidified its lineup, eventually adding electric guitarists Drew Brereton and Eric Kennedy, plus AJ Ramirez on drums. Spencer cites Ramirez's arrival as a turning point, as having the energy of a drummer allows the band to explore more indie rock and Americana sonic realms.
Expect to hear The Bed Heads testing out those new styles aplenty in 2025. The band has already released two new tracks this year that feel closer to indie pop acts like Medium Build and Bendigo Fletcher than PNW folk. "Love Refused" is a slightly funky soft pop jam, while "Nancy Kerrigan" is a peppy synth-infused number that muses about the titular figure skater being an online therapist. Moreover, the band's goal is to release a new song every four to six weeks this year.
THE BED HEADS
Instagram: @thebedheadsmusic
Next show: June 7 at Zephyr Folk Festival
"From the logistical side of it, writing a song and producing a song takes a lot of time and money. So it's definitely expensive to put out a whole project. And if you're putting out a whole project, you can't necessarily pitch — or have everyone listen to — every single song," Spencer says. "We'll eventually recollect these all together and put them in a project, but this way we can definitely show the songs that we're really proud of to everyone. Make sure that every song has its own moment."
The Bed Heads is also hitting the road to expand its reach beyond the Inland Northwest. Already this year the guys have played Boise's Treefort Fest, had shows in Seattle, Vancouver, and Nashville, and have festival dates lined up including Olympia's South Sound Block Party and Liberty Lake's Zephyr Folk Festival. It's not hard to imagine the band garnering plenty of new fans, as The Bed Heads concerts can feel more like casual hangs with your buddies — ones where you don't dread when someone reaches for an acoustic guitar — rather than performances.
"It's kind of like campfire sing-along vibes sometimes," Spencer says. "It's so awesome when everyone knows the words and is singing them along like that. That, to me, is the coolest thing — when everyone's kind of coming together for a moment." ♦
