Brigitte DeMeyer

Brigitte DeMeyer weaves roots rock and classic pop songcraft into her wide-ranging Americana, shaped by influences that include Patty Griffin, the Allman Brothers, Carole King, and Mavis Staples. She launched her musical path performing with groups in her native San Diego, California, beginning in the mid-'80s and issued her initial solo outing, Another Thousand Miles, in 2000. Reading Gregg Allman's 2012 memoir prompted her sixth album, Savannah Road, released in 2014, while a later partnership with longtime associate Will Kimbrough produced the 2017 duet collection Mockingbird Soul.

Born in Michigan and raised in Point Loma, San Diego, she sang in gospel choirs as a child, graduated from Point Loma High School, and earned a 1986 degree in international relations from the University of San Diego. There she connected with local mainstay Steve Poltz, whom she regards, alongside the Beat Farmers' Joey Harris, as a key mentor. Early band work with the Syndicate of Soul and the Pink Expectations preceded her 1990 relocation to the Bay Area.

In San Francisco she encountered guitarist Chris Rossbach; the two performed together in several regional outfits throughout the '90s, and he later supplied guitar and songwriting for her first solo projects. Concurrently she took guitar lessons from bluegrass figures such as Peter Rowan, Del McCoury, and Tim O'Brien, then studied in the late '90s with vocal coach Judy Davis. Her self-produced solo debut, Another Thousand Miles, appeared in 2000, featuring mandolin and fiddle player Mike Marshall and gaining wider release through The Orchard in 2001. The follow-up, Nothing Comes Free, arrived in 2003, the same period she supported Bob Dylan at Colorado's KBCO World Class Rockfest. Brady Blade of Emmylou Harris' Spyboy band produced her third album, 2006's Something After All, which included contributions from Steve Earle, Daniel Lanois, Buddy Miller, and the Indigo Girls' Emily Saliers. The Red River Flower, issued in 2009, again featured Miller along with Al Perkins of Manassas and the Flying Burrito Brothers.

After settling in Nashville in 2010 she released Rose of Jericho the following year. Co-produced by DeMeyer and Blade, it showcased Sam Bush, Mike Farris, and Perkins on lap steel. Deeply rooted in Southern themes and sounds, her sixth solo effort, Savannah Road, drew inspiration from Gregg Allman's memoir My Cross to Bear, with most songs co-written alongside alt-country artist Will Kimbrough. The pair reconvened for the full-length duet album Mockingbird Soul in 2017.