Pet Door Show’s up-and-coming artists you should know in 2025
Happy New Year to you! I hope that 2025 is starting off well for you.
I have a few big wishes for 2025, primarily the end to the genocide in Gaza, prosecution of the war criminals who have committed it (and a ban of US weapons sales/aid to countries committing war crimes), and the end to the rampant corporate exploitation of regular people that has led to the US’s 15 wealthiest people having a combined wealth of $2,400,000,000,000 (enough to end homelessness in the USA 80 times over, or enough to fund Canada’s entire public healthcare system for 906 years).
While I have been simmering in my personal and global frustrations this year, it is important to acknowledge the good things, too. One bright source of peace and inspiration is music, especially the new music by independent and underplayed artists that I’ve had the pleasure of playing on my radio show, the Pet Door Show (Thursdays 2–4pm Pacific / 5–7pm Eastern on Shady Pines Radio). If you’re new to the Pet Door Show, I exclusively play music that I love that was released in the past year by independent and underplayed artists with under 5,000 instagram followers, with no restrictions on genre or geography. It’s a truly extraordinary radio show where you’ll hear a ton of great music you’ve never heard before, every single week. You can check out a few of my favorites of 2024 in the Pet Door Show Best of 2024.
While I maintain a strict limit of 5,000 followers for the artists that I play to ensure a really unique selection of super underplayed artists before their big break, my hope in doing so is to widen their audience and help them find future fans. So when an artist I’ve played on the Pet Door Show is making big moves and finding success, I want to celebrate!
So, below you will find the Pet Door Show’s up-and-coming artists you should know in 2025 (arranged alphabetically by full name). This is a list of the artists who have busted past my follower limit and are starting to get their well-deserved time in the spotlight. You can find social and purchase links with more information listed below. For your perusing convenience, here also is a Spotify playlist of the Pet Door Show’s up-and-coming artists you should know in 2025 — but please, please support the artists featured by buying their music and following them online, because Spotify’s payout structure sucks.
(Note: In previous years, I’ve included all artists with over 5,000 followers, but this year that was 308 artists!! It was literally impossible to include them all in a blog, so this year’s list is all the artists with over 7,500 followers — much more manageable but still hefty at 56 artists. If you’d like to listen to all 308, you can find the full playlist here.)
Keep your eyes on these brilliant artists for big things ahead!!
A
Allegra Krieger
Favorite track: Living in the City is So Beautiful, from the album Fragile Place: B-sides (October 20, 2023).
New York City, NY. Indie folk.
Almirante Ackbar
Favorite track: Caer Mil Metros Bajo Tierra, single (March 8, 2024).
Lima, Peru. Indie rock.
Anna Dukke
Favorite track: Comfortable Crap, from the EP Broken Chains (November 28, 2022).
Tomelloso, Spain. Rock & roll.
Apo Sahagian
Favorite track: Musa Loyr Ilum, from the album Menk (April 1, 2022).
Jerusalem. Folk.
B
Barbara Wangui
Favorite track: Kanyoni, from the album Shorts (November 28, 2020).
Nairobi, Kenya. Folk pop.
Becky Sikasa
Favorite track: Keeper, from the EP Twelve Wooden Boxes (November 18, 2022).
Glasgow, Scotland. Neosoul.
Bilbao
Favorite track: Amor de Furgoneta, from the EP todo va a estar bien :) (December 2, 2022).
Monterrey, Mexico. Indie.
Billiam
Favorite track: Pub Test, from the album Billiam Fucks Around And Finds Out: Boring Old Tape Comp (April 5, 2024).
Naarm, Australia. Punk.
C
Camille Schmidt
Favorite track: Wake Up, from the EP Good Person (June 2, 2024).
Brooklyn, NY. Indie pop.
chrysalis
Favorite track: handprints, from the album i’m on my way (October 20, 2023).
Boston, MA. Folk.
Clara_mente
Favorite track: Instinto Selvático, from the album Comportamiento Errático (November 15, 2024).
Buenos Aires(?), Argentina. Indie rock.
Cole Williams
Favorite track: How We Care For Humanity, from the album How We Care For Humanity (October 25, 2024).
New Orleans, LA. R&B soul.
Creamer
Favorite track: 10 Years, single (February 24, 2023).
Nashville, TN. Alternative folk.
D
Daira
Favorite track: Bhaari Nasha (ft. Karan Chitra Deshmukh), single (March 30, 2023).
Mumbai, India. Art rock.
Debris of Titan
Favorite track: Electric Zoo, from the album Are We Astronauts (July 16, 2020).
New York City, NY. Psychedelic indie pop.
Doom Scroll
Favorite track: Boss Fight, from the Pyrrhic Victory (October 6, 2023).
Loveland, CO. Folk punk.
E
Erin Fox
Favorite track: Pictures, from the album Fuzzy Logic (May 1, 2021).
Philadelphia, PA. Indie folk.
Estoy bien
Favorite track: En Blanco, from the album Apoyo Emocional (November 24, 2023).
Santiago, Chile. Pop punk.
F
Freddie
Favorite track: San Frandiscothèque (with Wu Am I), single (July 30, 2021).
Los Angeles, CA. Pop.
Frenzee
Favorite track: Infection, single (September 22, 2023).
Crete, Greece. Hardcore punk.
G
Gao Hong
Favorite track: House of Friendship Revisited (Live) (with Kadialy Kouyate), single (March 8, 2024).
St. Paul, MN. World folk.
Getdown Services
Favorite track: Crisps, from the album Crisps (November 9, 2023).
Bristol / Manchester, England. Alt disco.
Grito Exclamación
Favorite track: Tierra de Nadie, single (March 17, 2023).
Mexico City, Mexico. Post punk.
Gut Health
Favorite track: Lethargic, from the EP Electric Party Chrome Girl (November 18, 2022).
Naarm, Australia. Post punk.
H
Human Zoo
Favorite track: Business as Usual (ft. Machinery of the Human Heart), from the album Human Stu Volume 1 (August 23, 2023).
Montclair, NJ. Indie.
I
India Ramey
Favorite track: King of the Ashes, from the album Shallow Graves (September 4, 2020).
Birmingham, AL. Country.
Initiate
Favorite track: Myopia, from the EP Lavender (February 4, 2020).
Southern California. Hardcore punk.
insyt.
Favorite track: Truth Serum, from the album Mi Casa, Su Casa + Bonus Demos (April 12, 2024).
Ontario, Canada. Hip hop.
J
Jacob Slade
Favorite track: St. Paul, from the album Soft Spoken (October 13, 2023).
Milwaukee, WI. Indie folk.
Jane Leo
Favorite track: Big Life, from the album Jane Leo, released (October 20, 2022).
Austin, TX. Alternative synthpop.
June Henry
Favorite track: sweet time, from the album sweet time (November 5, 2022).
Lawrence, KS. Indie alternative.
K
Kahil El’Zabar
Favorite track: Express Yourself, from the album America the Beautiful (October 23, 2020).
Chicago, IL. Jazz.
L
Leonie Biney
Favorite track: Beach Song — Demo, from the album It Could Have Been Nice (June 14, 2024).
UK. Indie pop.
M
Merce Lemon
Favorite track: Will You Do Me a Kindness, single (March 27, 2024).
Pittsburgh, PA. Folk americana.
Mike Kuster
Favorite track: Snallygaster, from the EP Mountain Monsters of Maryland (October 27, 2023).
Walkersville, MD. Country.
Mose Wilson
Favorite track: The Man You Miss, from the album Mose Wilson (November 5, 2021).
Nashville, TN. Country.
N
Naima Bock
Favorite track: So Long, Marianne (Leonard Cohen), single (September 7, 2023).
London, England. Folk.
Najee Janey
Favorite track: Freedom To The World, from the EP Four Agreements (December 31, 2022).
Roxbury, MA. Hip hop.
Nina de Vitry
Favorite track: Wrong Thing, from the album What You Feel Is Real (August 25, 2023).
Nashville, TN. Americana soul.
No Me Toques
Favorite track: Celoso, from the album Matate Amor (May 18, 2024).
Buenos Aires, Argentina. Punk.
O
Ora Cogan
Favorite track: Skull, from the album Bells in the Ruins (July 13, 2020).
lək̓ʷəŋən traditional territory, Canada. Indietronica dream pop.
P
Peel Dream Magazine
Favorite track: Up And Up, from the album Agitprop Alterna (April 3, 2020).
Los Angeles, CA. Indie.
Puuluup
Favorite track: Üksindus, from the album Viimane suusataja (September 17, 2021).
Viljandi, Estonia. Indie folk.
S
Sages Comme Des Sauvages
Favorite track: Rouge Colère, from the album Luxe Misère (March 6, 2020).
Cherbourg, France. Folk pop chanson.
Samarjeet Randhava
Favorite track: O Bulleya Bulleya O Bulleya, from the album Samarjeet Randhava Volume 3 (March 25, 2022).
Mumbai, India. Indian folk pop.
Spring Silver
Favorite track: Little Prince, from the album I Could Get Used to This (March 4, 2022).
Silver Spring, MD. Alternative pop.
T
Tapir!
Favorite track: On a Grassy Knoll, We’ll Bow Together, from the album The Pilgrim, Their God and The King Of My Decrepit Mountain (January 26, 2024).
London, England. Folktronica.
te vi en un planetario
Favorite track: no quiero estar aquí, from the EP flores (May 19, 2023).
Teotihuacán, Mexico. Indie alternative.
U
unperro andaluz
Favorite track: fayuca, from the album peek! (June 20, 2023).
Mexico City, Mexico. Post punk.
W
Waahli
Favorite track: Soap Box (ft. Clerel), from the album Soap Box (October 4, 2022).
Tio’Tia:ke, Canada. Americana hip hop.
Wendy Eisenberg
Favorite track: Evening song, from the album Bent Ring (November 5, 2021).
Brooklyn, NY. Experimental folk.
Wild Wild Women
Favorite track: Wild Wild Women (ft. Hashtag Preeti, MC Mahila, Pratika, Jqueen, Krantinaari, prod. DRJ Sohail), single (November 24, 2023).
Mumbai, India. Hip hop.
Willis Writer
Favorite track: Well Well, from the album 11:11 (July 2, 2023).
Oklahoma City, OK. Hip hop.
Wishy
Favorite track: Paradise, from the EP Paradise (December 15, 2023).
Indianapolis, IN. Indie rock.
Y
Yes Ma’am*
Favorite track: Bad Dog Blues (ft. Lightnin’ Luke), from the album How Many People How Many Dogs (August 16, 2024).
New Orleans, LA. Ragtime folk punk.
*Performer at Shady Pines Festival in 2022, 2023, and 2024!
工藤祐次郎 / Yujiro Kudo
Favorite track: キャンプキャンプキャンプ, from the album ボン・ボヤージュブギ (July 26, 2023).
Asagaya, Japan. Folk americana.
That’s the end of the list, well done you! I hope you found some new favorites. If you want more, check out last year’s list, the Pet Door Show’s up-and-coming artists you should know in 2024, and the Pet Door Show Best of 2024! And be sure to tune in to the Pet Door Show every Thursday, 2–4pm Pacific / 5–7pm Eastern on Shady Pines Radio for your weekly sampler of the world’s best independent and underplayed music. If you really liked this list, please consider leaving a tip on ko-fi! Thanks.