Special to the Express
The Carolyn Sills Combo plays music that evokes the sounds of country and western swing from the 1940s, ’50s and early ’60s while adding a fresh energy of their own.
Although the Santa Cruz-based outfit usually plays originals, they also tour a special show of Patsy Cline’s music. They’ll bring their Patsy Cline Spectacular to The Palms Playhouse, 13 Main Street in Winters, on Saturday, March 7 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance, $24 at the door and $12 with student ID.
The show will feature Patsy Cline’s upbeat honky-tonk and country numbers, classic ballads and lesser-known gems. The band will also play some of its original award-winning country, western and swing.
Lead singer and bassist Carolyn Sills and her guitarist husband, Gerard Egan, write and produce the group’s songs. Sills and Egan are heavily influenced by spaghetti westerns as well as their vinyl record collection, and cite Bob Wills, Patsy Cline, Merle Travis, Marty Robbins and Les Paul & Mary Ford as influences.
Sills brings soul, sass and a touch of swagger to her performances, spiced with tongue-in-cheek humor. The band meets this energy, and shows feature three-part vocal harmonies, tight arrangements and instrumentals featuring dueling steel and guitar.
In addition to Sills and Egan, the band is Charlie Joe Wallace on steel guitar, Jimmy Norris on drums and Sunshine Jackson on harmony vocals and percussion.
The band’s most recent release, the Marty Robbins-inspired album “Return to El Paso,” is climbing the US country, alt-country and Americana radio charts. The first single, “Feleena,” was named one of the top 20 songs of 2019 by the UK’s Country Music People.
No Depression named the band’s second release, “Dime Stories Vol. 2,” one of the top releases of 2016.
The Memphis-based Ameripolitan Awards named the Combo Western Swing Group of the Year in 2018. The Combo received three previous nominations for that award, and Sills has two Ameripolitan Awards Female Vocalist of the Year nominations.
The Combo recently garnered nominations for Best Album and Best Western Swing Group from the Academy of Western Artists. They have previous nominations in those categories and Western Swing Female Performer.
The band has shared the stage with the likes of Asleep at the Wheel, Riders in the Sky, Southern Culture on the Skids, Don Edwards and James Hand.
Tickets are available at Pacific Ace Hardware in Winters, Armadillo Music in Davis, Davids’ Broken Note in Woodland, online via The Palms’ website and Eventbrite, and at the door if not sold out.
For more information, visit palmsplayhouse.com and carolynsills.com.
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