Songs Inspired by love, loss, hope, and redemption.
More interested in telling stories than chasing musical trends, Jeff’s music evokes a character-driven, grounded in real-life experience rooted in Southern storytelling. Both Velta Divine albums, with song contributions and collaborations from his cousin/singer songwriter Brian Roland, were recorded live, literally in an old south Austin lumber yard, with intimate rawness and with minimal post-production polishing. It was an attitude of, “Here are the lyrics, an idea of a melody, and some chords. Hit “record,” and let’s see what we get.”
Grayson County was recorded in a “real” studio, but with hopes and strivings of keeping the result authentic. Grayson County has a noticeable different musical personality than Velta Divine, including a female singer, different guitarist, and additional musicians. There are a couple of “VD covers”, trying a different feel.
Velta Divine
Alt-Country storytelling and rock energy with darker emotional themes about relationships and personal struggles; a journey through love, ambition, temptation, regret and a return to authenticity. It’s upbeat and direct with songs that have a hook. The songs are about attraction, conflict and restlessness, darkness and temptation, and reflection and redemption. It feels like a band playing songs on a front porch, which is close to what it was.
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Milk
Alternative folk marries Americana with intimate and acoustic-driven songwriting. The lyrics are, like VD, dark and reflective with a Southern feel. The introspective and emotionally layered arrangements are sparse and experimental, emphasizing storytelling and mood. While Jeff’s writing created the more popular songs on VD, Brian’s writing truly carries this album.
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Grayson County
Described as Americana with energetic, guitar-driven arrangements and memorable choruses. The songs are outward-looking about small-town life, relationships, and personal resilience. This is what you would play driving down country backroads with the windows down.