Earthy, familial alt-pop outfit
Delta Rae skillfully juggle gospel-tinged country-rock, sensual blue-eyed soul, and harmony-laden Americana, resulting in an infectious, radio-ready sound that falls somewhere between
Nickel Creek and
Adele. Formed in 2009 as a four-piece around the talents of siblings
Ian,
Eric, and
Brittany Hölljes, along with Elizabeth Hopkins, the North Carolina-based band expanded to a sextet the following year with the additions of
Mike McKee and
Grant Emerson. In 2011 the group inked a deal with Sire/Warner Bros. after a particularly impressive in-office audition for
Seymour Stein, who was blown away by Hopkins and the Hölljes siblings' powerful voices. The resulting
Carry the Fire, their major-label debut, arrived in 2012.
Carry the Fire reached 11 on the U.S. Heatseekers chart and 13 on the folk chart.
Delta Rae released their second album,
After It All, in the spring of 2015. Following a relocation to Nashville, the band signed with Big Machine in 2017 and issued a pair of EPs --
A Long and Happy Life and
The Blackbird Sessions -- in quick succession. The front part of 2019 saw a spate of new singles, though in July of that year,
Delta Rae announced their departure from Big Machine following a massive company buyout. Choosing to go independent, they quickly launched a massively successful crowd-funding campaign for their next release, a two-part double album called The Light & the Dark. The first volume, The Light, appeared in March 2020. ~ James Christopher Monger