bio
Claire Morales began performing when she was 13 years old, playing acoustic gigs at local coffee shops in North Texas. After singing in other acts throughout her teen years, she went on to form her own band in 2014, moving from acoustic to electric guitar and bringing in rock band instrumentation.
February of 2015 saw the release of Claire's debut album Amaranthine. The record is a collection of dreamy, hazy rock songs centered around childhood, nostalgia, and coming of age. The LP garnered the attention of local publications and blogs (see press) and became a calling card for the various festivals and out of town shows the band took part in (including SXSW, 35 Denton, Norman Music Festival, Oaktopia, Thinline, Hot Water Hills, and Wildflower Music Fest).
In early 2015, Claire began a collaborative covers project with various musician friends, including: Jena Pyle (Layer Cake / Sundae Crush), Ariel Hartley (Pearl Earl), Rachel Gollay (Gollay) and Dalton Kane (Bashe / Chinaski, the Fury). The project explores a variety of her musical influences from the 60s, featuring songs from muses such as Leonard Cohen, Nancy Sinatra, Patsy Cline, and the Everly Bros. The covers are a fun, quick way to work together with local musicians, get inspired, and stay busy between releases.
In October of 2015, Morales wrote, recorded, and released Harmony in Hell with Daniel Markham. The LP is halloween themed, sparse, and spontaneous. Beginning with the wild thought of making an album in a month, the duo worked fast to write and record all of the songs together, working late nights and setting up camp in a friend's pool house to get the job done. The result was something raw, lovely, and unexpected. They loved doing it so much that they made another album entitled Neighborhood Creeps in October of 2016.
In spring of 2017, Claire released "Wrong Ones", a 5 song EP written in collaboration with Jena Pyle for their project Saudade Sisters. The EP is inspired by sad girl music from greats of heartache (think Vashti Bunyan, Sibylle Baier, and Laura Marling). Saudade Sisters toured the pacific northwest in fall of 2017, playing cold weather songs and stopping for the occasional road burrito and Twin Peaks inspired music video excursion.
Claire was also an artist for the Elk River Sessions for their inaugural retreat this year. 20 Denton artists shuttled out to the Ozarks to drink way too much booze and create an album together from start to finish in 3 days. A documentary was made to capture the process. The film will be released in 2018 at Denton's Thnline Festival where the bands from Elk River Sessions will also be performing live. All of the funds raised from vinyl sales and live performances of these songs goes toward aiding Traci Batson who suffers from MS and all of its associated medical expenses.
New album released June 29th 2018
Official SXSW Artist 2019
meet the band
FUN FACTS ABOUT THE BAND:
Ryan has played bass in a few dozen bands including: Baptist Generals, Dust Congress, Bludded Head, and Warren Jackson Hearne. When he's not music-ing, he's serving up drinks and running sound at Dan's Silverleaf. Ryan loves cheese, give him cheese if you see him in the wild.
Alex is an engineer at Mockingbird Sound Recording Studio. He also loves penguins very much and proofreads books about penguins. He’s also our photographer on the road with a special affinity for film cameras.
Brandon is our drummer extraordinaire. He loves to collect and sell oddities when he’s not drumming. He also enjoys making up jingles and choreographed a much lauded Men in Black dance routine as a youngster
Ryan Williams (bass), Alex Hastings (lead Guitar) and Brandon Young (drums), are rad musicians and awesome people.
Though this project is billed under Claire's name, the band is what truly gives the songs life. Each member contributes in arranging and fleshing out the songs once they are written. They are all incredibly giving with their time, practicing together every Sunday, taking time off work to record, going out on the road together, and making it all fun.