Miss Tess & The Talkbacks

Miss Tess & The Talkbacks is a grooving rock ‘n’ roll band rooted in swinging blues, throwback country, and rockabilly music from Brooklyn, NY. Front and center in this tight quartet is soulful songwriter and skilled guitarist, Miss Tess. She possesses a voice that is, "alternately seductive and sexy, and is a pure joy to listen to” (Pop Matters).

With multiple US tours and several releases under their belts, Miss Tess & The Talkbacks has proven to be one of the most exciting acts on the blossoming Americana scene. The band, with its self-described modern vintage sound, is currently in the studio writing and recording material for their tenth album. A sneak preview of two of their new tunes will be released as a 45 single and download in spring, 2015 on Signature Sounds Recordings (Lake Street Dive, Eilen Jewell, Chris Smither, Josh Ritter, Erin McKeown).

Their most recent release, The Love I Have For You, (2013 Signature Sounds Recordings) features six covers and one new original, and pays homage to some of Tess’s favorite singers and songwriters including Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Neil Young, Ted Hawkins, Randy Newman, and Hank Williams. The album was produced by Miss Tess & The Talkbacks and recorded and mixed by Devin Greenwood (Norah Jones, Anais Mitchell, Amos Lee) in Brooklyn, NY. “Each artist we covered has held a special place in the history of our lives, as well as in the history of American music,” says Miss Tess. “These folks are all musical giants who dedicated their lives to music, and for that I hold them in the highest esteem.”

Miss Tess & the Talkbacks have won fans from New York City to New Orleans and Alabama to Alaska. Over the years they have shared the stage with the likes of Lake Street Dive, NRBQ, The Holmes Brothers, Eilen Jewell, and Todd Snider. The band has graced stages at Blissfest, Cayamo, Clearwater Jazz Holiday, Floydfest, Ossippee Valley Music Festival, Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, Burlington Jazz Festival, and Green River Festival. Miss Tess’s music has been heard from coast to coast on taste maker programs such as XM/Sirius’s The Loft, NPR’s Folk Alley, Santa Cruz’s KPIG and Boston’s WUMB.

Miss Tess grew up in Maryland, where she took piano lessons at an early age. She went to college in Baltimore, intending to be a graphic artist. While there, she dabbled in guitar, but it wasn't until the end of her studies that she began taking it seriously. Once she became more confident as a musician, she started studying jazz and writing songs. Miss Tess then put together her first band. Having grown up listening to her parents' bands playing big band swing, folk, country and dixieland music, these rootsy styles came naturally to her.

After a move to Boston, Miss Tess took a few classes at Berklee College of Music and formed a new band with a few fellow jazz students. Miss Tess quickly established herself as a songwriter and performer in the storied Boston music scene, playing regularly at local clubs. Over four years she won a Boston Music Award, and was nominated several other times in the Folk and Jazz categories. Miss Tess later moved to Brooklyn and has been there for almost five years. She has since developed her sound to include more classic country, rockabilly and vintage rock 'n' roll.

"Nashville meets Brooklyn...country chic." -- Village Voice

"I don’t know of anyone else right now touring in the Americana scene that has such an eclectic, jazzy, old school and interesting vibe. There’s an authenticity present in Miss Tess’ music. It is not contrived, not too far a stretch for the skeptical imagination. She is real. And she is rare."  -- No Depression