what I love about the upcoming album “Heartless Woman”.. In an age where so many Country Singers sound like all they want is to create a pop hit, Laura Benitez and the Heartaches are playing it the way is meant to be played. I grew up on Johnny Cash , my Dad loved Country and I still listen to a lot of what gets called alt-country, but this is not alt-country it harkens back to the old days of Nashville, when no one was getting fancy about trying to create something that kids who liked pop music would listen to. This is Country Music , and if you like that, you will dig Laura Benitez and the Heartaches….
from …Laura Benitez & the Heartache.com
Heartless Woman Album Release Show
Coming Mid-November, 2014
Laura Benitez, songwriter, lead singer and founder of Laura Benitez and the Heartache, has been making her mark on stage and screen since the year 2000. After several years spent pursuing an acting career and appearing in soap operas and commercials in Los Angeles, she decided to focus on her music and moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 2004. Diving into the region’s rich Americana and roots music scenes, she first started honing her country music chops when she joined the newly formed Cottonpickers with her then husband in 2005. Taking her musical cues from the heavily rock influenced Bakersfield sound, and her lyric inspiration from her favorite songwriters Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, Laura began writing songs in 2008. She released her first album, “For Duty or for Love” on her own Copperhead Records label in 2010. The album is available for purchase from the artist and can be downloaded at http://laurabenitezandtheheartache.bandcamp.com/.
In 2012 she recruited the multi-talented singer, songwriter, and drummer Michele Kappel-Stone (Kirby Grips/Tippy Canoe) into the band, and was lucky enough to secure the talents of Bob Spector and Ted O’Connell (of The GoldDiggers, Moonshine Maybelline) on twang guitar and bass. The newest honky-tonker is Ian Taylor Sutton (Misisipi Mike, Christopher Ford Band)on pedal steel. When she’s not writing songs, Laura spends her time behind a sewing machine, making her own stage-wear and dressing the band whenever they let her.
After spending the last few years winning the hearts of audiences in the San Francisco Bay area, Laura Benitez and the Heartache are thrilled to announce their full length album, “Heartless Woman”, will be released in November 2014. Michael Doherty of Michael Doherty’s Music Log calls it “an album of seriously good country music…the songs are a mix of classic sounds with timeless concerns.” Look for it at a fine internet retailer near you, or purchase it here.
Laura Benitez & the Heartache are celebrating the release of their debut full-length album, Heartless Woman, with an album release show in mid-November of 2014. Ranging from sweet old-time waltzes, fiery rock ‘n’ roll numbers and honky-tonk shuffles, Heartless Woman will engage fans of classic country, rockabilly, roots and rock, alike. Benitez wrote all of the songs on the eleven-song record with exception of the Gillian Welch tune, “Tear My Stillhouse Down.” Choosing to record with the band she plays with live, the chemistry of the group and the comfort level with the material shines through on Heartless Woman. With this album Laura Benitez & the Heartache give tribute to the past but with a more contemporary sound.
