Hazel Raven: Taking the journey to that harmonious land
The Hazel Raven band at home. From left to right, Isabel Maioriello Gallus, Danielle Weisman, and Michelle Monroe. Photo by Mike Shade.
Hazel Raven is a band of three women on a journey to create their own version of that high, lonesome sound.
"The idea incubated for years in my head," lead singer and guitarist Isabel Maioriello Gallus says, "having a band in the sister bluegrass tradition. I was trying to think of female musicians who have come into my life and had a great impact. The ladies playing with me today are definitely two of those."
Hazel Raven formed about a year ago; the band's origin story goes back more than a decade, when Isabel met fiddler Danielle Weisman when they were both working at the MOM's organic grocery in Jessup, Maryland.
"She was wearing Grateful Dead bear earrings. I said 'nice earrings!' Gallus recalls. "She was like do you like the Grateful Dead? And I was like yeah."
The two women later played together in the Huntington City Ramblers, out of Bowie, Md., a precursor band to Moose Jaw Bluegrass.
Putting together the harmonies "is the hardest part for me," Gallus says, who's accustomed to singing on stage alone as Isabel Angela. (She was the 2021 winner of the Folk Hero contest, you may recall.)
"Dani, her mom was actually a soprano opera singer, so she's very good at singing high harmonies," Gallus says. "Naturally we have a good mix going on."
Weisman and bassist Michelle Monroe are classically trained. Gallus is more of the self-taught musician type. While living in Baltimore, she gigged as an electric bassist for a variety of acts and one-off shows, everything from a Daft Punk tribute to funk/jam band Squaring the Circle. When her friend (and dobro player) Matt Zuckerman introduced her to Delfest a few years back now, she says she "got the bluegrass bug real bad."
"We want to work on our traditional tunes," Gallus says, "and give them more of a progressive flair. We're working on some mashups of a couple classic rock songs ... I'm very inspired by Devil Makes Three, their punk rock sound."
Hazel Dickens and the Steel Drivers are other inspiring artists on the band's sound, Isabel says, calling it "that minor folk sound." On their YouTube channel, you can hear them play songs made famous by the Stanley Brothers, Del McCoury, Molly Tuttle, and the Townes Van Zandt-penned bluegrass standard “White Freightliner.”
Hazel Raven is playing a few of Isabel's originals, too, and Gallus is excited to experiment with writing as a band.
“Everyone has a different way of writing or thinking about music. I want to find out the best way how we can all write together ... a good way to practice is covering songs you like, and using those elements in your original songs."
The journey of improvement, particularly with the vocal instrument, is something Isabel loves about playing music.
"It's one of those things where you're always discovering something about your voice or melody you didn't hear before," Gallus says. "I had a mentor in Florida who used to say 'Singing's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it.' I think about that all the time. We don't think of our voice as an instrument, but it is, and it goes through so much: pollution, eating, smoking, talking, going through our day. It's the hardest instrument in my book, the voice. So it definitely helps to have backup."
The musical necessity to sing into a microphone has been a "journey in confidence," Gallus says. "As much as learning 'Do-re-mi, 1-2-3, and everything else, it's also learning to be confident and express myself creatively. I think everyone deserves to do that."
Hazel Raven plays on Friday, March 10, at 7 p.m. at the Old State House, 25 The Green, Dover DE 19901. Admission is free.
Future dates : you can catch Hazel Raven on March 12 at the Annapolis Bluegrass Brunch and at Pickett Brewing in Baltimore on March 26.
Band Social Media:
@Hazel Raven Band on Instagram
Isabel Angela original music on Bandcamp
Delaware Friends of Folk are partially supported by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.DelawareScene.com.
Special thanks to First State Heritage Park, Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs and the Kent County Fund for the Arts
Interview by Josh Brokaw