Festa: Laney Jones & The Spirits, The Tara Novellas

Festa: Laney Jones & The Spirits, The Tara Novellas

http://www.mcmenamins.com/events/151099

Just named one of Rolling Stone's 10 Country Artists You Need to Know for 2016. Why You Should Pay Attention: Things could have gone a lot differently for Laney Jones - the native Floridian was on her way toward a degree in international business when she realized she favored singing and banjo strumming over trades and currencies, heading instead to Berklee College of Music to study songwriting under former American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi. It proved to be a good investment: a few years later, she was playing her quirky breed of folk-pop alongside Alison Krauss, who because an instant fan. There's a sheen to the tracks on her third self-titled album and strings of penetrating hooks - those DioGuardi classes paid off big time - paired with rootsy instrumentation and Seventies-era flourishes that keeps it from ever ringing too twee. She's the kind of Americana artist who can work equally well on the indie stage of a bluegrass festival as in an iTunes commercial.