CHEYENNE MARIE MIZE
The doe-eyed Kentucky native has a small, childlike voice and a world-traveler's way of looking at things. She is a singer/songwriter with a pointedly minimalist approach, yet her songs have an amazing depth of field that transcends their simple, reverb-y electric guitar settings. She started as a fiddler and vocalist with the bands Maiden Radio and Arnett Holler, and released an ethereal and charming set of old American parlor songs, Among the Gold, with Will "Bonnie Prince Billy" Oldham. Her first solo release, Before Lately, is haunting and unforgettable. March 10, Jinx. See cheyennemariemize.com
BURIED BEDS
This is one of those bands that's so good, you simply cannot understand why the world hasn't discovered it yet. Buried Beds is a pop group - no apology necessary, because doing pure pop well (i.e. not boring people to death) is a high-wire act not too many people can pull off. The band was formed in 2003 by Philadelphia indie music mainstay Brandon Beaver (how's that for a pre-existing stage name!) and Eliza Jones. Check out the latest Buried Beds collection, Tremble the Sails, to understand what talented people can do with piano, acoustic guitar, banjo and violin. The arrangements are lush and interesting, the lyrics focused and funny, and the vocal harmonies are Beach Boys good. All the vocals, by the way, were recorded at home, with the band members in their PJs. March 12, Jinx. See buriedbeds.com
MURDER BY DEATH
At one moment, Adam Turla sounds like Nick Cave; the next, he's Ryan Adams, or B.J. Barham from American Aquarium. The band could be Crazy Horse, Wilco or even Savannah's Train Wrecks. It's multi-textured, focused, original Americana, with Old West themes bumping up against staccato blasts of heavily reverbed rockabilly guitar and dramatic cello. To write the 11 songs for the Indiana band's fifth album, Good Morning, Magpie, Turla isolated himself in the mountains of Tennessee with a tent, a fishing pole and little else. "There were days where I'd sit down and write for seven hours, make dinner, and then sit down and write late into the night with my little camp light going: just intense, nonstop sessions of pure writing. I've never worked that way, ever, because with all the business of being a band, I've never had so little to do! Every day I was either cooking, hiking while writing, or writing. I didn't speak to a single person the whole time." March 12, Jinx. See murderbydeath.com
LANDS & PEOPLES
Caleb Moore, Amanda Willis, and Beau Cole of Baltimore are multi-instrumentalists, vocalists and dedicated creators of a home-made wall of gentle sound that descends like a fog at sunrise and remains in the air, intoxicating, for hours. Lands & Peoples' dreamy soundscapes come from somewhere a little to the left of Roxy Music, with almost subliminal nods to all the textured dreampop that came afterwards. It's all done on the lo-fi, in the band members' living rooms. Our favorite tracks: "In Living Colour," "Isabella," "Cars Like Waves." March 12, Wormhole. See landsandpeoples.com
Check out the full four-day schedule at savannahstopover.com