To Add to Your Playlist

Just a few short months ago in our September issue, we delved into the far-ranging difficulties of our region’s performing arts scene in the wake of COVID-19—focusing largely on the economic toils artists are facing with limits to venues and audiences. In the meantime, though, art persists. Eight months in, the creative fruits of this forced and anxiety-charge quiet time are slowly being unveiled in the form of new music across the region.

Karma and the Killjoys 

In Baton Rouge, the piano rock-musical theater-folk (“the holy trinity”) band Group Therapy is reintroducing themselves as Karma and the Killjoys. The evolution adds reinforced instrumentals and existential drama to Rain Scott-Catoire, Sydni Myers, and Sophia Brazda’s spectacle expression of, as Brazda described Group Therapy’s origin songs, “deep middle school sleepover trauma emotional magic”. New members Thomas Vercher, Michael Blount, and Matt Hawkins bring a stronger rock and roll element Queen-like element to the group’s expressive sound. Scott-Catoire described it as “rock that needs to be performed.” Karma and the Killjoys expects to release their debut album by the beginning of 2021, but in the meantime, you can get a taste of their music on their Instagram @karmaandthekilljoys.

Hippie Witch

Fellow Capitol City songwriters Molly and Denton Hatcher have also introduced their newest iteration as a duo: Hippie Witch. Born between singer/songwriter gigs on the road last year as the married musicians expressed a longing for more rock and roll, Hippie Witch is, as Molly described “the birth child of Black Sabbath and the Beach Boys, raised on the unfinished sandwich of Mama Cass; a departure in the fact that we are playing some of the rawest music that we can.” While the two are used to long seasons on the road, Molly said that the time in lockdown gave them a chance to really fine tune the new sound. However, they are ready to bring it live again, and have participated in a few live outdoor gigs around town. Follow along on Spotify or on Hippie Witch’s bandcamp page.

Hazy Jane

Formerly the frontwoman of Baton Rouge band Ship of Fools, Ashley O’Neill—now based in New Orleans—has just introduced her first solo musical concept, Hazy Jane. “It’s completely different from every music project I’ve undertaken. It’s the most vibey, electronic, danceable and personal music I’ve ever made,” she said. Taking on the character of Hazy Jane, O’Neill described being able to express feelings she had struggled processing as herself—“getting them out of my body.” “I saw this hazy, blurred person who you couldn’t quite make out,” she described. “She grew up on musicals and ‘90s culture and she was sad as hell but dancing through it, crying at the club,” she said. “I want everyone to be able to see themselves in this music because they can—it’s vulnerable, it’s emotional, it’s sad and open and raw.” Collaborating with producer Greg Sorenson of Be My Friend Productions, director Nick Arnold, choreographer Maya Taylor, New Orleans Ballet Theater principal dancer Josh Reynolds, stylist Christine Hamilton, photographer Kathleen Fitzgerald, and fellow artists Charlotte Tobin and Jory Lee Cordy, O’Neill produced a music video to accompany her first single, a cover of Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang”. Each of Hazy Jane’s five songs will be accompanied by a video, and released once a month. Follow along on Instagram at @whoishazyjane and whoishazyjane.com.

Renée Reed

Finally, across the way in rural Acadiana, “dreamy-fi folk” artist Renée Reed—daughter of Cajun musician Mitch Reed—has been drawing up her own collection of songs. “I’ve been wanting to make a solo record for years,” she said, describing how quarantine finally brought her the stillness to reflect inwardly and make it happen. Recorded on a 4-track tape recorder at home, the songs on her debut album, set to be released March 26, 2021 on Austin label Keeled Scales, are hypnotic and gentle, performed on guitar, fiddle, and organ. Inspired by everything from art to life experiences, Reed draws on emotion and imagery to produce music that is as ethereal as it is therapeutic. Listen along on Spotify and at reneereedmusic.com.