Kentucky Avenue Music

“Do you remember . . . . the ballad of the past. . . . ”

From the opening question to the last line of their last song, Kentucky Avenue’s second record harkens back to the classic country rock music of 1970s Laurel Canyon, infusing it with their modern Americana spirit. With a nod to Emmylou and Gram, Ballad of the Past presents stories of love and longing, loss and loneliness—but not without a notion that enough is enough or miracles are possible. En route to California, their songs travel through the haunted hills of the South, the misty mountains of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and a stop in Asbury Park with a Springsteen cover.

“In the end, The Ballad of The Past feels like a book of short stories set to music with Ries and Schindler weaving in and out like lead characters. You could say It’s a great read.” - Steve Wosahla
— Americana Highways


The self-released Nothing Here is Mine features 12 original songs that combine the roots of classic country with a backline of get-up-out-of-your-seat, crank-up-the-volume rock rhythms.  Carving a place in the modern Americana scene, Washington DC-based Kentucky Avenue features at its core the rich and rootsy blend of Stella Schindler’s powerfully poetic vocals and the melodic guitar musings of Dave Ries.  When their voices come together, the timeless harmonies provide a poignant, sometimes playful backdrop to their lyrics that evoke the idea behind Leonard Cohen’s famous line “there’s a crack in everything/ that’s how the light gets in.” Kentucky Avenue’s stories of broken characters are imbued with hope, illuminated by the moonlight present in many of the layered lines of their lyrics.