Mike Viola w/Drumming Bird

at The Camel

Mon March 2nd, 2026

Doors 7 pm, Show 8 pm

Mike Viola is a producer, musician, songwriter and singer. Decades into his career his music continues to resonate with and inspire new generations of musicians and music lovers. Starting in 2019 Viola hit a prolific streak and released fan favorite records The American Egypt, Godmuffin, and Paul McCarthy, all recorded in his Los Angeles studio Barebones. His recent albums have garnered a whole new fan base and sold out shows around the US. His latest album, “Rock Of Boston”, was released on September 20th 2024 on Good Morning Monkey/Grand Phony in the US, Lojinx in Europe and SONY Japan and an international tour followed.

Rock Of Boston was recorded over the winter of 2023 on ½” tape at Barebones, Viola’s home studio in Los Angeles. Once again joined by his friends Jake Sinclair on bass and Brendon Urie on drums. Viola says, “I’m always writing songs, or pieces of songs, or riffs. My writing process changes every song, so I never get trapped in a method. I let the song lead me. While I was on a world tour playing guitar for Panic at The Disco, I wrote the bulk of this record on the bus between soundcheck and showtime. On the days off, I’d find a recording studio wherever we were and I’d book studio time to sneak away to lay down a few ideas. When the tour finished, Jake and Brendon came home to LA and we never stopped playing music together. We just switched from touring with Panic! to recording Rock Of Boston pretty seamlessly without a break. Maybe that’s why the riffs seem bigger on this record, we had spent all those months in hockey arenas around the world playing big music.”

Viola is currently working on the follow up to Rock Of Boston to be released in the Winter/Spring of 2026 with a tour to follow. Never slowing down.

Drumming Bird is the main vehicle of singer-songwriter Austin Sawyer. Sawyer has been writing and performing music as Drumming Bird for over a decade, meticulously crafting a sound that lies somewhere between the youthful noise of indie-rock and the poignant working-class introspection of Americana.

The growth of Drumming Bird’s burgeoning fanbase has been catalyzed by national TV placements, including on Showtime’s hit show, Shameless, captivating live performances at many of the nation’s flagship clubs and a growing reputation as one of the most authentic voices writing music today.

The title track of Drumming Bird’s 2022 release, American Spirits, scored him second place finishes in Unsigned Only’s 2022 Songwriting Contest and American Songwriter’s 2022 Song Contest. The following single “Electric Cowboy” landed on Spotify’s editorial playlists: Fresh Finds, Fresh Finds: Rock and Grade A.

Drumming Bird’s new record, Roadkill Poetry, was produced by Oscar-nominated songwriter Mike Viola (Panic! At The Disco, Andrew Bird, Jenny Lewis), with Griffin Goldsmith (Dawes), Sebastian Steinberg (Fiona Apple, Iron & Wine, Soul Coughing) and Viola as the backing band. Its singles have landed on Spotify’s “Fresh Finds: Folk” and Apple Music’s “New in Alternative” and “New in Rock” playlists.