Courtney Kaiser and Benjamin Cartel make up the Brooklyn-based duo KaiserCartel, whose homespun pop/rock draws equally on the songwriting of both members. Kaiser serves as the group’s lead singer and first gained notice providing backup vocals for John Mellencamp and the Wallflowers; she released her solo album in 2004. Cartel took up the saxophone in his early teens, later switched to drums, and began performing professionally until he and Kaiser met after sharing a bill at the Knitting Factory in New York City. Their romantic and musical partnership developed quickly, leading KaiserCartel to tour in support of each artist’s separate material.
Once back in New York, the pair started writing songs together, combining their strengths to produce a sound built around vocal harmonies, acoustic guitars, keyboards, xylophones, and percussion. Following a string of raw, earnest EPs, they traveled to Los Angeles to work with producer Matt Hale, resulting in March Forth, the band’s first full-length album, issued in mid-2008. To fund their next project, Cartel and Kaiser appealed directly to fans through PledgeMusic.com, raising enough support to record the 2010 album Secret Transit.
