Schaefer Llana

Growing up in Batesville, Mississippi, Schaefer Llana had to really search to discover the music that she now cites as influences. Sharon Van Etten, Judee Sill, and Karen Dalton weren’t playing on local radio, though early interactions with Shania Twain and Britney Spears certainly seep their way into her radiant style of contemplative and confessional indie rock. As such, her style is an amalgamation of these influences–an almost preternatural ability to conjure memorable hooks out of thin air; a lyrical style that veers from narrative driven to poetic with the flip of a switch; and patience in her songwriting that reveals someone relentlessly dedicated to teasing out the subtle details that can make a song great.

After an internship at a studio in Mississippi, Llana began working for the studio. That gig earned her a spot touring with Mississippi legend Jimbo Mathus, a job she still has as a guitar player and singer. Playing with Mathus has taught Llana that when music comes naturally, the intricacies and details fall away and all that’s left is the pure emotion. “Jimbo taught me that music is really just about communicating the feeling and you don't have to be so precise and calculated within that,”.