STL GLD & B.Dolan at The Iron Horse on Friday, August 29 2025
Formed in 2014 by Moe Pope and producer The Arcitype, STL GLD’s powerful message and exhilarating live show has quickly earned them the reputation as one the most exciting bands to come out of New England.
On the surface, they are a Hip Hop band. However, through their captivating performances, STL GLD (pronounced STILL GOLD) blends elements of Hip Hop, Rock, Punk, and Cinematic Orchestra together for an unforgettable experience.
Because of this, STL GLD were crowned winners of “Live Artist of the Year” at the 2018 Boston Music Awards and “Boston's Best Band” by Improper Bostonian in the same year.
Their sophomore album 'Torch Song' (BMAs “Album of the Year” in 2017) paved the way for an exciting year for the band, getting to share the stage with the likes of Eminem, Khalid, and The Roots.
\nTheir third studio album, ‘The New Normal’ continued the band’s evolution, allowing them to set new precedents by building collaborations with the Museum of Fine Arts and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
When the pandemic struck, the band was knees-deep into creating their fourth studio album. With the inability to share the same space together for some time, and the world changing around them so dramatically, so did their album. Inspired by the fierce and emotional determination exhibited by John Boyega following the murder of George Floyd, Pope found a kindred spirit in the actor, sharing the same anger and frustration with the world’s continual mistreatment of people of color. The toll this takes on his mental health became the centerpiece of this album, and the inspiration from Boyega fueled his will to fight for balance; the title ‘Rock Boyega’ was born.
Independent from the jump and fueled at times by willpower and community alone, B. Dolan has expanded his creative influence beyond music into film, poetry, and songwriting over the past fifteen years. Known on stages around the world for his impassioned delivery, dynamic live performances, and dedication to challenging the norm, Dolan engages deeply in his craft while actively fostering a community among his fans and friends. With a crate's worth of LPs, mixtapes, and live projects already in his catalogue, the road-tested hip hop poet continues to navigate life, aging, liberation, trauma, and post-lockdown culture with vulnerability and curiosity on his latest LP “The Wound is Not The Body”.
In the midst of a difficult upbringing, the Rhode Island native discovered solace and purpose in hip-hop. Scribbling his first rhymes in the early 90s at the age of 12, he found healing and political awareness in music, and an outlet to guide and make sense of his inner and outer worlds. He moved to New York, dropped out of school, and began performing at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in NYC in 2001, years later he crossed paths with Sage Francis, signed to his indie label Strange Famous, and began touring the world in 2005.
In 2010 Dolan released "Fallen House, Sunken City," a hip hop debut produced entirely by Alias of Anticon Records, to critical acclaim. In 2012, inspired by CopWatch activists and following the murder of Oscar Grant, Dolan wrote and released "Film The Police", a video that went viral and spawned a hashtag and protest ethos that persists to this day. He also became vocal in defense of LGBTQ+ rights, beginning with the song and video for "Which Side Are You On?" that spread widely during this time. The popular mixtape series ‘House of Bees’, 2015's “Kill the Wolf”, and back to back touring and releases with Francis as the Epic Beard Men cemented his reputation on the mic in the decade that followed. Notable tours include The Church of Love & Ruin, which featured the drag performer Katya on her first touring stages and combined drag, hip hop, and sissy bounce and marching bands, and toured on two continents in 2012. Most recently the Minecraft concert series #NetherRap, created by Dolan during the pandemic lockdown, featured acts as far ranging as Kimya Dawson, Thursday, clipping. and Moor Mother. The shows connected with thousands of people and raised funds for the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers as well as sidelined bands and musicians.
If you look at the story of any successful artist with longevity, the middle chapters are always the most interesting. Usually, there is a personal or professional crucible. For artist-producer Jackson Whalan, that transformative time occurred in the wake of a lost weekend stretch out West.
Whalan was a teen hip-hop wunderkind who once performed at the United Nations in front of a star-studded audience. As an adult, he became known to the public for his infectious jam, “S.N.A.G. (Sensitive New Age Guy),” which has amassed over a half million streams. But just two years later he was aimless and entangled in toxic dynamics. Whalan has profoundly turned his life around since then, and he has done nearly the impossible. He’s become a profitable, full-time independent musician.
