Local group expands community ties through musical harmonies

By guest con­trib­u­tor David Johnson

Local music brings com­mu­ni­ties togeth­er. The music is per­son­al, a shared con­ver­sa­tion between friends. Music that stirs emo­tions comes from a place of hon­esty with­in one­self; we iden­ti­fy with it because it speaks to a truth we often do not allow our­selves to feel or admit to. 

This is no easy feat. Homegrown artists reach­ing deep into the well of their soul to pull out the mag­ic that lies with­in. Putting the words out there, brave­ly bar­ing the inner self to the scruti­ny of friends and strangers alike. The words often reflect their sur­round­ings, speak­ing of places we are famil­iar with.

Then there is the sheer tal­ent of peo­ple who can com­bine those words with music. Creating tunes that wrap around the lyrics. Singer/songwriters con­nect the music with the words in ways that cap­ture our atten­tion, giv­ing us a deep­er under­stand­ing of the intent of the song.

The cor­rob­o­ra­tion between band mem­bers who put their indi­vid­ual twists into each song plays an inte­gral role in live music. The con­cert­ed efforts spread har­monies through the crowd. The amount of time, the end­less hours of unpaid prac­tice to weave those ele­ments into the spot­light is large­ly unseen by the audi­ence. But they notice when it is not there.

The abil­i­ty to talk to com­plete strangers and bare your soul is some­thing I strug­gle with. To stand up on stage and put your­self out there is on a whole oth­er lev­el. For some artists, if you get to know them off­stage, you can see the stage per­sona take over the minute they take the stage. For oth­ers it seems like an exten­sion of their authen­tic selves.

This is where the local music scene makes its impact. You get the chance to talk to the artists before and after, some­times even dur­ing the set. When you real­ize that the inspir­ing musi­cian on stage is a real per­son, you see their music as a reflec­tion of their inner self. They allow you to be com­fort­able lis­ten­ing to their explo­rations of sound and surroundings.

The world is full of musi­cians, but my favorites are always the ones who write and play about what they tru­ly love. I often find myself moved by gen­res that oth­er­wise do not appeal to me when lis­ten­ing to pop­u­lar music radio sta­tions. The local ele­ment con­nects me to some deep­er under­stand­ing of myself and the world.

Them Lasses

Them Lasses is a local band that start­ed out explor­ing mul­ti­ple gen­res through cov­ers of old timey, clas­sic rock, coun­try, and mod­ern songs. The group includes three tal­ent­ed ladies, each putting their own dis­tinct fla­vors into their music. They high­light their unique per­son­al­i­ties, cap­ture the mood of the crowd, and raise the ener­gy lev­el. Each mem­ber being a singer/songwriter and musi­cian in their own right, they soon start­ed intro­duc­ing orig­i­nal, home­grown songs into their mix.

They com­bine dis­tinct har­monies and musi­cal tal­ents into their shows and intro­duce audi­ences to sounds they may have yet to dis­cov­er. When you look around the room, see the cap­ti­vat­ed faces, and hear the applause and shouts of enjoy­ment, you get a sense of togeth­er­ness. Like meet­ing new fam­i­ly, you feel like a lost part of you has been found.

These women are the epit­o­me of the local music scene. Each of them found their way to the local open mic night. They took it upon them­selves to get on that stage and play music they loved. Upon hear­ing each oth­er sing and play, the idea came to them to play togeth­er. That evening led to mag­i­cal and ever-grow­ing harmonies.

Some of their recent per­for­mances have includ­ed host­ing a Halloween show at The Hall Social and Coffee Club, the pre-show act for Joslyn and the Sweet Compression at the 2023 Legends of Bourbon County Festival, an impromp­tu and well attend­ed show at Waterfront Bar and Grill, and every sin­gle music fes­ti­val host­ed at Rockcastle Riverside this past year. Them Lasses are on top of the local music scene this year.

Erin Sliney has been in the indus­try for a bit. She has writ­ten and released an album enti­tled “Truckee to Kentucky.” Her recent lyrics reflect her con­nec­tion to nature in “Sweet Mountain Music,” a ref­er­ence to the camp­grounds and music venue at Rockcastle Riverside. Her raw emo­tion comes through in her voice as well as in her pick­ing and fid­dling skills.

Brittany Dawn Samples is no stranger to the local music scene. She has played mul­ti­ple venues with Randon Uhrig and Jeoffrey Teague, both well-known musi­cians in the com­mu­ni­ty. She brings a delight­ful, good-heart­ed Appalachian feel to the band which can be heard in “Wildness.” Her wit­ty song­writ­ing skills and abil­i­ty to add joy shines through in their stage presence.

Abby Rank Aydlotte brings a calm­ing pres­ence to the group. Her vel­vety alto voice adds rich, com­plex lay­ers to their music. You can hear her con­nec­tion to friends and fam­i­ly in “October Song.” She writes and per­forms orig­i­nal music for Them Lasses and her solo endeav­ors. She has per­formed on the cour­t­house steps at many Winchester events and can often be found doing per­son­al shows around town.

You can find their new releas­es on Spotify and catch them live at Rock House Brewery in Lexington for their album release par­ty on Saturday, November 25^th. I am excit­ed about meet­ing new friends at their show to add to the grow­ing fam­i­ly tree.