Held in Splendor

The brainchild of Shane Butler and Anna Fox Rochinski, who formed the band while studying at Boston's School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Quilt craft psychedelic pop that evokes '60s idealism without feeling too indebted to it. Butler was raised in a spiritual community that expressed itself with musical chanting, while Rochinski's flair for vocal harmonies came from her time in classical choirs. With founding drummer Taylor McVay, Quilt issued several cassettes' worth of material before working with Apollo Sunshine's Jesse Gallagher on their self-titled debut album for the better part of a year; Mexican Summer released Quilt late in 2011. McVay departed the band amicably, making way for John Andrews, who opened for the band on every stop of its 2009 tour. Their time on the road honed their playing and writing, and when it came time to record their second album in April 2013 with Woods' Jarvis Taveniere, Quilt spent 60 hours a week in the studio underneath Mexican Summer's Brooklyn office. Widening their palette to include bass, saxophone, and strings, Quilt released their second album, Held in Splendor, in January 2014. While touring in support of the album, the band met Matt Arnett, the man who created the traveling quilt exhibition that provided some of the imagery used in Quilt's artwork. The connection ultimately led to Quilt workshopping old and new songs in an historic building that he owned near Atlanta's Grant Park district. The band reunited with Taveniere as producer for 2016's Plaza, a tighter, more wistful set that was also the first to feature bassist Keven Lareau. ~ Heather Phares