Ratboys comes to Visulite Theatre on October 21 with Smidley opening. The Chicago band’s sixth album, Singin’ to an Empty Chair, turns a difficult conversation into songs that leave room for both tenderness and noisy guitars.
A record that speaks to absence
Singer and guitarist Julia Steiner has described writing toward an estranged loved one, picturing an empty chair as a way to address what had gone unsaid. The album, Ratboys’ first for New West Records, follows 2023’s The Window. Recorded in Wisconsin and Chicago with co-producer Chris Walla, it moves through power pop, country textures, and extended guitar passages.
Smidley, the project of Foxing’s Conor Murphy, brings its own intimate songwriting to the bill. Visulite lists doors at 7 p.m. and the show at 8 p.m.; the event page has tickets and current details.
Cover photograph: Ratboys by Miles Kalchik, courtesy New West Records. Publicity photograph supplied through the official New West Records press page; this is not a photograph of the Charlotte performance. Resized for display.
