Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas

Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas are a wide-ranging, high-energy rock & roll band from Detroit. Their mercurial, often gritty sound reflects all of the Motor City's musical traditions as well as some outside its geographical and multicultural boundaries. In its thoroughly modern, driving mix are traces of Motown, tough vintage R&B, Latin grooves, raucous surf, neo-psych, roots rock, cinema jazz, and retro '60s girl group pop. Hernandez is the first-generation American daughter of a Mexican mother and Cuban father. She grew up working in her family's bakery and restaurant, singing in choirs, performing in plays and musicals in school, and soaking up musical influences from the area and her family's heritage. While her first love was design, music was soon to follow. She briefly attended Columbia College Chicago, where she studied design and music. She returned to Detroit, where she began writing her own songs and designing her clothes and even her own performance space above her family's business. Hernandez began playing solo as a singer/songwriter. After accepting a gig at Detroit's annual Dally in the Alley festival she decided to form a band, and the Deltas were born: Hernandez, rhythm guitar, keyboards, synths, and percussion; Gordon Smith, guitar; Ben Sturley, bass; and Steve Stetson, drums. Their first EP, Live at the Magic Bag, appeared in 2009, followed by Weird Looking Women in Too Many Clothes in 2010. The band toured nationally, playing showcases at SXSW and at Bonnaroo in 2012. In 2013 they signed to Richard Gotteher's Instant Music label and recorded the Demons EP in El Paso and at home with veteran Mexico City producer and musician Milo Froideval and an expanded cast of contributors including horn players and backing vocalists. The set was released in November of that year. ~ Thom Jurek