Biography
Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas formed in Detroit as a high-octane rock & roll outfit whose restless, sometimes abrasive style draws on every strand of the Motor City’s musical lineage while reaching past its geographic and cultural limits. Their sleek, forward-pressing sound weaves Motown, hard-edged vintage R&B, Latin rhythms, boisterous surf, neo-psych, roots rock, cinema jazz, and throwback 1960s girl-group pop into a single contemporary fabric.
Born in the United States to a Mexican mother and Cuban father, Hernandez spent her early years helping run the family bakery and restaurant, singing in choirs, appearing in school plays and musicals, and absorbing sounds from both her immediate surroundings and her parents’ heritage. Design first captured her imagination, yet music quickly took precedence.
She spent a brief period studying both subjects at Columbia College Chicago before returning home, where she began writing original songs and creating her own clothing and a private performance room above the family business. At that stage she performed alone as a singer-songwriter.
An appearance at Detroit’s annual Dally in the Alley festival prompted her to assemble a band, resulting in the Deltas: Hernandez on rhythm guitar, keyboards, synths, and percussion; Gordon Smith on guitar; Ben Sturley on bass; and Steve Stetson on drums.
The group’s first EP, Live at the Magic Bag, surfaced in 2009, followed by Weird Looking Women in Too Many Clothes in 2010. National touring ensued, including showcases at SXSW and Bonnaroo in 2012. In 2013 the band signed with Richard Gotteher’s Instant Music imprint and cut the Demons EP in El Paso and in Detroit, working with veteran Mexico City producer and musician Milo Froideval and an expanded roster of horn players and backing vocalists; the set appeared that November.
Born in the United States to a Mexican mother and Cuban father, Hernandez spent her early years helping run the family bakery and restaurant, singing in choirs, appearing in school plays and musicals, and absorbing sounds from both her immediate surroundings and her parents’ heritage. Design first captured her imagination, yet music quickly took precedence.
She spent a brief period studying both subjects at Columbia College Chicago before returning home, where she began writing original songs and creating her own clothing and a private performance room above the family business. At that stage she performed alone as a singer-songwriter.
An appearance at Detroit’s annual Dally in the Alley festival prompted her to assemble a band, resulting in the Deltas: Hernandez on rhythm guitar, keyboards, synths, and percussion; Gordon Smith on guitar; Ben Sturley on bass; and Steve Stetson on drums.
The group’s first EP, Live at the Magic Bag, surfaced in 2009, followed by Weird Looking Women in Too Many Clothes in 2010. National touring ensued, including showcases at SXSW and Bonnaroo in 2012. In 2013 the band signed with Richard Gotteher’s Instant Music imprint and cut the Demons EP in El Paso and in Detroit, working with veteran Mexico City producer and musician Milo Froideval and an expanded roster of horn players and backing vocalists; the set appeared that November.
Albums
I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas / El Burrito De Belén
2017
Telephone
2017
Teléfono
2017
Hot to Trot
2017
Run Too Far
2017
Deceptacon / Don't Take My Man to Idaho - Single
2015
Secret Evil
2014
Singles
