The Artist: The Head and the Heart
They formed in Seattle, 2009. Strangers turned bandmates, brought together by open mic nights and handwritten demos.
Josiah Johnson and Jonathan Russell shared songwriting duties - both voices vulnerable, both distinctly human. Add in violinist Charity Rose Thielen, and the harmonies became something else: worn-in, weathered, weightless.
They named themselves after a conflict we all know - the pull between reason and feeling.
And that’s exactly what their music sounds like.
The Record: The Head and the Heart (2011)
This is the kind of album that doesn’t shout. It settles in.
It opens with Cats and Dogs, a short, rhythmic pulse. Almost a heartbeat. Then Coeur d’Alene - rich with harmonies, hopeful chords and something quietly aching underneath.
Lost in My Mind became their accidental anthem. A simple, searching refrain:
“How’s that brain of yours? What’s it doing right now?”
It’s a song for anyone who’s ever overthought their own sadness.
Rivers and Roads aches with longing - a farewell in slow motion. A slow build. Then it grows - louder, more layered, more desperate. When Charity’s voice finally cracks in the final lines, it feels like the moment you realise someone is really gone.
Elsewhere, Ghosts and Sounds Like Hallelujah deliver soft piano, tambourines and late-night melodies. There’s an old-soul warmth to everything.
The production is unpolished, in the best way. You can hear fingers on strings. You can hear the room. It feels lived-in.
This wasn’t a band trying to be heard on the radio.
It was a band trying to be felt.
Play Now:
🔊 Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
Start With:
- Lost in My Mind – An indie-folk singalong
- Rivers and Roads – Slow-burn indie magic
- Sounds Like Hallelujah – Hopeful, heart-first, human
