Hollywood Style Americana

Kelly Macleod, Laura Hall and Rick Hall, might not be household names, but I bet you know some of their work. Kelly (vocals, guitar) was discovered by Eddie Van Halen and spent some time opening for his band for a season with her band, Private Life. If you ever watched Whose Line Is It Anyway, you’ve seen or heard Laura (vocals, guitar, accordion, ukulele) as she was the pianist for the show. And Rick (vocals, bass, harmonica) has multiple television and film acting credits that include NCIS and Disney’s K.C. Undercover. Together, the trio makes up the Folk/Americana act known as The Sweet Potatoes.

The band has been together now for seven years, recording three CDs in the process. “It’s rather stunning, actually, when you think about it,” Laura commented.

Kelly and Rick did a movie together, an independent film shot at Rick’s farm in Illinois. “When we got finished with the film,” Rick recalled, “I said to Laura, you guys need to work together.” The ladies started writing together shortly after that, and the next thing they knew they had enough songs for a CD. “So I get the credit for bringing the girls together,” he quipped. “And then we let him in the band,” Laura added.

The music is not in the style of Van Halen, obviously. However it is full of polish and soul, centered around delightful songwriting. “I was a rocker,” Kelly said. “I still am a rocker, but my influences are all over the map, and Laura and I had similar musical roots. It just clicked.”

“Americana, the kind of stuff we write, is really lyric driven and story driven anyway,” Laura said. “Both of us are definitely drawn to that.”

Headin’ Home is their latest CD, featuring more of those insightful lyrics and polished harmonies. It’s colored with sounds of Americana, bluegrass, country, folk and, “a tinge of gospel that will have you stompin’ your boot and singing along your journey.”

To find out more, visit
www.thesweetpotatoes.com