The last time I caught up with our phriends Bandits on the Run — the trio of Adrian Blake Enscoe, Sydney Shepherd, and Regina Strayhorn, who began their musical career as NYC buskers a decade ago — they were touring the recently released The Shakespeare Tapes, an EP inspired by the soundtrack the band created for Peter Anderson’s production of As You Like It at Carnegie Mellon University, in addition to working on two upcoming musicals, including an off-Broadway adaptation of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. That was just July of last year, prior to a headlining date at The Loft of our own City Winery. However, in the time since then, they also managed to write and record their sophomore full-length, and first in nine years, Rough Magic, which dropped this June.
“It was only with a lot of grit and determination and only because we had been doing all of the other things,” says Adrian of their decision to make the full-length follow-up to 2017’s The Criminal Record (They have released several EPs in that time.), before adding, “I think it helped having a space.” The space they’re referring to is a spot in the Catskill Mountains, a former church converted into a house that friends offered them as a writing refuge. The concept for the album came about when they had a chance lunch meeting with mixing and recording engineer and producer William Garrett, who joked that you could really make an album there… The Bandits enlisted him to handle production duties.
“You’re getting a story from beginning to end,” says Adrian of Rough Magic, an album that is ultimately about relationships with friends. “It revolves around what it means to be relating to other people and connecting with other people,” says Regina, going on to characterize it as, “a really playful album.” She also says that it’s likely because of the band’s work in theatre that they felt inclined to make this one a full-length: “We’re always split between this theatre world and this indie folk world. With theatre, you’re talking about these longform works… For this, we were just thinking, ‘We have to bring the same level of creative energy.’” She also admits that the trio take significant inspiration for this kind of merging of mediums from a source most would never guess: “Although we sound totally different, I think My Chemical Romance has a cohesion in storytelling that we really look up to.”
Bandits on the Run have already done an abundance of touring throughout 2026, both before and after the release of Rough Magic, including a March headlining date at Nikki Lopez, which Regina tells me provided an opportunity for the trio to visit another South Street institution: “When we played Nikki Lopez, we were missing something from a piece of our gear, and there’s this accordion store, Liberty Bellows, and I remember walking in and experiencing shelves on shelves of accordions! It’s such a magical place and they’re such nice people!” And Adrian adds that not only do the Bandits always play good shows in the city, but they’re also just fans of the city itself: “There’s something about the walkability. It feels like things are a little closer together than New York, and there are so many different kinds of buildings.”
When I ask if the band have had any standout moments from their recent touring, Regina confesses, “It’s hard to pick highlights, because it’s been amazing to be playing the new songs, and the joy of playing the new songs has been great every time!” However, Sydney says that they did have an experience this summer that seriously stood out: “We say yes to a lot of shows in different kinds of places, but we just played the Oregon Country Fair, which is this crazy Deadhead experience, and during our song ‘We Battle Giants,” like a dozen or so stilt walkers just walked through the crowd, and it felt very ‘Rough Magic.’” Adrian also notes that their album release show (for which their drummer drove up from DC) and the tour they did opening for Alan Doyle (which included a stop at Sellersville Theater) were exceptionally enjoyable.
Their currently announced 2026 shows have the Bandits on the road through the end of October (with three shows in Alaska), and this coming Thursday, September 10th, will see Bandits on the Run returning to Kung Fu Necktie, which is actually the site of the cover (at least on Spotify) of 2025 single “Let’s Go Below.” And although the venue — which I regularly describe as, “looking and feeling like a brothel in a Rob Zombie movie” — would seem to be a little “off-brand” for the Bandits, Adrian tells me that they consider it to be a much better fit than some might assume: “I know it’s a punk and metal place, but when I walk in, I feel like I see the inside of a violin. It has a cavern-y, basement feel that’s great to do acoustic folk sounds… I think Kung Fu Necktie’s probably my favorite place we’ve played in Philly.”
Following their 2026 dates, Bandits on the Run will be partaking in the 19th edition of Cayamo, a cruise/floating music festival that will take music fans from Miami to St. Kitts & St. Maarten throughout late February and early March, where they’ll be performing alongside headliners Jeff Tweedy and Punch Brothers, in addition to PHILTHY phriends like Valerie June, Aoife O’Donovan, and Hurray for the Riff Raff. “We’re so stoked! This cruise has been a bucket list thing for the past five years. And none of us has even been on a cruise before,” Sydney tells me, before Adrian adds, “From what I’ve heard… the line between artists and audiences gets a little blurry, and there are collaborations everywhere… I feel like you could stumble into a closet and see Jeff Tweedy performing with a roll of toilet paper [laughs].”
However, amidst all of this time they’re spending in the indie folk world, Sydney confirms, “We’re pretty deep in preparation for the off-Broadway production we’re doing of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape… That starts rehearsing in May and then runs through the summer,” but also says that Bandits on the Run are already working on the next album. And Adrian admits they’re also hoping to spend some time outside the worlds of indie folk and theatre, as well: “We’ve been touring pretty extensively for the past few years, and we’ve realized just the necessity of the space to be bored. Creativity seems most successful when there’s not a mission. It’s really important to make time and space to have open, creative time.”
*Get your tickets here.
