The acronym CALICO represents California Country, signaling that Kirsten Proffit and Manda Mosher anchor their sound in Gram Parsons’ Cosmic American Music. The pair builds on Parsons’ hippie country-rock foundation by layering in the polished vocal blend associated with Fleetwood Mac alongside traces of the bright, ringing guitars typical of 1980s college rock, resulting in a distinctive Americana approach documented on the 2014 debut Rancho California and the 2017 follow-up Under Blue Skies.
Both musicians grew up in California and discovered music during childhood. Each had already begun releasing material as a solo singer-songwriter when they shared a bill at Los Angeles’ House of Blues in 2012; that meeting prompted them to join forces. After recruiting Aubrey Richmond, the newly formed trio maintained a steady touring schedule through 2013. The following year they issued the independently financed Rancho California on their own California Country Records imprint. The album’s arrival brought festival appearances at Stagecoach and Americana Fest plus several television song placements. Richmond departed shortly afterward, restoring the lineup to the duo of Proffit and Mosher.
For Under Blue Skies the group enlisted producer Jim Scott, whose prior credits include albums by Tom Petty and Wilco.
