Best Local Musician: Bull Street Garage

The Best Local Musician 2023 winner is none other than Bull Street Garage! Band members Josh Blibaum, Parker Lubin, Joe DiGregorio, Doug Neubauer and Jack Barrett all attended the University of South Carolina and graduated this past year, but they are continuing to reflect on their time together and look forward to the future.

Bull Street Garage credit the quarantine of 2020 as the biggest factor in the band getting together. After getting sent home from classes, Lubin released a self-produced song that caught the ear of Blibaum. At the time, Blibaum was also recording his own music at home and decided to reach out to Lubin. The two began swapping samples back and forth before they invited DiGregorio to join them. 

The band said their group was mostly born from a group chat and innocent bedroom jams and that, without the pandemic and having that time to be creative and experiment, the band may not have become what it is today.

When asked when they knew there was something special with Bull Street Garage, the members said it was during their first practice with drummer Barrett. With the addition of Barrett to the band, all the members were able to play instruments they were more confident in.

Finding the right people and coming together is one thing, but having the courage to put yourself out there and start a band may be a daunting task for some, but not for Bull Street Garage. They said that all the members knew they had strong potential and wanted to share their love for music and entertainment with the world. They credit their confidence in their abilities as musicians as one of the largest factors in their success. 

When asked what their biggest achievement as a band has been so far, Bull Street Garage was excited to reflect on the last couple of years. They said they have been able to open for some awesome groups, play shows for crowds bigger than they could ever imagine, self-produce a full-length studio album and live album, create and sell merchandise, travel to multiple states and more. But above all else, this group of close friends enjoys spending time with each other. They said that their true proudest achievement “is the immense amount of fun we had doing it.”

Looking into the future, Bull Street Garage wants to get back together and make some more music. They have moved on to their post-grad lives in different states but can’t wait to get back together and hopefully play a reunion concert at Williams-Brice Stadium one day.