Coco Hames

Lindsay "Coco" Hames began her musical career as the singer and guitarist of the New York-based garage rock trio the Ettes in the early 2000s. Along with drummer Poni Silver and bassist Jem Cohen, the band mixed Nancy Sinatra style, Patsy Cline twang, and Stonesy rock with punk swagger. The trio released a series of singles and albums over the remainder of the decade, working with producer Liam Watson at London's Toe Rag Studio and the Reigning Sound's Greg Cartwright in Nashville. While recording the 2009 album Do You Want Power with Cartwright, Hames hit it off with the producer and they teamed to form the band the Parting Gifts and released an album, Strychnine Dandelion, on In the Red in 2010. By then the band had moved to Nashville and resumed its touring and recording schedule, resulting in 2011's Wicked Will. The band's next move was to lease out a retail space in Nashville and begin 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. With the band sidelined by this pursuit, Hames headed out on the road as a member of the New Pornographers on their 2014 tour. She signed with Merge Records as a solo artist, and in 2016 began working on an album with producer Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hurray for the Riff Raff). Utilizing a core band of lead guitarist Adam Meisterhans of the Weight, bassist Jack Lawrence of the Raconteurs, and the Whigs' Julian Dorio on drums, they also called on the help of organist Dave Amels of the Reigning Sound, and together crafted a polished Americana sound with a healthy dose of girl group melodrama added. Hames' self-titled debut was released in early 2017.
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