Dear Georgiana

From those in the know...

"With a voice as big as the whole state of Alabama, Dear Georgiana proves herself to be an authentic Southern Belle-de-force on her self-titled debut album. In the tradition of great female crooners like Dolly Parton and Linda Rondstadt, Dear Georgiana delivers heartfelt songs with a charming twang and a bright twinkle in her eye. Her self titled debut is out now on Tummy Touch Records."

According to Dear Georgiana...

"'Over You' was written entirely on an autoharp! And the video for 'Over You,' produced by Crazy Lake Pictures and starring Jess Weixler, was made in one four-minute long tracking shot with no cuts or edits. It took us about 30 tries to get it right. I've watched it so many times, but I still keep finding new things that I didn't see before so I suggest watching it multiple times. It's a costume party!"

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3ToD7r_AGg - Huffington Post

Like many of Philthy’s favorite acts, Lauren Balthrop, aka Dear Georgiana, has a quirkily clever indie pop take on the Americana chanteuse. Balthrop grew up in Alabama, although she’s spent her recent years in NYC. Prior to being a solo artist she made a name for herself in Balthrop, Alabama, alongside her brother, Pascal, and 13 other artists and The Bandana Splits, a neo-girl-group she shared with Dawn Landes and Annie Nero. I recently got a chance to chat with Balthrop about her re-location to NYC and her self-titled solo debut, which dropped on May 20th.

Of her time spent in NYC and how she feels about the environment, the scene, and her peers, Balthrop tells me: “It’s huge. It can be overwhelming, but it feels, somehow, small, at the same time. There are just so many musicians. I love Elizabeth & the Catapult and The Yellowbirds [whose Josh Kaufman produced her recent solo LP], and Poison Tree.”

Although hyper-sunny lead single, “Wanna Be in Love,” utilizes the best kind of teen girl retro mega pop to leave listeners in a sugar coma, Dear Georgiana’s debut has many sides and, while it may be generally coated in a “pop” aesthetic, it doesn’t mind dancing on the darker side of “the self” either, producing a number of delectably earnest anti-love songs. In terms of her heroines and heroes and just what inspires her, Balthrop tells me, “Patsy Cline is a favorite of mine, and Emmylou Harris, and Paul McCartney, and Neil Young, if you’re talking about musicians… Nina Simone, she’s a badass.” But when I ask her about her biggest non-musical influences she says she’s inspired by, “My friends… although a lot of them are musicians… in life, it’s definitely my mom.”

Dear Georgiana’s first LP has already received some pretty glowing reviews. Consequence of Sound proclaimed, “There is a charm to her writing that makes her heartache believable and measurable. So much so that it’s hard not to fall under her spell.” And For Folk’s Sake went so far as to say, “After one listen I had to stop myself opening the window and shouting at passersby that they had to go and buy a copy immediately.” “That was pretty awesome,” Balthrop tells me of the FFS review.

This Sunday, June 2nd, Dear Georgiana will be performing at Rockwood Music Hall for their album release party, which will have the project performing with its most dynamic lineup: “For my New York shows I generally have a full band and at my album release, this Sunday, I’ll have a horns section.” But if you won’t have the chance to see Dear Georgiana in NYC, it’s looking like you’ll have the chance in the very near future. I ask Balthrop about her biggest hopes and goals for 2013 and she seems to be very focused on being on the road.

“I’m gonna make another music video, which looks like it may be fan-funded. I hope to get over and tour the UK. I just hope to start touring, which I haven’t really done yet. I’m hoping to make it down to Philly in July.” (I gave her Bill from Milkboy’s contact info, so hopefully we’ll get to spend a warm summer night with Ms. Balthrop on 11th and Chestnut.)

- Philthy Mag

Not enough people know this, but the Bandana Splits’ eponymous debut is the most exuberant record of the last five years and the best slice of upbeat comic-book girl-band retro-pop this side of 1962.

Alabama-born Lauren Balthrop, one third of the Splits, adopts the alias Dear Georgiana and a more contemporary sound for her solo debut, stripping away all traces of kitsch or parody to deliver a record of such assured brilliance that after one listen I had to stop myself opening the window and shouting at passersby that they had to go and buy a copy immediately.

Balthrop shares with her more high-profile band-mate Dawn Landes an almost casual talent for memorable hooks, though clearly leans more towards the pop end of the spectrum. These songs sound both modern and like they could have been recorded at any time in the past 50 years. Her voice is rich and sweetly emotive, not unlike the equally fantastic Spanish singer-songwriter Russian Red. The soaring choruses should have mainstream A-listers grinding their teeth in envy.

This is an album to fall in love with and to; the kind of album people say they don’t make anymore. It’s fun and catchy and hip: every track perfectly formed. Opener ‘Don’t Let Me Go’ layers acoustic guitar, stark drums and an echo-drenched vocal that brings to mind John Lennon during his early, ethereal solo years. It’s followed by the gloriously McCartneyesque ‘Young Girl’, all pounding piano, jangling guitars and driving bassline. The album then continues to flit, effortlessly, between styles and genres – soul on ‘Over You’, power-pop on ‘Please Don’t Tell Me a Lie’, even nursery-rhyme on ‘Nowhere to Be’ – yet never loses its own unique identity, bolstered by idiosyncratic lyrics that range from affairs of the heart to, it seems, the apocalypse.

And it’s all delivered with such wit, poise and confidence. Breezing past in little over thirty minutes, it’s as uplifting and invigorating as a kiss from a new lover. By the stripped down, country-inflected final track ‘Let’s Dance’ I was on the floor, feet bare, my socks blown clean off.

Words: James Robinson - For Folk's Sake

If you’re in the market for a summer music crush, look no further than Alabama-born songstress Lauren Balthrop, here in the guise of Dear Georgiana. After stints with the New York throwback girl-trio The Bandana Splits and as a backing vocalist for Ximena Sarinana, Balthrop emerges with a set of self-penned songs with sensitive production from Josh Kaufman who also contributes backing vocals and much of the instrumentation.
“Don’t Let Me Go” opens the irresistible ten-song collection with Balthrop’s echoed dreaminess over a muted guitar accented by bass jabs. The chords could easily be from the Neil Young songbook but the mellow arrangement soon takes on added dimensions with waves of lead guitar, keys and strings.

Retro-pop number “Wanna Be In Love” takes off brightly from its opening staccato keyboard riff. Balthrop re-imagines a powder-puff utopia of teen longing encapsulated in three-minutes: “I wanna be in love with someone even if it’s star-crossed” she opens with, hinting at the age-old fallacy that any love will do. In contrast, the chilled strains of “Wait For Me”, with its apocalyptic subject where “the earth collides with the moon and the sun is like fire on your skin” show a far more downbeat side to Balthrop. Elsewhere, her honeyed drawl on lilting songs like “Nowhere To Be”, “Where Did We Go Wrong” and “Let’s Dance” remain close to her country roots.

Instrumentally, the album is varied enough to help the songs take on their own character; the brass sections on “Please Don’t Tell Me A Lie” really lift its cyclical main theme and compound the lyric sentiments, while the pedal steel stings on the closer, “Let’s Dance”, are perfectly realized. Balthrop equally has an ear for great melody lines that lend her songs immediacy. Throughout there is a charm to her writing that makes her heartache believable and measurable. So much so that it’s hard not to fall under her spell.

Essential Tracks: “Wanna Be In Love”, “Don’t Let Me Go” and “Please Don’t Tell Me A Lie”. - Consequence of Sound

A southern belle has brought her charming voice and not so southern sounding tunes up north. Named after a town in her home state of Alabama, Dear Georgiana is Lauren Balthrop, former member of the retro rootsy-pop trio The Bandana Splits. She has recently released her debut self titled album, which features her signature soprano and open melodies that harken back to 1950’s pop. Preview single "Wanna Be In Love" (streaming below) bears an intriguing mix of influences, from rockabilly to what we call "avant-indie" See Dear Georgiana live at Rockwood Music Hall's Stage 2 on June 02. - PJT - The Deli Magazine NYC

We are delighted to be premiering the video for Dear Georgiana’s confectionary, 1960s girl-pop tune, “Wanna Be In Love”, which contains just as much sweet nostalgia as her sound. The video features Lauren Balthrop (Dear Georgiana) as a girl pining for love in the place where all young girls do their pining — in their poster-for-wallpaper rooms, on their beds, in their cutest outfits, of course. Watch as she croons her candied tune in the visual contexts of four decades — the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s — because the longing-for-love sentiment has been the centerpiece of pretty much every classic pop song since the genre originated. Delightfully enamoring, the video will no doubt woo you to your core, leaving you smitten and doodling her name in your notebook. “Wanna Be In Love” is from Dear Georgiana’s debut record which will be released May 20 on Tummy Touch Records.

‘Official’ is an original video series produced by The Wild Honey Pie. With each new episode, we share an official music video that we’ve produced or meticulously hand-picked, create original cover art, and give away the track for free. - The Wild Honey Pie