Catch the genre-crossing sounds of Stella Ruze this weekend at the Hidden River Blues Fest

“I would most easily describe our sound as The Lumineers meets Trombone Shorty,” Alex Stayer told the The Key in an email. That’s a bold statement from Stayer, who’s the trumpet player in local folk-pop band Stella Ruze. The four-piece outfit released its debut LP, So Here, back in early June, and with that kind of description, they had a lot to live up to.

But the band is able to fulfill that self-supplied label with the genre-crossing sound it prides itself so heavily on. Stella Ruze prides itself on its genre-crossing sound, which they used to fulfill the self-supplied label. Folky vibes line the vocal harmonies of Brendan Johnson and Katie Burke and their string work on mandolin and guitar. The Lumineers tag is prevalent in songs like “Chivalry” and “Windows,” while the similarities to Trombone Shorty are more obviously heard in brass numbers like and “Somebody Told Me.” And with keyboard work from Mason Wallack, the sound is completed to occupy something at the intersection of folk, jazz, and pop.

Stella Ruze brings So Here to Manayunk this Saturday when XPN Welcomes them (and tons more great bands) to the 2nd Annual Hidden River Blues Fest at the new Venice Island Outdoor Amphitheater. Other acts performing include Charlie Musselwhite and Samantha Fish. More info and tickets can be found here.

Listen to Stella Ruze’s So Here below.