Biography

Serving up a sexy but undeniably fierce mix of pop smarts and garage rock power, the Ettes are vocalist/guitarist Lindsay "Coco" Hames, drummer Maria "Poni" Silver, and bassist Jeremy "Jem" Cohen, a trio of New Yorkers who became Los Angelenos. The band formed in 2004 and soon won a following for its mix of Nancy Sinatra style, Patsy Cline twang, and Stonesy rock. Radio airplay and live shows contributed to the Ettes' buzz, which eventually led to the group signing with Sympathy for the Record Industry. Along with the Dead and Gone single and From the Songbook of Greg Cartwright, a split with the like-minded Fondas, the label released the Ettes' first full-length, Shake the Dust, which the band recorded with London garage rock producer extraordinaire Liam Watson. For the follow-up, the band headed back to London to record with Watson again. The resulting album, Look at Life Again Soon, was issued by Take Root in September 2008, followed 12 months later by Do You Want Power, which was recorded at the Bomb Shelter in Nashville with producer Greg Cartwright (Reigning Sound). At the sessions Cartwright and Hames hit it off and decided to collaborate on a single, but after spending time writing together the single became an album, Strychnine Dandelion. It was released by In the Red in 2010. By this time the band had moved to Nashville and started working on another album. The writing sessions continued on the road, where the group served as the opening act for Kings of Leon and the Dead Weather. The Ettes reunited with longtime producer Liam Watson at his Toe Rag Studio in London to record their fourth album, 2011's Wicked Will. After the touring cycle for the record wore down and they released a single, "Teeth," in 2012, the band turned toward a new pursuit. The trio, plus some friends, leased out a retail space in Nashville and began putting together a record store/artist space called Fond Object. It opened in April of 2013, then after a couple years, the store branched out into a record label of the same name. The label's first release was a 2016 reissue of Shake the Dust, timed for the debut full-length's tenth anniversary and with two extra tracks added. Meanwhile, Hames toured in 2014 as a member of the New Pornographers and began work on her first solo album. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi