Youngster – “Every Night”

Back in July, I stopped by Coast Records to hang with Blake Ratliffe and Dan Truncellito of Youngster while Matt Zutell was mixing their upcoming debut album, Rosa’s Cantina. We chilled for a bit, listened to the mixes in progress, and did a quick interview about the record and where they’ve come as a band since their beginnings in Florence, SC.

On Friday, Youngster released the album’s long-awaited debut single, “Every Night”, which we first got a glimpse of in September 2017 with their B-Side Sessions at Truphonic Studios. That live session was also released as a 4-track EP, which you can find on Spotify under At Truphonic.

Listen to “Every Night”, the first single off Rosa’s Cantinabelow, and keep reading to learn more about Youngster.

According to frontman and guitarist Blake Ratliffe, Youngster started as a bedroom project back in his hometown of Florence. At the time, Blake was in the fabled South Carolina band Octopus Jones, which also included Danny Martin of the now-beloved 2 Slices, and many other prominent figures in the South Carolina music scene who floated through Octopus Jones at various times.

After Octopus Jones ended, Blake decided to take the songs he was writing and breathe life into them in the form of a new band. Youngster was that band, and though the lineup has changed several times over the years, Youngster has pretty much always been, at its core, Blake Ratliffe and Dan Truncellito. Dan is also from Florence, and his guitar work can be heard on “Every Night” and everything else that Youngster has released thus far.

Youngster’s first release, an EP titled Extended Play, came out in 2015 and was recorded at Wolfgang Zimmerman’s pre-Rialto Row storage unit studio dubbed The Space.

Rosa’s Cantina features songs that have been in Youngster’s holster for a while now, but haven’t found their way into the studio until the band’s recent venture into Coast Records with Matt Zutell behind the boards, and also behind the drum kit. The studio crew for Rosa’s Cantina included Blake and Dan along with Zutell on drums, Aaron Utterback of Human Resources on bass, and Dylan Dawkins of Persona La Ave on keys. Blake says it’s coming soon, but no true release date has been nailed down as of my writing this.

Update: Rosa’s Cantina by Youngster will be released on March 1st.

Youngster will play at The Royal American on Friday, December 14th for An Extra Chill Holiday Party, where they’ll be joining She Returns From War and Dumb Doctors. Cover is $10 at the door. Facebook event here. 

Stay tuned for more news on Rosa’s Cantina.