Pittsburgh local music spotlight: King Blue Heron

Mike Palm
Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 7:05 a.m. | Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 7:05 a.m.

King Blue Heron

Pittsburgh’s King Blue Heron

King Blue Heron

King Blue Heron released “Salvation Sound” earlier this year.

Pittsburgh’s King Blue Heron released their “Salvation Sound” EP earlier this year, made with producer Billy Mannino.

“We were so in love with the results,” vocalist/guitarist Emily Hardenberger said. “We actually just got back from recording some more songs with him. He made those tracks really sparkle.”

The band recently spent a week in New York City with Mannino, who’s worked with Oso Oso, Macseal and Prince Daddy & the Hyena.

“Working in the studio with Billy Mannino is the most exciting and surreal thing we’ve done for sure. … It was such an amazing experience,” Hardenberger said. “We are all huge fans of his work, so it was amazing to record with him and get his feedback on our songs. Plus, he’s just a flat-out awesome person.”

The “Salvation Sound” EP features a pair of songs: the title track and “Veritas.”

“Both songs are part of a larger conceptual story about a nun getting romantically involved with another woman,” Hardenberger said. “The story is fictional but heavily influenced by my real-life experiences as a gay person growing up in the Catholic church.”

Hardenberger filled in TribLive on what else we should know about King Blue Heron:

Band: King Blue Heron

Band members: Emily Hardenberger (vocals/guitar); Bailey Willetts (guitar); Seth Berkin (bass); Lucas DiBlasi (drums)

Founding story: The band formed in 2022 when Seth and I started playing music together (under a different name). We added Lucas pretty shortly after, and played as a three-piece for about a year and a half. Bailey joined in summer 2024, which really injected new energy and ideas into the project.

Origin of band’s name: Lucas was playing a show at Second Floor Portal, which has an art piece of a blue heron wearing a crown. He wrote it down in his phone and suggested it when we were looking to change our name, and it just spoke to everyone and stuck.

For fans of: Horse Jumper of Love, Big Thief, Wednesday

Influences: Turnover, Citizen, Big Thief, Slowdive, Death Cab for Cutie

Releases: “Ora Et Labora” single, 2024; “Allegheny River” single, 2024; “Salvation Sound” EP, May 2025

Next show: Dec. 13 at Haven with Ethan Beck & the Charlie Browns, Tilt Contrls

How to find them: King Blue Heron can be found on Instagram, Spotify and Bandcamp.

Three other Pittsburgh area bands to check out: Westinghouse Atom Smasher; Her Charms; Secret Tunnel

Favorite pizza shop: Rockaway Pizza in Regent Square hands down. Best pizza in the city.

Mike Palm is a TribLive digital producer who also writes music reviews and features. A Westmoreland County native, he joined the Trib in 2001, where he spent years on the sports copy desk, including serving as night sports editor. He has been with the multimedia staff since 2013. He can be reached at mpalm@triblive.com.

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