Band Of Liars was formed by front woman Rae Rae Jensen and her long time friend Shane Soloski. The band naturally formed together as they were best friends in the music industry. All it took was a divorce, a tragic affair, some acoustic guitars, a few drinks being shared between some good friends who decided that the only coping mechanism available to them was to write a bunch songs about all the drinking and divorce that surrounded them. As a result, a new album titled "The Truth" was made. The music is equal parts of sublime fun and introspective sadness, both with a gritty truthfulness that is always lurking right below the surface. When you hear the songs on this album for the first time, or if you are lucky enough to see the band perform live, there is no escaping the undeniable feeling that you are hanging out with your best friends. The members of Band of Liars on the record also include Dean O’ Leary on Guitar, Michael Martinsson “Swede” on Guitar, Chris Lawrence on pedal Steel and Steve Wilson on Drums.
Their album “The Truth” really captivates the feeling of sincerity and honesty as the project begins with their first record “Pickin’ Up The Pieces”. This vibrant song immediately begins with an attractive melody from the acoustic guitar alongside lyrics that seemed to be reflective of the heartache the band has probably experienced in the past. It’s a beautiful tune that made us fall in love on impact. The next single to follow, “Shoulda Known Better” was an interesting lyrical interpretation for us. We believe it touched based on the hookup culture that’s so apparent in todays society. The possibility of catching feelings when simply hooking up with somebody can be so common now-a-days. We also believe it possibly went deeper in lyrical connotation and put emphasis on the personal affair experience a band member has experienced! Nonetheless it was a great song with a great story to tell.
Track 3, "Hard Times and Alcohol" continued the up-beat and country rock soulful grit, however we noticed something special by this time of listening. It’s the compelling storytelling in the tunes that’s gravitating us towards the song. Each song thus far has felt more like a personal diary of the artist rather than just a song to sing. You become more connected with the band due to this vulnerability. That same vulnerability shines through with the next tune “Favorite Song” feeling more sensitive and subtle rather than driven and energetic. They pick the energy right back up with the next single “Mamma Hold On” and this song is our personal favorite due to how relatable it was. A song dedicated to the woman who gave birth to you, your mother. It’s an appreciative song for how strong, loving and hardworking our mothers are. “Mamma hold on, I'm going to buy you that house, the one you always talked about, the one you always dreamed of". These are the exact emotions we collectively feel towards our mothers who have all done so much for us! It really helps you appreciate her worth a little bit more. With emotionally conveyed songs like “93 In November” , this song was projected with a strong passionate vocal resonance in Rae’s vocals, how can we not appreciate how this band is giving us everything in one? Their next two songs “Trouble” and “Drunk Drunk” gave us powerful belts with that fiery southern charm, seemingly to be their niche in the music they release.
Band of Liars released a pleasant music video to their single “Trouble” in which the setting and environment takes place in a party scene where Rae sees a man she finds magnifying and appealing. This man has this “bad boy” aura to him that reels her in. The chemistry between them both was undeniable and she was so lost in the moment and she didn’t care regardless if it was a bad idea or not. The video was fun, charismatic and cute. The personality of Band of Liars was highly presentable and that was the best part about it! Band of Liars attracted us as a fan due to their incredible songwriting skills, fierce guitar riffs, addicting tunes and powerful vocal belts credible to Rae Rae.
If you’re wondering why the voice of Rae Rae sounds so familiar, itt’s probably because she was the female vocalist featured on the hit song “Smile” by Uncle Kracker. After spending several years working with Detroit Music Royalty and touring the US and the south with Kid Rock, Uncle Kracker and Ty Stone it was finally time for LA native Rae Rae to record her debut country rock album with West Coast grit and southern soul made right here in Los Angeles in Van Nuys at Blue Suede Studios. Producer Shane Soloski has been relentless at developing Rae Rae and the band for this next chapter of success and they now have a bangin' record and band that is an undeniable representation of great songwriting and production. This is just the beginning for The Band Of Liars.
You can the band live TONIGHT at The Federal Bar NoHo, doors open at 7PM and cover is $5 or on March 31st at Genghis Cohen on Fairfax.
Listen to the full album here and get to know a bit about Band Of Liars in our interview below!
Hey guys! Great to chat with you. Tell us a bit about the band!
BAND OF LIARS - was formed by Front woman ( me ) Rae Rae Jensen and my long time friend - Shane Soloski - who is also the Producer of our new album entitled -THE TRUTH - and plays in the band as well on Bass. The band sort of just formed naturally between some of our very best friends in music, All it took was my divorce, a tragic affair and some acoustic guitars, and lets just say more than a few drinks being shared between some good friends who decided that the only coping mechanism available to them was to write a bunch songs about all the drinking and divorce and hard times that surrounded them. We all work on a weekly basis just to make ends meet and keep our musical aspirations alive. It’s not easy. And we are lucky enough to have each other. The members of Band of Liars on the record are ~ Rae Rae Jensen, Shane Soloski- Bass, Dean O’ Leary- Guitar, Michael Martinsson “Swede” - Guitar, Chris Lawrence- pedal Steel, Steve Wilson, Drums.
When writing this album, what was the most challenging aspect you guys had to face?
The most challenging thing was knowing what we were up against. As they say, ignorance is bliss. We knew what we wanted the record to be, but when we started it was just me Shane and an idea. No record label, no management, no team, not even a band. We wanted to do a record that was every bit as good if not better than what the major labels were turning out but we had no machine in place. All of these big acts on the radio have the best writers to work with, best producers best musicians and pretty much best of everything at their disposal. How do you compete with that? Luckily Shane has an amazing studio -Blue Suede Studios, Van Nuys CA. -and we were able to work on down time to do the recording. And as luck would have it, we have some amazingly talented friends who believed in what we were doing, so it went from me and Shane to what became - Band Of Liars- Everyone sacrificed so much. I had just gotten divorced, and Shane had just started with his studio, we would have been happy to even have a shoe-string budget to work with, but the truth is that we were working totally without a net. We all spent every second of our free time making this happen, and we all did it out of friendship and a love of music. I know that sounds cliche, but it’s really the truth. So knowing how good we wanted it to be and having no money to try and make a record that would stand up against what the big labels were putting out was definitely the hardest part. We have funded as much as we can on our own including going to a NASHVILLE at the end of last summer 18’ receiving a great response!
What inspired you to name the album “The Truth"?
Our music is equal parts sublime fun and introspective sadness, both with a gritty truthfulness that is always lurking right below the surface. We were not making this up - “The Truth” is The band of Liars and The Band of Liars are “ The Truth” And when you hear the songs for the first time, or if you see us perform live, there is no escaping the feeling that you are hanging out with your best friends. Another reason kinda inside joke for “ The Truth “ is my Affiliation with Ty Stone & the Truth who I sang with for many years- we were great together and Ty got me many of my big opportunities -one of them being that I am the female vocalist featured on the hit song “Smile” by Uncle Kracker. After I spent several years working with Detroit music royalty- touring the US singing with Kid Rock Uncle Kracker, and Ty Stone it was finally time for me to record my debut country rock album. And as fate had it the truth again smacked me in the face ! There really was no other name better to call this record than “ The Truth”
How did you select “Trouble” to be the leading single of the album?
One night, Music Video Director - Anna Kovaleva - was hanging out with her girlfriend in Hollywood Boulevard and we ended up in a nightclub called “Loaded” (which doesn’t exist anymore, unfortunately). There were several indie bands playing at that night, and one of them was us. They had so much fun during their performance, that when we finished, Anna- immediately rushed to the stage and told us that she would like to shoot a music video for us. And because She was creating her production company and portfolio she offered to do it for free. And we said said “Yes.” They chose our song “TROUBLE” . Her team of people also created a beautiful story following the band and me talking about our past and history and our influences they were very generous to us and filming us behind the scenes kind of like a documentary on the band building momentum before the video got completed. It took some time to finally shoot it! It took us more than a year to make this happen. Firstly, the band didn’t have the master of the song ready. Again we didn’t have money to help in anyway (even if They didn’t charge us any director’s fee, we still needed some money for production). So, Anna started following this band for more than a year and she was almost ready to give up on us, But she believed in us so much she was determined to finish this project - and that finally happened on , on Oct. 14, 2018, we did it! And released it the same day as the album And now, this music video is on YouTube!
Which songs on “The Truth” are the most meaningful and impactful to you as an artist?
Well definitely my song “Mama Hold On” is about my mother and the pain she went thru working as a single mother and raising us to be so strong and resilient- she’s always been a huge supporter of my music she was once an amazing beautiful singer that was so close to making it her self - I come from a musical family and grew up surrounded by music some of the best musicians in Los Angeles my oldest sister was signed to Motown going up - we were all in a band together I grew up doing shows with my mom and two older sisters, She eventually gave up and put all of her faith in us we wanted to do it anyway and when I realize I wanted to sing and write music my mom was one of the first reasons why I decided to take this journey of my own. All I really want is to take my mom by the hand and say -we did it ! I work every day at my career to try and fulfill my family‘s legacy that is the one driving force that still keeps me going.
“Picking Up Pieces”
This song was written in the most devastating time of my divorce I would drive out to Venice Beach to write with amazing songwriter -Steve Sulikowski. As devastated as I was, I knew I had to put it out on paper “Picking up Pieces” was literally me picking up pieces of my life. When hear this song it tells the whole story of what happened and how my marriage ended and how sometimes life throws you a curve ball and it’s actually the best thing that ever happened to you - A blessing in disguise.
What's next for the band through 2019?
Well 2019 is the year that we continue to figure out how to get to the next level without the machine behind us. Everyone thinks making a record is the hard part. Getting people to hear it is the really daunting thing. We currently have no idea how to do this, none of us went to school for marketing or worked in advertising or have friends who are big time booking agents. But we figured out how to do what we feel is an amazing record all on our own, and we will figure this out even if we have to lie a little to get The Truth out. We will go back to Nashville and continue to try to find representation. Holding it down in Los Angeles.
Shane has been relentless at preparing me for this next chapter of success in which I owe so much to this type of friendship and old school development does not exist anymore I’m so thankful everyday he never gave up on me, and we now have a record and band that is an undeniable representation of great songwriting and production. This is just the beginning for us I like to think of us as a well oiled machine which is a combination of hard work struggle and what beauty can come out of the sadness.
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