Americana Duo Granville Automatic to Stop at Rockwood Music Hall This Fall

Led by a modern-day Linda Ronstadt, Granville Automatic writes songs the Associated Press calls "haunting tales of sorrow and perseverance." Horses, history and war are just some of the topics songwriters Vanessa Olivarez and Elizabeth Elkins prefer - all fitting subjects for a band named after a 19th-century typewriter. With sonic references such as Lyle Lovett, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson, Granville Automatic has created a quiet and lyrical sound devoted to telling stories from the past.

Together as a musical duo since 2009, they have three albums: Live from Sun Studio, Granville Automatic and last summer they released An Army Without Music.

Neither of these talented ladies are strangers to the music business. Vocalist/songwriter Olivarez wrote and recorded a Top 10 single in Canada, has three cuts on Sugarland records, including a song on their multi-platinum Enjoy the Ride album, received a Dora nomination for her work in the Toronto production of Hairspray, and she a former top 12 finalist on American Idol.

Guitarist/songwriter Elkins is a Grand Prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and has song placements in more than 40 television programs from Smallville to Rescue Me, Jersey Shore to CNN and in the film Mean Girls 2. In 2015, Billy Currington recorded their song "Drinkin' Town With A Football Problem" on his Summer Forever album which became the album's second single. Together, their songs have been featured on ABC's American Crime and ABC Family's The Lying Game.

Their third album, An Army Without Music: Civil War Stories from Hallowed Ground, is a collection of songs inspired by American Civil War stories from lands that have been lost or threatened by urban development or industry. From the haunting "Goodnight House" (about Dr. James Polk who tried to save wounded soldiers after the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky) to "Mollie Glass" (about a little girl who loses her favorite horse to the army) and on to "Salem Church" (inspired by Elizabeth's ancestor who deserted on the first day of Gettysburg to walk home to his wife in North Carolina) and "Grancer Harrison" (about one of the most famous ghosts in Alabama) - the record is a throwback to the warm analog sounds of '70s country. Produced by Gary Maurer of the band Hem, the nine-song album was recorded at Saltlands Studio in Brooklyn. The band also traveled to the site of each song's story, recording an acoustic version and video.

Granville Automatic is currently writing their fourth album, Dancing at El Mercado - a collection of songs inspired by Texas and Vanessa's childhood in the Lone Star State.

IF YOU GO:

GRANVILLE AUTOMATIC
November 11th @ ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL
Stage 1, 196 Allen St., New York, NY 10002
Showtime 10:00pm | Tickets $10.00
212-477-4155 | www.rockwoodmusichall.com

Photo Credit: Holly Schumacher