On-The-Rise winners release new album
In addition to helping pave the way for success at FloydFest 2025, their first album earned the band top honors at the 2024 MerleFest Band Competition and a spot to perform at Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion in September.
Florencia and the Feeling, which won FloydFest's 2025 On-The-Rise competition and performed at this year's Yoga Jam, released their sophomore album, "Couch Hangin’," last week.
The eight-track collection follows the band’s acclaimed 2023 debut, "Birthday," which drew praise from outlets like Glide Magazine and Under the Radar. In addition to helping pave the way for success at FloydFest 2025, their first album earned the band top honors at the 2024 MerleFest Band Competition and a spot to perform at Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion in September.
Derived from a rich spectrum of genres including funk, jazz, nu-soul, pop, disco, Latin, and indie rock, Florencia and the Feeling’s sound sets them apart from the roots music culture of their Appalachian home; an evolution driven by vocalist/guitarist Florencia Rusiñol’s Argentine heritage and the band’s pop appeal. Rusiñol, with her husband Austin Herron (drums), Nick Castro (bass), Isaac Ratliff (keys), and Andrew Kramer (guitar) have developed an undeniable musical chemistry and irresistible stage presence, stirring echoes of Hiatus Kaiyote, Stevie Wonder, and Steely Dan.
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"("Couch Hangin'") is a collection of the songs we’ve built collaboratively from start to finish,” said Rusiñol. "It’s also a reflection of how we’ve grown as a band and as people – as literal as being 30-somethings who’d rather stay in than go out on a Friday night, and as metaphorical as learning to take up space in the world instead of trying to fit into it."
For frontwoman Florencia Rusiñol, the themes of "Couch Hangin’" have taken on a new depth since opening up publicly about her family’s 20-year immigration journey from Argentina to the U.S. The album’s messages of belonging, courage, and empathy resonate powerfully against the backdrop of a country still grappling with questions of identity and inclusion. Rusiñol now hears echoes of it throughout the record — especially in tracks like “Better Place” and “Take Up Space.”
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“Though these songs weren’t written about my background, they’ve started to mean more as the world has shifted around them,” she shares. “There’s something powerful about singing songs about belonging, connection, and finding home when the idea of who gets to belong is being questioned in our country.”
"Couch Hangin’" was self-produced by the band with additional writing credits to Noah Wise and Donnie Deniel (from Raleigh-based funk band, Duck), and recorded and mixed by Ethan Gingerich at Strangekid Studio (Maia Kamil, Victoria Victoria, Sam Fribush Organ Trio, Charlie Hunter) and Isaac Ratliff (Vulture Bolt, Charlie Maples).
Florencia and the Feeling is scheduled to perform in Blacksburg at The Milk Parlor on Friday, Nov. 14.
Learn more and listen to "Couch Hangin'" at www.florenciaandthefeeling.com.