Fame & Fiction

Fame & Fiction is a powerhouse, all-queer sextet from Nashville featuring Leah Shipchack (vocals), Lauren Horbal (drums), Owen (bass), Kels Cordare (guitars, strings), Cara McCarthy (guitars) and Mary Jennings (keys). As a collective, Fame & Fiction taps into each member’s prodigious artistry, gifted songwriting and diverse musical backgrounds to deliver a rich, dynamic sound blending elements of rock, pop, jazz and blues, one that strikes an almost-defiant tone and demands to be heard.

The band was originally formed by Shipchack and Horbal in 2017 and a year later released its debut EP, Headspace, which includes the infectious tracks “Mountain” and “Enough” that are now staples of its live sets. The current six-piece iteration of Fame & Fiction gradually came together over the next few years and gelled during the COVID pandemic before making its live debut with a scintillating performance for a capacity crowd at Nashville’s legendary Exit/In in the summer of 2021.


Undeterred by the mounting social and political assaults being waged on queer communities in their adopted home state and beyond, the band emerged from the studio in early 2023 with its sophomore EP, Hello Old Friends. The new EP, to be released in January 2024, expertly captures what makes Fame & Fiction so special – from the jazzy, ‘80s vibe of “Not The One For You” (featuring saxophonist Amber Woodhouse) to the breathtaking six-part harmonies of its title track – while offering unabashed and unapologetic social commentary on the times in which we live.