Embracing Tradition - Iza Jane and the Greatwood Acoustics
Traditional American Roots music often escapes young musicians. Offering a career mostly mired in obscurity or requiring a tremendous amount of effort to overcome obscurity takes a deep commitment to the music and its historical significance. That's why when you come across an Eilen Jewell, Carolina Chocolate Drops or Spuyten Duyvil you pause a moment to admire young musicians who embrace tradition while following their own path. Such was the case when we stumbled upon Iza Jane and The Greatwood Acoustics and assembled them at a small basement club in Greenfield, MA called The Wheelhouse to film a set for Alternate Root TV Season 3.
Iza Jane and The Greatwood Acoustics is a Central Massachusetts based quintet fronted by singer songwriter Sarah Benoit. Benoit has all the necessary tools to make noise in the American Roots world; she has an angelic voice, solid guitar chops, writes good songs and has the look to match. The solid one-two guitar punch provided by T.J. Dluguaz on slide and Mike Lynch on rhythm and lead offers an opportunity for the band to branch into a variety of areas from Piedmont blues to folk and bluegrass combining soul and rock elements for flavor. Add banjo and harp player Nick Langlois' fills and bass player Matt McManamon's tight rhythms and the result is a band on the rise starting to make a name for themselves around the region. It's what independent music is all about...it's what it's supposed to be about! We filmed four songs for the show that will air later in the Spring but wanted to put this one out there to help things along. "Morning Sun" is about lazy mornings, snow on the ground in Spring and a good cup of tea. Check it out, we think you'll dig it as much as we did.
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