Self-released

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The geography of a band is often used as a shorthand to describe their sound. Nashville invokes country. Memphis conjures soul. New Orleans usually means jazz. Austin can mean blues. American Blonde, a tight-knit, female-led, five-piece band from Cleveland, Mississippi, have created their own unique blend of Delta Blues-infused Southern Country Rock. This young and vibrant band take country, blues, soul and rock music as their starting point, and keep an open mind about where their song craft will lead them. They have a sound that comes right out of America’s soul. There’s such a powerful presence in their songs. Here is a band that has deep roots and righteous pedigrees. Nata and Tinka Morris, the founders of the group, take a special joy in mining their brand of homespun nostalgia, and they do so with unabated enthusiasm. It’s a long way from the sisters’ musical beginnings a dozen years ago as members of sibling trio Southern Halo with youngest sister Hannah. In those days they leant more into pop-country and were the darlings of Radio Disney with their own Southern Halo series. Initially becoming a duo following Hannah’s departure, they re-emerged as American Blonde. Their career is too young for them to be self-indulgent, and they have learned very quickly how to turn the goods over on record. Teaming up with local Mississippi musicians Pete Horne (lead and rhythm guitar), Zach Dickerson (lead and rhythm guitar), and Will Garrett (bass, background vocals) with Nata on lead vocals, rhythm guitar and Tinka on vocals and drums, they deliver rapturous Southern Rock.  And I mean real old-fashioned, vintage, nail you to the wall Southern Rock. But the band don’t just wallow in one groove throughout. They let the Mississippi mud splash around, enhanced with a shimmery hoodoo vibe from that same delta territory.

Opener Mississippi Moonshine is a defining boogie of a break-up; a heavy foot stomp of swagger, that has the narrator escaping an abusive partner full of fire and revenge. The dash-pounding revolving organ and wailing guitar crescendo brings the tune into blues-rock revival territory freakout this generation has long needed but was too afraid to ask for. With their dark and wry wit and infectious hooks, this band might just be the future of country music. Delta Home is a country-rock bruiser, a sexy, swaggering song with a groove that’ll have you grinning and hopping. It’s a journey down backroads you’ll recognise but still manages to reach for the universe beyond. The band plays with a raucous abandon made even more powerful by the stomping, percussive rhythms that swirl madly within the restraints of the sonic structures of the song. 

In contrast Kiss Me Like The World Is Ending, showcases a softer, romantic side with Nata’s breathy voice and languid melody bolstered by a spacious yet intricate brew of jazzy guitar meanderings. Happy opens with a twangy, folk-leaning setup, but eventually switches gears to something more trenchant. The lyrics paint a picture of someone who spends all her time making everyone happy, except for herself. Strummy guitar, ebullient, brushy drums and keyboards enhanced by the mass choirs of the Delta State Vocal Collective and the Delta State Music Institute for a palpable, moving soundscape. The only outside song is Both Sides Of The Track. Penned by the Young Fables, the narrator faces full-on the challenges of chasing one’s dreams. Like the lyrics, the music plays with expectations, honing country blues licks to razor-sharpness, ramping them up and letting them fly. A bruising smokin’ slab of fast ’n’ furious jam, powered by amped up to 11 guitars and straight up boogaloo.

The album closes much as it opened, with Undertaker, a spinning and swaying funked-up soul shouter. Like much of the album, it’s a glorious celebration of fluid sexuality and boundary-pushing rock’n’roll. American Blonde is the total package—brilliant songwriting, energetic performances, inimitable vocals—and DELTA HOME reveals every facet of those talents. Push play and let it rip.

https://www.americanblondemusic.com

September 2026