Cubs might be a newer name in Columbia, but for vocalist and guitarist Joe Chang, the connection to the city goes back years, long before relocating two years ago, through friendships, shows, and a scene that left a lasting impression. The band’s debut album, Meet Me at the Rocket, arrives Friday, April 17, with a release show at Art Bar.

“I grew up coming here since around 2005,” Chang writes, after meeting Adam Cullum through a musicians wanted ad. “Over the years, I made friends in the music scene and always admired how palpable and sweet the camaraderie amongst everyone was.”

One of those early memories ties to Hunter-Gatherer, where Chang’s old band played alongside Can’t Kids in the early 2010s. He still has a hand-drawn flyer from that show that Cullum made.

That connection carried into his first encounter with Aaron Graves and Those Lavender Whales.

“The first time I saw Aaron and Those Lavender Whales play was at a house show in Clemson,” Chang writes. “I have a distinct memory of meeting Aaron and shaking his hand. He clasped mine with both of his and looked me in the eyes with such sincerity and warmth.”

Years later, that thread came full circle at a gathering in Ridgeway following Cullum’s passing.

“We all congregated at this big house in Ridgeway and passed a guitar around and sang and laughed and cried well into the night,” he writes. “It was a fond and fitting farewell to our friend the best way we knew how: through music and fellowship.”

For this installment of the “I Love My Friends” sessions, Cubs performs “Ballad of the Straight Chump,” a song written by Adam Cullum and his project Fall Off a Building, in front of the mural honoring Graves at the former Hunter-Gatherer building on South Main Street.

The choice of song connects directly to the memories Chang traces through Columbia, bringing those moments into the present in a place that holds many of them.

“Loss just comes with the territory of playing the game,” he writes, “but it’s not always apparent what actually endures. For those of us left in the aftermath, we can only hope to pick up the pieces the same way we placed them: together.”

“So bring on the wrecking ball.”