Bethany Saint-Smith & The Gun Show, Hannah vs. The Many, Wide Right

First and always, the voice.

Since Manhattan’s Bethany Saint-Smith & the Gun Show first took the stage it’s always been about the voice. As the Supreme’s Susaye Greene has said, “Bethany has the instincts of an aged American blues singer. Though she's very young, there is a tug in the heart when you hear her sing that grabs you and makes you wonder what she's lived through. She reminds me of the earthy Odetta of 60's Folk-rock fame, or of Nina Simone's scathingly sophisticated perceptions of life."

Over the years the voice remained the anchor, but as Saint-Smith lived and her voice ripened, the band moved away from straight blues. It irrigated its roots with other music. It evolved.

Now in its final form, The Gun Show retains the shadowy, smouldering blues that have long been hallmarks of its sound, but with Jon Fallin (bass), Daniel Geoghegan (drums), and Michael Washburn (guitar) behind her, The Gun Show is less a backing band with a good singer than a ferocious three-piece engine driving a phenomenal vocalist. It's something rare theses days: an unironic, full-on rock band. Saint-Smith’s voice is soulful and powerful, with perfect intonation and a subtle volume modulations -- an intimidating example of the dying art of vocal dynamics. And the band is propulsive and raw, deceptively loose and boozy, but periodically punctuated by sharp, decisive rhythmic shifts.

Bethany Saint-Smith & The Gun Show draws inspiration from such classic masters as Johnny Cash, Muddy Waters, Wanda Jackson, the Stones, and Zeppelin, as well as living legends like Ryan Adams, Drive By Truckers, and Neko Case.

Dirty Blues. Soul. Country. Rockabilly. In the hands of Bethany Saint-Smith and the Gun Show, it's all Rock ‘n Roll - or as they like to call it, Rocky-Tonk.

Hannah vs. The Many consists of Brooklyn singer/songwriter/antiheroine Hannah Fairchild and some of the more musically inclined members of her beloved urban family.

Hannah originally moved to New York City expecting to find work and meaning in the city's seedy underground indie musical theater community, which, as it turns out, doesn't actually exist. After two years of being rejected by every possible elementary school tour, Hannah said "fuck this" and started writing her own material.

Her lyrics are rooted in her musical theater background, with acerbic, rapid-fire observations that reflect her childhood obsession with Stephen Sondheim. Musically, she bends genres at will, blending influences from Kate Bush to The Replacements to Leslie Gore. Hannah's songs tell stories of heartbreak, hook-ups, drunken victories, narrow escapes, and all the other "pretty little tragedies" that come with being young and broke in the greatest city in the world.

Hannah recorded her first album Paper Kingdoms alone in her apartment, while recovering from a broken ankle and a long string of terrible choices (they know who they are). Weary of belting solo, Hannah began gathering some talented and like-minded friends and playing with them at venues around the city. Her second album, All Our Heroes Drank Here recorded at Brooklyn's Royal Drag Studios, was released January 17th, 2012.