Touring in support of their new album Carry The Fire, Durham, NC’s Delta Rae will be coming to New York City’s Irving Plaza on Tuesday, March 5th. With music that finds its roots in the Americana and folk-rock traditions, Delta Rae employs multi-layered vocal harmonies to bring a sound that resonates deep in your soul. Made up of three siblings – Brittany (vocals/percussion), Ian (vocals/guitar), and Eric (vocal/guitar) – the group is rounded out with childhood friend Elizabeth Hopkins (vocals/percussion), Grant Emerson (bass), and Mike McKee (drums). The Holljes’ early years were spent listening to their parents records – from James Taylor to Cat Stevens, and Fleetwood Mac to Paul Simon – and it is from these early influences that you can hear the Americana, folk-rock, gospel, bluegrass, blues and pop in their music. This is a group that is quite clearly steeped in the singer-songwriter tradition.
Growing up in Durham, NC, siblings Ian, Eric, and Brittany caught the music bug early on, and never recovered. The brothers began writing songs together at a very young age, where they forged a “close musical bond”. It wasn’t until after college, however, that the two began taking their music much more seriously. Upon graduation, Ian and Eric implored Brittany, with her “huge, brassy voice” to join them back in Durham, and then convinced their long-time friend Elizabeth Hopkins to join them. As Eric says about Elizabeth’s voice, “It’s got that raspiness….that old soul to it.” So, the foursome set up shop in an old house in the woods, and began their songwriting sessions. It wasn’t until late 2010 that they added drummer McKee and bassist Emerson; but after they joined, the making of a band had finally come to fruition.
About their debut album Carry The Fire: “The 12 songs on Carry the Fire display that muscularity, as well as great tenderness and, at times, vulnerability. They are songs that reflect the great stew of the band’s own shared histories and influences, as well as those of the land that bore them. There is the richness of Americana, of gospel, bluegrass, blues and pop, but there is also the well-oaked, deep-rooted tradition of storytelling, folklore, mythology. There is a thread that binds together west coast harmonies and the gospel choir, Southern gothic and civil rights, all of the tensions and the joys and the fierce, bright hope of America’s great cultural, geographical, musical journey.” Download Carry The Fire for free at this link.
Having hit the road hard in the last two years, and garnering much attention with their energetic live performances, Delta Rae will be coming to New York City’s Irving Plaza on Tuesday, March 5th. Opening the show will be saucy songstress ZZ Ward with her brand of blues/R&B/hip-hop. Check out ZZ Ward’s music for free here.
To purchase tickets for the upcoming show at Irving Plaza w/ ZZ Ward, click here.
Delta Rae appears on the Gangster Squad movie soundtrack, covering a song of the Peggy Lee classic “Bless You (For The Good That’s In You)”:
Check out a live performance of “Fire”:
Video for “Dance in the Graveyard”:
Check out ZZ Ward’s sexy video for “Put the Gun Down”: