Bill and The Belles hail from the foothills of the Blue Ridge in Johnson City, Tennessee and formed out of the bandmates’ mutual fondness of early American music. Their debut album is DreamSongs, Etc. – a mix of charming vaudeville and traditional country music. Bill and the Belles is comprised of Kris Truelson (guitar, vocals), Kalia Yeagle (fiddle, guitar, vocals), Grace Van’t Hof (banjo, banjo ukulele, vocal), and Karl Zerfas (bass), with the band taking its namesake from Bill and Belle Reed, performers from the 1920’s who recorded the songs “Old Lady and the Devil” and “You Shall Be Free” in their hometown. The band members have been honing their chops over the years with live performances in addition to their gig as the house band on the live radio show Farm and Fun Time which was started by Truelsen in 2015 as a feature on the Birthplace of Country Music Museum’s community radio station Radio Bristol. Working with engineer Joseph Dejarnette (Anna & Elizabeth, Nathan Bowles, Lake Street Dive) the band’s debut was recorded in two days in an old Southeast Virginia farmhouse where the trio gathered around one microphone accompanied by Evan Kinney (accordion) and Aaron Olwell (clarinet). Standout tracks include: the breezy “Wedding Bell Chimes”; an upbeat longing to go “Back to My Childhood Days”; the 1905 Arthur Francis Collins classic “Preacher and the Bear”; the charming ditty “Oh Johnny Oh”; and two great renditions of the Jimmie Rodgers‘ songs “Carolina Sunshine Gal” and “Tuck Away My Lonesome Blues.” Dreamsongs, Etc. is a fantastic homage to the traditional American music from Bill and the Belles region of the south and a must-have for fans of the genre. – Written by JFelton
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