The Belle Brigade

The Belle Brigade, a Los Angeles-based pop duo, unites siblings Barbara and Ethan Gruska, grandchildren of Oscar-winning film composer John Williams. Barbara had already built a reputation as a touring musician before joining forces with her younger brother, establishing herself among the city’s most in-demand drummers through her performances with Inara George and Jenny Lewis. Stepping away from the road in 2009, she started writing songs with Ethan, a teenage pianist who had been developing his own material during her time away. The pair grew up under the guidance of their father, Jay Gruska, a onetime solo artist who issued two major-label albums in the early ’80s before earning acclaim as a songwriter for Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, and Amy Grant. Although steeped in those familial roots, the Belle Brigade drew its primary sonic inspiration from the 1970s, shaping vocal harmonies and bright, breezy pop hooks that echoed the style of Fleetwood Mac. Relying on Barbara’s network within the local music community, the duo recruited a backing band and headed into the studio with producer Matthew Wilder, surfacing in spring 2011 with a warmly received self-titled debut. Their follow-up, the ATO-released Just Because, arrived in early 2014.