The Head and the Heart is a band based out of Seattle, Washington. With most of the band members being Seattle transplants, they write and play songs that speak of the newness of a fresh start, of the ghosts which were left behind, of moving forward, all of which are brimming with a soulfulness and hope for a better life than the one we had all been sold.
Gregory Alan Isakov is a native of South Africa, who moved to the states and discovered a passion for music. He now resides in Colorado and writes and performs some of the loveliest lyrics. His mellow voice and choice of topics makes for a mellow (if saddening, for those of us who aren't in love) experience.
Water Liars is a Misra collaboration between songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Justin Kinkel-Schuster (St. Louis, Missouri) and the multi-talented Andrew Bryant (Oxford, Mississippi), who convened and with one microphone, recorded Phantom Limbs. This album IMMEDIATELY grabbed Misra's attention, who has signed breakthrough acts like Shearwater, Great Lake and Swimmers. The result of the collaboration is nothing short of hauntingly magical tenor.
John McCauley, from Deer Tick, has a voice influenced STRONGLY by both Hank Williams, Sr., and brandy--in equal portions. This song is a perfect description of what happens when you daydream about someone, and it's perfect, as is John's voice and adept picking.
I'll just let Nick's write about her own song: "My Dad did have something to do with it, but he absolutely thinks that he was the whole complete reason it was ever written. I guess it was about September 1974, I was home at my Dad and Mom's house in Phoenix, and my father said, 'You know, you really put a lot of time into this [her singing career], maybe you should give this six more months, and if you want to go back to school, we'll pay for it. Basically you can do whatever you want and we'll pay for it - I have wonderful parents, and I went, 'cool, I can do that.' Lindsey and I went up to Aspen, and we went to somebody's incredible house, and they had a piano, and I had my guitar with me, and I went into their living room, looking out over the incredible Aspen skyway, and I wrote 'Landslide.' Three months later, Mick Fleetwood called. On New Year's Eve, 1974, called and asked us to join Fleetwood Mac. So it was three months, I still had three more months to go to beat my six month goal that my dad gave me."
