Christine Havrilla has been a force on the Philly regional scene since the mid-90s, rocking a timeless sound that recalls generations of singer-songwriter rock and roll. You’ll hear echoes of Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams, Grace Potter, and Brandi Carlile in her music, which gets its latest showing in the upbeat California Nights EP, out now.
Havrilla joins us in WXPN studios this week with her full band — Colleen Clark on lead guitar, Gretchen Schultz on vocals and percussion, Keith Giosa on bass and vocals, and Rich Bellando on drums — to rock an upbeat four-song set showcasing her latest music, as well as back catalog faves. The song “California Nights” gets the set rolling with sunny melodies and vignettes of a golden state idyll; “Desire,” a song that first appeared as a stunning, socially-distanced single recorded remotely during lockdown, smokes and simmers.
The band dips back to 2019’s Sunless Escapade to play the jaunty folk-pop song “Said It Once,” a tune where their three-part harmonies positively soar. Rocking the set to a close is an expansive jam of “Hole In The Ground,” a song from 2006’s Velocity album, that opens with Havrilla using her pedalboard to loop an acoustic guitar backdrop that her bandmates build and embellish on, with Clark shredding on gripping guitar licks, Giosa and Bellando trading off on solos, and Schultz backing the fray with tambourine rhythms and fervent vocals.
Watch the performance below, and see Havrilla and the band headline The Lounge at World Cafe Live on Saturday, May 20th; tickets and more information can be found at WXPN’s Concerts and Events page.