Eastmountainsouth

All Music Guide:

The Los Angeles duo Eastmountainsouth create a country-folk blend that's characteristic of the bandmates' Southern upbringings. Comprised of vocalists Kat Maslich and Peter Adams, Eastmountainsouth formed in 1999. Maslich, who was born and raised in Roanoke, VA (on Clinch Mountain, home to bluegrass hero Ralph Stanley), tried to find her place in music with short-lived stints in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and Atlanta. She traveled back and forth to Los Angeles in search of clarity, and a chance meeting with Adams grounded her. Adams, a native of Birmingham, AL, worked under composer Mikhail Kapsner while studying abroad in Freiburg, Germany. There, he focused on piano, organ, and composition, and such an experience motivated Adams to graduate with a B.A. in music from the University of the South in Tennessee and earn a master's degree from the University of Alabama School of Music in Tuscaloosa. In the late '90s, he moved to Los Angeles to study film scoring at USC and befriended Maslich at a TV spot audition. Adams was impressed with Maslich's warm voice and the two quickly learned of one another's songwriting similarities and shared interests in music. In two years' time, they christened themselves Eastmountainsouth and recorded a demo. Robbie Robertson got a copy and inked Eastmountainsouth a deal with Dreamworks; a self-titled debut appeared in summer 2003.

Wikipedia:

Eastmountainsouth is an American pop/rock band formed in 1999 composed of vocalists Kat Maslich-Bode and Peter Bradley Adams.

The group released their self-titled debut album in 2003 after signing a deal with Dreamworks Records. This is the duo's one and only album as they have since parted ways. Both have since released or began work on solo projects since their split during 2004.

Despite not being well-known and having only released the one album, several songs from it have been used prominently in film and television. Their version of Stephen Foster's song "Hard Times (Come Again No More)" was featured on the Elizabethtown motion picture soundtrack. The track "So Are You To Me" was prominently featured on the soundtrack of the movie Lucky 7 and appeared in a Season 3 episode of "Alias". Their song "You Dance" was featured in a first season episode of the television series One Tree Hill and the song "Ghost" was used in a fifth season episode of Dawson's Creek. In 2003 the band opened for Lucinda Williams and Nelly Furtado. [1]