Mama Magnolia

You’ll find soul at the heart of any band worth its salt.

It’s the unspoken magic that invariably unites musicians of different styles and sensibilities. It’s the magnetic force that pulls together genres. It’s what makes music connect cerebrally, physically, and spiritually. Mama Magnolia live on “the soulful side of rock.” The Denver six-piece—Megan Letts [lead vocals, keys], Thomas Jennings [guitar], Zach Jackson [bass, vocals], Jackson Hillmer [drums], Carrie McCune [trumpet, vocals], and Alex Cazet [saxophone]—would be just as at home in a New York City jazz dive as they would be on forested festival grounds. Like a musical time-warp where Etta James fronted Lake Street Dive, they pepper this brew of soul and rock with boisterous horns, jazzy flavor, gospel heart, classical resonances, and even a little hip-hop swagger…

2016 saw them release their independent debut EP, Something About Fire. Between shows with everyone from California Honeydrops to Marco Benevento, they earned the praise of early supporters Denver Post, Sound Fix, The Grateful Web, and many more. Building a profile, they quietly recorded their 2018 self-titled EP, Mama Magnolia, with GRAMMY® Award-winning producers and engineers Steven Vidaic and Mike Yach. The musicians emphasized a live approach in order to bottle the spirit of their shows on tape.

In the end, the soul of Mama Magnolia comes from the “family” bond shared by all six members.