Chris Jeffries

If Lou Reed had lived in the '30s and had an affinity for moonshine instead of heroin, he would sound dangerously close to the delicate rootsiness of what Chris Jeffries is creating. Combining the swagger of Mr. Reed with the bad-luck living and roaring fingerpicking of folk stalwarts like Lead Belly, Jeffries creates a sound that could be plucked straight out of your granddaddy's Crosley. This three-song, self-titled EP also conjures images of Chris Adolf's pre-Bad Weather California project, the Love Letter Band, which, like Jeffries himself, was stripped down, slightly psychotic and teetering on the verge of its own classification. Although Jeffries calls on a myriad of influences, he is close to creating a sound that is uniquely his own — and right at home on any chain gang.