Records and Shows
“It is encouraging to see talent like this, particularly with uncertain times ahead for the country. Observers, recorders, and commentators on real American life are needed, and Blakeslee shows plenty of potential to become an important contributor.”
LISTEN
Sweetbriar Rose
"Cultivar" - 2013
“Blakeslee’s newest band, Sweetbriar Rose, takes advantage of the towering talents she displayed as an Estelle (a luxuriously husky and sexy voice; smart, bookish lyrics) combined with the efforts of this city’s most down-and-dirty bluegrass, blues and C&W players like pianist Joy Thiessen (of The Estelles) and mandolinist EJ Simpson (of Maggie, Pierce & EJ). Sweetbriar’s new Cultivar (Little Red) is Blakeslee’s first recording in a decade, a noir-ish, moody, murder-ballad-filled epic rife with three-part harmonies and weirdly jazzy rhythms. An impressive and spooky return.”
Heather Shayne Blakeslee
"Treon's Cut Rate" - 2003
“As intimate as a lullaby and as gritty as a roadhouse... Pop this in next time you’re cruising down Route 66 ”
Heather Shayne Blakeslee
Mercy Mountain EP" 2002
“Blakeslee has taken up the mantle of ‘modern-day minstrel’ with a grace and a finesse rarely seen or heard in this day and age.”
Heather Shayne Blakeslee
"Bones" 2001
“Blakeslee is adept here at shaping lush backdrops for her stories... she is a performer to appreciate as much for her eye, as she surveys what’s around her, as for her honey-toned voice”
“A woman who knows exactly what she is doing... her lyrics and her ability to get inside the mind of her characters are what really bring this above the norm.”
With my drummer and partner in New York, 2015
Playing with the Scud Mountain Boys and Sean Rowe in Philadelphia
Live on the Folk Show at the WXPN Studios
Backstage at the Philadelphia Folk Festival with Leyla McCalla from the Carolina Chocolate Drops
Post show at the Brandywine Folk Festival
Some Notes:
When I moved to New York in 1996 after college, I took my father's old guitar with me, learned to play and started writing songs. Twenty years and three records later, here I am in Philadelphia.
I have three current musical projects: learning to play the cello; occasionally singing and collaborating with folks from Dirty Soap, and getting ready to release a second record with my folk-noir band Sweetbriar Rose. It was recorded before the pandemic, and we’re thinking about how best to release it… but Black Eyed Susan will be available in 2023, hell or high water.
I used to play in an all-girl country band called the Estelles, and I also recorded two records and an EP as solo singer-songwriter when I lived in New York.
Thanks for listening.