It’s been a strange and winding journey for Lindsay Dragan, but she wouldn’t have it any other way: born and raised in Pittsburgh, an early curiosity in rock’n’roll turned into an obsession that never quite abated. Teenage curiosity in the form of overdubbing on double cassette decks and hooking guitar amps together for good, loud fun was never far from her mind. Throughout high school and college, she honed those skills in bands, even touring regionally with her college rock band, The Meridians. The euphoria of making music followed her out West, as she escaped the Steel City for the desert mountains of Flagstaff for a couple years, in pursuit of an MA in English.

After burning out from the rigors of grad school and a rough breakup, Dragan wistfully left Arizona and moved to New York City in 2010, with no plan outside of a sublet on a room tucked deep in Brooklyn, and the intention to make lots of music. That giant gamble turned into a self-sustaining career, spawning several musical adventures that included domestic and European tours; residencies at beloved venues around Brooklyn; becoming proficient as a drummer; arranging music for a sci-fi play; meeting her husband while busking in a subway station; plenty of wedding and session work; and appearances on a total of seven releases, between solo work, bands, and projects for hire.

Late 2016 saw the birth of her daughter, and with it, an opportunity to take a hard, honest, and introspective look at her career. Wading through the daily victories and defeats of motherhood, Dragan took most of 2017 off from music, instead putting her poetry degree to work. With the Autumn came the serendipity of her husband taking a new job at a Pittsburgh university, and she returned to Western PA, family in tow.

The return home also meant a return to her musical roots: the sunny, harmonic gloss of the 1970s SoCal scene, mixed with the Canadian indie garage-pop stylings of the aughts, and a large helping of Rust Belt-informed Americana. And while her carefully-honed sonic palette fills a room with ease, the additions of drummer Eric George, bassist David Bennett Traugh, guitarist Steve Hobaugh, and sometimes-keys player Clay Colley, have been received warmly on carefully-curated bills in a growing radius.

The Forests, The Mountains, The Desert At Night, the full-length follow-up to 2014’s Be Good To Yourself, was released to a full house at The Funhouse on March 5th, 2022. The band the evening also featured guitar tour-de-force Danny Rectenwald, and comprised of two cathartic, high-energy sets - something they delayed for two full years due to the COVID-19 crisis. It was well worth the wait, and the single “Everywhere” continues to get regular rotation on WYEP, one of Pittsburgh’s favorite radio stations.

Dragan’s career is a testament to resilience and maintaining identity through change, and ultimately, triumph over challenge. And, if the new material is any indication, the journey is far from over.

LINDSAY DRAGAN AND HER BAND ARE:

Lindsay Dragan - Vocals, guitar

Eric George - Drums, percussion

David Bennett Traugh - Bass

Steve Hobaugh - Guitar, vocals

Clay Colley - Keys