Born of the 2010’s folk boom and now comfortably stationed in their rock and roll era, TheCrane Wives epitomize the evolving sound of the indie genre. Having performed hundreds ofshows on stages across the country, they gravitate toward high-energy melodies, featuring thekinetic percussion of Dan Rickabus, the silky, driving bass lines of Ben Zito and playful guitarleads from front women Emilee Petersmark and Kate Pillsbury. Counterbalancing their livelystage presence, their lyrics extol the shadow side of the human condition, delving intomythology and themes of darkness and inner conflict. The band softens the blows of theiremotional candor with soulful three-part vocal harmonies, like a 21st century Cerberus, thehound of Hades reimagined as an emotional support animal. To date, they have released fivefull length albums, including their 2020 live album, “Here I Am”
Steven Leaf
There is a quiet confidence to the music of Steve Leaf. He has been writing songs for fifteen years now. Some songs about love, some songs about love lost, and others about everything else to cover all the bases. Steve hails from Michigan and cut his teeth in the singer/songwriter scene of Chicago which is to say he usually tries to sneak a Wilco cover into his set. Sometimes it pans out, other times, not a chance. He released his first record ‘We Are Ghosts’ in 2010 and has subsequently released several other albums since then including ‘Lightspeed’ in 2015 and ‘Go to the Pines’ in 2017. Steve finds inspiration in the songwriting of Josh Ritter, Damien Rice, and the less lyrically driven music of Ratatat and Nils Frahm. Always busy, Steve is consistently recording new music. In 2015, his fascination with instrumental music led to his creation of the guitar driven band ‘Public Access’, a ten piece leviathan rock band, a stark contrast to the reserved solo music Leaf creates. During a Leaf set, you can expect focused lyrics and tight guitar melodies over swirling ambient guitar loops.
