CHRISTIAN LOPEZ BAND & SILVER LINE STATION

Christian Lopez Band

Christian Lopez is a 20-year-old with the soul of a 65-year-old Appalachian mountain musician hidden away inside, steeped in the roots of his West Virginia upbringing on the shores of the Potomac River in the Eastern Panhandle of the state. On his debut full-length effort, ONWARD, the young artist emulates the sound produced by the region's resident pickers and strummers, writing all but one of the songs on the album. Highlights include the Old Testament gravity of the focus track, "Leaving It Out," the plaintive, yearning lament of "Seven Years," the twangy pedal steel guitar lacing through "Morning Rise" and the whistling-past-the-graveyards fatalism of the ghostly goth-gospel "Oh Those Tombs," a song Christian discovered in the public domain popularized by Hank Williams.

If his previous five-song Pilot EP was, in Christian's own words, about adolescent relationships, ONWARD is about the responsibilities and sacrifices that come with pursuing something you are drive to do. Songs like "Seven Years" and "Pick Me Up" are about moving inexorably forward, forced to leave those you love behind, even while keeping them close. The conflicts described in "Stay with You" and "Will I See You Again" could be summarized in the phrase, "should I stay or should I go," while the gravity of "Leaving It Out" and the orchestral benediction of the closing "Goodbye" confront mortality itself with hope, optimism and joy intact. ONWARD is about yearning to put down some roots, but being hopelessly addicted to the wanderlust of the road, seeking to escape the day-to-day for the promise of what tomorrow may bring.

Silver Line Station

Silver Line Station is rollin' out the new wave of Americana music, inspired by Mumford & Sons, The Avett Brothers and The Civil Wars. Featuring strong vocals, and an amazing fiddle player, SLS crosses the boundaries of country, folk & rock.