Mt. Joy

An indie folk-rock outfit with a soulful bent, Mt. Joy take their name from a peak inside a Pennsylvania national park near where founding members Matt Quinn and Sam Cooper grew up. The band rode a series of self-released singles to viral streaming success in the late 2010s before joining the Dualtone label for their eponymous 2018 debut. Their 2020 follow-up, Rearrange Us, cracked the pop charts, setting the table for their thoughtful, brightly hued third set, 2022's Orange Blood. After a period of heavy touring, the band returned with the emotional and rugged Hope We Have Fun in 2025.

Quinn (vocals, guitar) and Cooper (guitar) were high school friends from Philadelphia. The duo had a history of playing music together in their younger days, but life and circumstances pulled them apart for many years. Reconvening in Los Angeles in 2016, they recorded four songs with producer Caleb Nelson using the name Mt. Joy. Released online with little fanfare, one of their songs, "Astrovan," began to pick up steam digitally, eventually logging over three million streams. Buoyed by their success, Quinn and Cooper decided to quit their day jobs and enlist a full band to complement their live shows. Issued in 2017, their follow-up singles "Sheep," "Cardinal," and "Silver Lining" fared similarly well as the group's reputation grew.

Mt. Joy kicked off 2018 with the understated, slow-building single "Jenny Jenkins," followed a few months later by their self-titled full-length debut. The band made the rounds of the festival circuit and toured heavily in support of the record before returning to the studio, this time in Oregon with producer Tucker Martine. A self-described breakup album, Rearrange Us had a darker tone than their debut and just managed to crack the Billboard 200 (at number 197) upon its June 2020 release. By this time, Mt. Joy had been forced to cut short a major tour supporting the Lumineers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To write their next album, Quinn and Cooper isolated themselves out in the California desert near Joshua Tree. The songs that came out of this period featured low-key grooves and a contemplative tone. Even the album's title, Orange Blood, referenced the warm hues of this desert period. Produced in Philadelphia with longtime collaborator Caleb Nelson, Orange Blood was released in June 2022. Over the next year, Mt. Joy toured tirelessly, playing festivals around North America and touring Europe with Greta Van Fleet. They returned in 2024 with the poignant and deeply personal "Highway Queen," kicking off the album cycle for their next full-length. Subsequent singles like "More, More, More" and "God Loves Weirdos" revealed an increasingly rugged and emotional tone which they further explored on 2025's Hope We Have Fun. Released on their own Bloom Field Records imprint, the album featured guest appearances from Nathaniel Rateliff and Gigi Perez. ~ Timothy Monger