Karly Driftwood, Mackenzie Roark, + Carri Smithey
Karly Driftwood: “Once in a while a record will come along and make the listener pay attention, whether it be by the songwriting, the playing, or by sheer force. On Karly Driftwood’s debut record, Too Mean to Die the Virginia-born singer-songwriter eschews country music stat quo and instead leans on the dark themes of life. Too Mean to Die is a country record that’s scarred, jagged like shards of a broken beer bottle but also sugary sweet – if your idea of puff pastry is laced with arsenic. The songs are just as much influenced by the Misfits or Danzig as they are Johnny Cash or Dolly Parton; to put a finer point on it, Karly Driftwood is a potent mixture of equal parts Sylvia Plath and The Drive-By Truckers. Even her stage name, “Driftwood” is a nod to Otis Driftwood from Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects.” – Farce The MusicMackenzie Roark: There are shades of blue that don’t wash away and those hues are perfectly captured in the songs of Richmond’s own Mackenzie Roark. Exploring the tragically beautiful narratives littered across the honky tonk heartbreaks of the South, her songs lull heartache through brutal yet honest truths. With her sound firmly planted in the distant past of country and folk music, Mackenzie Roark brings those antiqued tones to new life in her forthcoming debut full length album, “Rollin High, Feelin Low.”Carri Smithey: The debut album by The Carri Smithey Band – Midnight Ride, plays as a veteran effort; 11 songs steeped in classic country and finished with the accouterments of rock and roll. Recorded and mixed by Dynamic Soundworks in Wilmington, NC, the album portrays a rich modern vibe while still living in a world of rustic sensibility.
