"I collect vinyl, my fiancé does, my dad does. I took after my dad for the collecting vinyl thing. I grew up with it and I thought it was a pretty crucial thing to have," says sultry rock and roll singer Jessica Hernandez. "I'm always trying to stay in the vinyl game."
Last fall, Jessica Hernandez and The Deltas offered a limited number of signed copies of their debut album Secret Evil. My roommate and I have an affinity for Jessica Hernandez and The Deltas. We stood front row at last year's Wildwood Music Festival in Willamina, Oregon, specifically to see her perform. I jumped at the chance, and now that album seldom leaves my record player. My record collection may have just started, but it's anchored by Hernandez' incredible album.
Hernandez and The Deltas recently released a seven-inch vinyl single with new songs "Deceptacon" and "Don't Take My Man to Idaho." The latest throwback trend in music storage has long been engrained in the singer who started the band after ditching her study of fashion design in Chicago to pursue music full time. It was important to Hernandez and The Deltas to release their debut album, Secret Evil, on the platform, which she's always loved.
After returning to Detroit, where Hernandez grew up working in her family's bakery and restaurant, she formed Jessica Hernandez and The Deltas. This lineup of The Deltas fell into place two and a half years ago after playing with an ever-evolving group of her friends from Detroit.
Avid music consumers in the Bend concert scene probably recognize Hernandez as the multi-talented musician has performed in Bend the last two summers. The band made its Bend debut in 2013 opening for Y La Bamba at Rise Up's shows behind the White House at the Les Schwab Amphitheater. Last year the band played at Parrilla and this summer makes its way to The Belfry in Sisters.
"Bend's just got a really cool vibe to it. There's always so many people when we play and everyone likes to dance," says Hernandez.
The progression of venues north speaks to their upward momentum of success. Jessica Hernandez and The Deltas recently performed on "The Late Show" with David Letterman in his last season on the air and completed a stint at Bonnaroo, a huge music festival in Tennessee.
"It was pretty surreal. It was pretty cool. It didn't really hit me what happened until it was over. I was in shock all day," Hernandez recalls. The band had to be there early in the morning to test lighting and angles and run through the song various times. "Everyone was cracking jokes, making us feel welcome. I felt like such a dork meeting him. You don't meet him until the very end. I didn't even make eye contact or even see him until we shook hands."
Hernandez' brand of high-energy blusey rock and soul has a sometimes gritty Detroit feel, but dabbles in vintage R&B, Latin grooves, and roots rock. The incredibly catchy "No Place Left to Hide," "Tired Oak," and Hernandez' favorite song to perform lately, "Sorry I Stole Your Man" have audiences dancing with wild abandon.
After a summer packed with "lots and lots of touring" (that includes a stop at Austin City Limits in October), Hernandez plans on taking some time off in the fall and winter. She's planning on releasing another full length album with The Deltas in the Spring.
Jessica Hernandez and The Deltas
7 pm, Sunday, June 28.
The Belfry, 302 E. Main Ave., Sisters.
$12
