started in the subways of NYC
Meet Liah Alonso and Kelly
Halloran, collectively known as Left on Red. The two
young women’s talents run the musical gamut but
they are primarily an acoustic rock group featuring Liah
on guitar, Kelly on violin, and both on vocals with lots
of harmonies. Left on Red means simply to take your own
direction. Despite meeting on a traditional gig Kelly
and Liah’s true maturation as a duo actually began
in the subway stations of New York City. Over the last
2 years LOR has wowed public audiences with their brand
of fun socially relevant lyrics and improvisational instrumentation.
In addition to busking, Left on Red routinely play in
hospitals and nursing homes as well as performing for
Veterans on a shared bill with Tom Morello and his organization
Axis of Justice, Musicians on Call, YWCA and many more.
Left on Red’s captivating shows consist of originals
and cover songs, diverse in era, genre and language.
The duo officially came together in early 2008 and in
early 2009 they took their unique brand of music from
the New York streets to the masses in the form of their
debut album, which is available on iTunes. |
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Their self-titled disc features an entertaining range of genres
and topics that appeal to both men and women of all ages. “Shop” finds
LOR singing about America’s addiction to retail, “Crash
and Burn” deals with the poisoning of our food, while
the self explanatory “High Heel Blues” and the
duo’s first single “Jack and Jill” will
hit home with anyone whose dealt with societal expectations.
The beauty of LOR is they find a way to present heavy hitting
topics in a fun manner, leaving audiences enlightened, empowered
and happy.
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The band has
been together for over 4 years now. Left On Red has toured
around the East and West coasts of the county, released
2 EPs, 1 concept album and a live album and most recently
opened for Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine/ Audioslave).
They are just wrapping up a 2 month tour of Florida where
they have found a supportive fan-base of music lovers!
They started in the subways of NYC playing music for
commuters in the aim to bring happy music to the darkness
of the underground. Their influences are vast and they
both come from very different worlds.
Kelly, grew up in a small town in Western
Mass and studied the suzuki method on violin since the
age of 4. She grew up performing in orchestras and jazz
ensembles, listening to the Beatles and to classic rock
and jazz greats. Leah grew up in traveling between Mexico
and California, performing in musical theater productions
and writing poetry and prose constantly. She enjoyed
listing to Spanish rock and popular music of all genres.
Leah started writing songs without knowing how to play
an instrument and took up the guitar 9 years ago out
of the desire to fully communicate the sounds she had
in her head.
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There is no rule to the writing process. They are forever
learning and refining their craft as songwriters. When the
duo writes together they usually build on an idea that one
of them has brought to the table. It may be a chorus, a phrase,
or a riff. They play through it tirelessly until they have
something they are excited about.
"It’s best not to leave the writing session until
we have something finished. If not, there is no telling when
we may get back to it and it may just sit around forever, half-baked
and in limbo. Our latest tunes show an obvious maturity in
our song writing and an ease in performance style..we have
really grown into our style and are excited to record our next
album. I would like to see A/R and artist development deals
come back into the picture ..labels now want a finished product
if they are going to help you build your business"
The band loves when people personally share how a song they
wrote has helped them through
a tough time and they love seeing people enjoy the music and
be moved to action
because of it.
Hate is a strong word ..there are disappointments and rejections
that they feel are
part of any path. One thing that is tough is the unpaid hours
of work that go into
running a band. There is a lot of work that has to happen before
and after the
show and a lot of people don’t realize that.
