Delta Spirit

American indie rockers Delta Spirit employ an atmospheric and anthemic blend of country-, blues-, and folk-inflected retro-rock with occasional electronic flourishes. Emerging in 2007 with Ode to Sunshine, the band found mainstream success in the 2010s with their self-titled third LP and Into the Wide, with the latter effort becoming their highest-charting to date. Following a short hiatus that saw lead vocalist and guitarist Matthew Logan Vasquez issue a trio of solo albums, the band returned in 2020 with their fifth long-player What Is There, followed by the electronic-leaning One Is One in 2022.
Pitching their style between indie rock and alt-country, Delta Spirit features bassist Jon Jameson, drummer Brandon Young, vocalist Matthew Vasquez, multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Kelly Winrich, and guitarist Will McLaren. The band started when Jameson and Young’s former band, the San Diego-based emo outfit Noise Ratchet, called it quits in 2004. Seeking a rootsy sound, the pair joined forces with Vasquez, Winrich, and founding guitarist Sean Walker. In 2006, the band issued their debut EP, I Think I’ve Found It, and hit the road alongside Cold War Kids and Dr. Dog. The following year, they self-released their first full-length Ode to Sunshine; after Delta Spirit signed to Rounder Records, the label reissued a remastered version of the album in 2008.
Earning acclaim for their albums as well as their live show, the band began recording songs for its second album at Prairie Sun Studios in 2009. The finished product, History from Below, was released in June 2010. Just before Delta Spirit’s self-titled third album arrived in 2012, Walker left and McLaren joined C.O.C.; soon after, they moved from Long Beach, California to Brooklyn, New York. In 2013, the group contributed an exclusive new song, “Running,” to the soundtrack of the AMC show The Walking Dead.
Delta Spirit returned in 2014 with Into the Wide, a darker, heavier set of songs written and recorded in the practice space they’d rebuilt near an Atlanta shipping yard after Hurricane Sandy’s devastation. It was recorded with producer Ben Allen (who has also worked with Animal Collective and Deerhunter). It became their most successful album yet, both commercially and critically, and Vasquez also began recording solo singles and EPs, culminating in the 2016 album Solicitor Returns. Returning after a six-year hiatus, the band issued the potent and inward-looking What Is There in 2020. Two years later, they released the sonically adventurous One Is One, which added electronic elements to the group’s widescreen Americana sound. ~ Andrew Leahey