Sure, they call cokes "sodas" and don’t put enough barbeque sauce on anything and scoff when we mention the cold weather, but some folks from above the Mason-Dixon aren’t half bad. And if Yankee Blood‘s debut EP "Honey" is any indication, these indie dream pop carpetbaggers are earning their keep in Music City.
After years of performing as a solo folk act, frontwoman Kelly Ruth traded in her upright bass for synth pedals, met up with her creative counterparts, James Karp and Adam Verone, and together, they are putting a spin on alt pop that will satisfy a sweet tooth you didn’t even know you had. With Ruth’s breathy vocals atop combinations of traditional and sampled drums and a tele with a healthy amount of reverb, Yankee Blood are swirling together classic instrumentation and modern effects to create a sway-inducing sugar-rimmed cocktail. And we’re ordering another round.
"Honey," put out by Palaver Records, is a 4-song Philly cotton candy daydream with radio-friendly hooks and enough depth to resonate with the sometimes-hard-to-please Nashville crowd. Come out to their EP release show at The Stone Fox TONIGHT at 8:30 pm to hear them live with The Gad Gods, Cataline Crime and Kylie Rothfield and pick up a copy. -Caroline Bowman