Graham And The Band Upstair. First of all — immaculate band name. Sounds like the kind of band that shows up in a Wes Anderson movie halfway through to play a sad song about bees. Or ghosts. Or ghost bees. Their debut album, ‘Turning Magic On Its Heels‘ is out now And let me tell you, these Atlanta folks (shoutout to ATL, peach country, you gotta love it) are serving us some sweet Americana vibes that spill out straight from the heart.

You know when you’re at some local dive, sipping on lukewarm beer, and a random band you’ve never heard of just starts playing and they’re actually—surprise!—really damn good? Yeah, that’s Graham Waldrop and the squad: Jeff Dei Dolori handling guitar with laid-back precision, Josef Bell on bass keeping things buttery smooth, Zach Strum anchoring the beat, and Veronica Roman adding vocals that basically feel like a warm hug from your best friend.

At first glance, you might think, “Okay, country-folk-Americana mash-up, we’ve been here before, right?” Wrong, my friend. These guys sprinkle in just enough twists and unexpected moves to keep you on your toes. Graham and the crew clearly took their time with this one. You can hear the hours, the practice sessions that probably started with “just one more take” and ended three hours later with someone sitting on the floor rethinking their life choices. Every track has that slightly weathered, lived-in quality.

Now, before you even press play, you get this vibe like someone’s about to unpack an old suitcase full of denim, polaroids, and unresolved feelings. Americana, sure. Americana with a bit of an existential crisis.

Turning Magic On Its Heels opens with the slow romantic ballad Another Request, and from the first seconds, everything softens — the pace, the mood, the space itself. The sound leads you into the sunset, into the cool air, into a place where you can simply exist. The track sets the tone — one of reflection, solitude, and inner stillness. That’s why the transition into Standstill Blues works so well — the contrast brings out a burst of energy. The rhythm picks up, the blues guitar kicks in with drive and style, and the momentum carries you forward.

Kiss The River is the moment when everything eases up again. The beat is steady and measured, while the guitar gently unfolds the melody. It’s pure pleasure, relaxed, alive, full of warmth, romance, and something unmistakably human.

Carrie stands out as one of the strongest moments on the album. It feels warm, almost weightless. The duet vocals blend effortlessly, and the whole track radiates a cozy, lived-in atmosphere. When the violin comes in with a soft folk touch, it pulls everything together — a complete, thoughtful arrangement with real heart. The way the song splits into two parts adds an unexpected twist, like the story taking a turn halfway through.

Enough To Lose immediately draws attention with the sound of the organ — it adds depth, glow, a quiet light from within. This is a song about peace, about balance, without trying to sound too clever. Just beautiful, just calm. The organ sounds slightly distant, but never cold — more like a quiet presence than an effect.

If He Had Called Her plays like the most personal piece on the record. The emotion here is raw – regret, reflection, things not let go. But what makes it powerful is how that tension gradually shifts into release. A very honest, vulnerable moment.

The Oak runs for almost eight minutes of live-sounding music. And you can feel it: the guitars are close, almost physical. Everything is built in a way that makes you feel as if you’re standing in a small room, right next to the musicians, which is why all traces of studio sterility are completely erased in the track.

And then the closer — Home To You. I mean… wow. The perfect bookend. Everything softens here. The vocals, the tempo, even the Americana motifs get tucked in a little more gently. It just settles. Like putting the last dish away and turning off the kitchen light. A lullaby for adults who’ve seen some shit but still believe in getting back home.

Blues, Ballads, and a Bit of Folk Violin

The pacing of the album? Gorgeous. Like someone built a perfectly soundtracked walk through all four seasons of a failed relationship, then added a bonus fifth season called “Closure But With Guitars.” It moves with intention — mellow here, punchy there, all while keeping you in that sweet zone between highway melancholy and porchlight optimism.

And listen. I love when bands go for a full seven-minute track simply because that’s how long the song needs to breathe. You want that? You get it. You want a soft fadeout that sounds as if your emotions are gathering their things and quietly walking out the door? You get that too.

It’s not the kind of album that puts on a costume and tells you it’s art. It’s five people — Graham, Jeff, Josef, Zach, and Veronica — who sound like they showed up, tuned their instruments, made some coffee, looked each other in the eye, and played what they had to play. Not because it was trendy. Not because it would look good in a playlist. But because it was true. You get the sense they didn’t talk about it too much. They just did it. Maybe the conversations before takes were about old friends, long drives, some heartbreaks that still itch even when they’re healed. Maybe they talked about nothing at all — just shared some silence, waited for the right chord to come. Either way, the album absorbs that — that lived-in stillness, that quiet between words where the real stuff usually sits. And somehow, you hear it in every track. That’s what gives it weight.

Americana? For sure — it’s baked into the structure, the storytelling, the warmth of the arrangements. Country? In the sense that it remembers what country used to be before it got lost in its own reflection. But more than that, this is soul music — not in the genre sense, but in the way it carries weight, memory, vulnerability. This is music for people who’ve been through some stuff and don’t need to yell about it. It’s for the ones who feel everything, say little, and somehow still find comfort in the life happening around them.

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