SHEL's Recent Performance at the Hotel Cafe In Hollywood

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a performance of SHEL and interview the four twenty-something Holbrook sisters at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, an esteemed Los Angeles live music destination that had been on my list of venues to check out for many years.  When my music industry friend Angela suggested that I catch this performance of SHEL, I was totally unfamiliar with the band.  I did my usual research for going out to hear a band for the first time by watching the SHEL YouTube channel, reading reviews on the SHEL website, and scrolling through their posts on the SHEL Facebook page (with 18,000 fans). Wow I thought to myself, I can't believe that I am just discovering these four young women for the first time.   After seeing them perform, they were even better in person, then what can be seen on YouTube, as SHEL engaged a large enthusiastic audience within the confines of the Hotel Cafe.  They have great stage presence and I got some good pictures of SHEL under difficult low lighting at Hotel Cafe and my many photographs hosted on flickr can be seen below:

I have conjured up the label of alt-Americana band to describe SHEL due to their unpredictability of their musical style when combining keyboard, fiddle, percussion (including a squeezebox), and mandolin that showcased sounds of irish/celtic, classical, alt-folk, americana, alt-country, and steam punk.  These Holbrook sisters, Sarah, Hannah, Eva, and Liza, from Fort Collins, Colorado, now residing in Nashville, are in the recording studio for their second album, but it is a mystery as to the direction it might take.  Frankly, I was blown away by these accomplished musicians and songwriters, as they very well could be the next big thing.  It wasn't so long ago that Mumford and Sons were playing Hotel Cafe, and look at them now, and you could say that SHEL is what an all girls version of Mumford and Sons might be like.

Some writers have compared SHEL to the Dixie Chicks early in their career, but to me, SHEL reminds me of an all girls vocal version of the Punch Brothers, minus the esteemed sounds of Noam Pikelney's banjo.  I do have to acknowledge, however, that in the second half of the concert, electric guitars were introduced into the mix, as can be seen in my photographs. As one gets to know, SHEL, one discovers that Eva is an extraordinary designer of hats.  Thus, it is fun seeing what hat the Eva might be wearing that she designed.  In their officially produced videos, many times, you will see all of the girls in specially designed hats by Eva.  The hats are exquisite and quite fitting for their music,

What very well might launch  the awareness of SHEL is being part of the soundtrack for the upcoming Nicholas Spark's Best of Me movie performing Hold On. The soundtrack album was released today, October 7, 2014 and the movie is scheduled for release on October 17, 2014. Appearing with SHEL on stage for the last song was Gareth Dunlop from Ireland who recently collaborated with SHEL on Hold On for the Best of Me movie. The song can be seen on YouTube as a duet with Gareth and Eva the night they wrote the song,  On the Best of Me soundtrack album, they are appearing with many of my own favorites such as Lady Antebellum, Hunter Hayes, Colbie Caillat, and Kacey Musgraves.  Being a fan of the soundtrack, could very well get me to see the movie. Incidentally, Gareth Dunlop opened for SHEL at the Hotel Cafe.

SHEL skipped the September 2014 Nashville Americana conference, awards, and performance week to perform in Claremont for the Levitt Pavilion stage and then the Hotel Cafe.  I hope that their Pasadena sister Levitt stage noticed and might consider booking SHEL for summer 2015.  Again, thank you Angela for recommending SHEL and I had a great time interviewing these four young talented women of SHEL which can be seen here in my eight minute and a half minute hosted on my trekntravel YouTube channel below.

Catching Up with New Orleans Based Gal Holiday and The Honky Tonk Revue

For fans of Louisiana music, whether it be jazz, country, americana, swing, zydeco, cajun, or blues, and living in Southern California, we are blessed with great festivals and music clubs, that are constantly booking touring Louisiana based bands.  Thus, when "Where's Andrew" from National Geographic Traveler posted on his twitter account in November 2011 that he had just witnessed the best music in the New Orleans French Quarter, I was very curious and intrigued.  This was Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue fronted by Vanessa Niemann playing old-time countrified swing.  I found the band's website and YouTube videos, and saw that they had taken up a music residency in Los Angeles, splitting their time in New Orleans, and noted that in December 2011, they were doing some very late night performances at Taix in Echo Park.  I was planning on seeing one of those performances, but I was just too tired to make the late night trek to Echo Park, but then I got lucky, and Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue got booked for Harvelle's in Long Beach.  Playing Harville's under the Congregation Ale House was like being booked into a roaring 20's speak-easy.

I was mesmerized hearing and seeing Gal Holiday perform country swing at Harvelle's, and at times, it was like hearing Patsy Cline channeling Wanda Jackson's rockabilly, and below are the pictures from that night.  Her small space dance moves on stage became hyptnotic, and later learned, they were a trademark of her performances.

Alice Wallace to Play Hard Rock Hollywood on Thursday Night

I met Alice Wallace, a rising alt-country/rocker/blues talent, when she played right before the Greencards at The Mint several months ago (which was covered on the ExperienceLA blog), and felt I was seeing an emerging artist. What was interesting about that night was that here was The Greencards, a Grammy nominated nouveau bluegrass band promoting and producing themselves. since they had been dropped by their record label. The Greencards raised enough funds through their friends, fans, and family to produce their Bricks CD which is tracking very well on the Americana charts as they tour America. They are their own boss.

But back to Alice Wallace who is appearing at the Hollywood Hard Rock Cafe on Thursday night, September 8, 2011 from 10 pm to midnight, and there is no charge for the music. She refers to this as a semi-acoustical set, and will be joined by her band. You can discover Alice Wallace on your own at her brand new website, which she just launched to promote her debut full length CD that she is finishing off in the recording studio. What intrigued me was that she used Kickstarter which is actually owned by Amazon.com to finance her studio time. The way Kickstarter works is that you decide how much money you want to raise and the time period, and then appeal to your friends to donate for the cause. If you don't hit your goal, then the pledges are not collected.

There are aspects of Alice Wallace that remind me of early Tift Merritt, and then her yodeling song, is not just channelling Patsy Cline, but would remind one of the spirit of The Dead Ringer Band when Kasey Chambers was a teenager. Incidentally, Randy Lewis, the LA Times music critic just reviewed and praised Kasey's current CD release "Little Bird" and I would suggest that it be sampled, as it is tracking near the top of the Americana charts at number 4. Kasey Chambers in the Little Bird CD in some ways shows a mature Kasey Chambers returning to her Americana roots.

So if looking to stay out late on Thursday night, take the Red Line to Hollywood getting off at the Hollywood and Highland station, and be entertained by Alice Wallace and her band at the Hard Rock Cafe. Wouldn't it be something if her guitar made it on the wall one day. Here are my pictures as a slideshow of Alice playing at The Mint in very difficult lighting conditions ( and for those with an iPad, the link is here: