Photo by Teri Briggs
Two of our own, Michele Van Kleef and Rob Rainwater, rocked the Premier Performance Stage on Friday, November 13! With their delightful harmonies, storytelling lyrics, interactive performance style, and lighthearted humor – these two musicians had the audience roaring with laughter and singing along throughout their live performance. Portland Radio Project is proud to feature music from both artists’ solo projects, and very excited to be able to share the new Whiskey Darlings’ album, which was released on Friday as well.
Photo by Teri Briggs
Michele and Rob are both familiar names at PRP – Michele hosts the Monday Music Muse show at 11 AM on Mondays, while Rob is the host of his own show, Songs From the Source, on Sunday afternoons at 1PM. As individuals, they both have successful solo music careers. The two found that they have similar music interests, and joined forces not long ago to create their new band, The Whiskey Darlings.
Photo by Teri Briggs
The Whiskey Darlings’ songs are sweet, featuring innocent love stories, and tales of mild frustration regarding lost romantic opportunities. Rob and Michele’s interaction on stage is very welcoming. The two are obviously good friends, exchanging both good-spirited jabs and encouraging compliments. They also reached out directly to the audience, describing the history of the band’s formation and some of the stories behind the songs. As a very special treat, the duo invited two special audience members to join them on stage. Ara Lee and Bre Gregg from the Bonnie Raitt tribute band Something To Talk About, joined the Whiskey Darlings in a lively and very impressive impromptu version of “Before You Accuse Me”.
Photo by Teri Briggs
The band has only been working together for a short time. Michele says that the whole thing still feels very new to her, but that they feel that it is really coming together. Rob agrees – they are very happy to have released their album on Friday, available on NoiseTrade. Even before the album was released, though, The Whiskey Darlings had been identified as a band to watch. Starlight Music Chronicles has entered them in a “Band of the Month” contest for December. If you’d like to vote for The Whiskey Darlings, they’d certainly appreciate it. Portland Radio Project is excited to begin featuring the new tunes from this darling duo in our playlist.
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[…] They’ve recently submitted their new song “Why, oh Why?” To the NPR Music 2016 Tiny Desk contest. The Whiskey Darlings have booked a variety of shows over the next few months – and they’ve been written up in The Starlight Music Chronicles and featured in an article on Portland Radio Project. […]