Lizzie & The Makers’ sophomore studio album, Dear Onda Wahl, embroiders their potent Southern-tinged rock with roots, soul, dream-pop, and ethereal elements to spawn something all their own. It’s one of those rare records that combines single-minded artistry with broad commercial appeal. Created around the dusky yet soaring timbre of force-of-nature frontwoman Lizzie Edwards, Dear Onda Wahl was produced by Grammy winner Mario McNulty (David Bowie, Prince) and Cure guitarist Reeves Gabrels (Tin Machine, Bowie). Their influence, alongside the textured six-string and pedal-steel expressions of Edwards’ writing partner (and Gabrels protégé) Greg McMullen, ensure an intriguingly adventurous, hugely dynamic – and occasionally otherworldly – take on the traditional. Defying her constant comparisons to Janis Joplin, the classically-trained Edwards, 5-time official showcasing artist at SXSW, former Pleasantville Music Festival MainStage performer, summons a heartfelt, nuanced mezzo-soprano shaped by Memphis soul legend Ann Peebles, Heart’s Wilson sisters, and jazz icon Billie Holiday. She’s assertive, yet vulnerable; defiant, yet proudly flawed.

KELLEY SWINDALL born and raised in Stone Mountain , Georgia. As the daughter of a conservative evangelical US congressman, the only music Swindall was permitted to listen to while growing up were of the Golden Oldies, Classic Country, and Contemporary Christian variety. It was the former two that excited her soul, with their story driven narratives, heart on their sleeve lyrics, and timeless melodies, which weaved themselves into her musical fabric. Part Patsy Cline & Part Dolly Parton, w/ original songs in the story-telling tradition of Hank Williams,  Johnny Cash, and Bob Dylan, Swindall is equally at home in a biker bar or under a proscenium arch, she sings about the stuff classic country ,folk, and blues music is made of: heartache, heartbreak, redemption, and revenge , filtered through a sassily southern perspective.