Lance Canales & The Flood are headed to Berkeley with a hot new album, The Blessing and the Curse, and a history of playing roots music that goes deep. “Their music is a rough-hewn amalgam of Americana, blues, folk, and rock, bashed out on old instruments,” says Ozy.com. “It feels for all the world like the real deal.” Here’s Eliza Gilkyson’s take: "The big buzz at Folk Alliance this year was around Lance Canales, who had us all on the edge of our seats as he stomped across the stage delivering a stark blues twang-and-thump set that sounded like it had been born somewhere between a back alley and a field worker's camp. If this isn't authentic roots music, then I don't know what is."

Lance grew up in the San Joaquin Valley, where he lived the life sung about in so many songs since the birth of the blues – hard labor, one room shacks, and taunting dreams of better prospects. He found those better prospects in his sister’s beat-up guitar. For years, he played solo, but in 2009, craving a fuller sound, he enlisted The Flood, Jake Finny on stand-up bass and Daniel Burt on drums. They released Elixir in 2012 and did the soundtrack for the documentary Dancing the Salmon Home. In 2013, they released a single of Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee,” and the song inspired Lance to team up with Nora Guthrie, Woody’s daughter, to raise money for a memorial headstone for the individuals who died in a plane crash in Los Gatos and have been buried in an unmarked grave. Lance “speaks for migrant workers using his stark lyrics to drive his gritty, stripped-down, bluesy brand of folk music,” says Vents Magazine. Catch this California original tonight at the Freight!

Upon first hearing the straightforward, old-school songs of Amber Cross, you might at first think you are listening to an archival Smithsonian recording. Her old-time voice is clear and captivating. She's a singer and songwriter who writes from her own life’s struggles and experiences, delivering her stories with unforgettable power and emotion. In likeness she has been compared to Nanci Griffith, Iris DeMent and Hazel Dickens, all which have influenced her music.

Originally from Maine, Amber spent her early years surrounded by gospel music in a small town church where her father preached and her mother played piano. Since she left Maine, Amber has lived up and down the coast of California; the San Francisco Bay Area, the Sierra Foothills, the San Joaquin River Valley, the coastal range of Sonoma County, now residing in San Luis Obispo County. She has opened for such artists as Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Gurf Morlix, Dave Stamey, and Mary Gauthier. In March of 2013 Amber released her debut album, You Can Come In. Country Music People Magazine UK, discovered the album giving it a 5 Star Review and CD Of The Month in their May issue, saying "every now and again a debut CD arrives and you know about 30 seconds in that you are experiencing something a bit special... it's appeal is likely to be broad, from bluegrass, rootsy Appalachian, to country or honky-tonk.

In December 2015 Amber made her final trip to Austin, TX and completed the recording of her third album, Savage on the Downhill, under the production of Juno Award winning songwriter and producer Ray Bonneville. The songs are original and are supported by artists such as Gurf Morlix, Ray Bonneville and Tim O'Brien.

Throughout 2016 Amber will be working to raise enough funds to mix, master and release this new record by selling her signature, custom embroidered flannel shirts. Amber buys second hand flannel and wool shirts at thrift stores and garage sales and has each one embroidered with a phrase from one of her original songs. She has over 400 shirts in stock and will have them available at the Freight & Salvage on May 26th. 

visit the Lance Canales & The Flood website

visit the Amber Cross website