Bourbon & Beyond 2026 - Line 12 (Stella Lefty, Joan Osborne, Paula Cole, Vertical Horizon, Kaitlin Butts, Langhorne Slim)

Stella Lefty

One Liner: Unremarkable pop that borders into country
Wikipedia Genre: no Wikipedia, but this is pop
Home: L.A.
Day: Sunday

Thoughts:  Wikipedia took me to Stella Levy, who was an Israeli soldier and politician.  This is not her, as that lady is dead.  This gal is an odd sound, where at times I think this is country with drum machines, and then at times I think it is just pop music.  And I don't love it, but the (probably AI-written) article I just read about her is hyperbolic in its praise: "Everything about this EP doesn’t just make Stella Lefty feel like she’s one of pop music’s most promising rising acts; it makes her takeover feel all but inevitable. You’re running out of time to be an early fan, after all, so check out Tragic, Really before it’s too late."  HER TAKEOVER IS INEVITABLE!!!

Another article claims she is a student at Tulane University.  That would be really weird, if true, for her to go play big shows over the weekend and then head back to her Econ class on Monday morning.  But pretty limited article numbers out there about her - I'm sure it is because she is young and cool and those people don't want to read an article, they want to watch a TikTok to learn more about her.  And I refuse to do such things.

About 15 total songs with no real albums yet.  Although she did get a song on the Scream 7 soundtrack, so she's doing something right.  Well, that is how my brain works - does anyone else care if a song is on a soundtrack?  Dunno.  Probably not.  Anyway, her top track is a 2026 single with 16.8 million streams (most of her songs are under a million).  "Thinking 'bout you."

There is that country flavor - doesn't it sound like that could be a Nashville track?  It is fine - I'm sure the kids will have fun singing along to her when she plays it, but I will be on the other side of the festival for this show.

Joan Osborne

One Liner: A great folky Americana laced with classic soul rock
Wikipedia Genre: Rock, folk, country rock, blues, R&B
Home: Louisville, KY
Day: Sunday

Thoughts:  When my friend Chad saw this lineup and was complaining about it, he said that he was going to "snail trail before Joan Osborne hits the stage."  I have no clue what that means, and also have zero recollection of who Joan Osborne is/was.  Now, because I just googled it, I know that "snail trail" is a relatively gross term for natural vaginal lubrication left on clothing, and I wish I could take back the last twenty seconds of my life.

As for who this is?  Now, I completely recognize her main song.  You will too, although it is making me think of Austin Powers more than the original song.  You know that a person was a one hit wonder when the first three songs on their Spotify are the same song, just one is the album cut, one is another random version, and one is the radio edit.  If they couldn't move one of those off the top of the mountain in 31 years, then this is not going to go well for my listening pleasure.  Also, her fourth most popular song is a live version of "The Weight" by Mavis Staples with like 40 other artists helping.  

Her most recent album is a 2025 live disc called Dylanology that is just eight covers of Dylan played live somewhere.  It isn't terrible, but it's also a little lounge-act-ey.

She grew up in a suburb of Louisville, but moved to New York City in the 80's to study filmmaking at NYU.  While working her way through school, she sang at an open mic and other folks took notice and asked her to keep coming.  She soon formed a little band and started playing alongside up-and-comers like Spin Doctors and Blues Traveler.  Once she gave in and started really touring, she was signed to a label and released 1995's Relish, which was the album with the big hit on it.  "One of Us" has 200.8 million streams.

or there is always this:

Lovely.  I also recognize the first song from that album "St. Teresa," but the rest of it rings no bells.  I don't recall owning it, even though the cover looks very familiar.  I like that her second album is called Early Recordings, like there was this massive clamor after Relish came out where people were like "I HAVE TO HEAR HER OPEN MIC RECORDINGS!!!"  

Over her career, she has produced albums for other folks, she was a background vocalist for the Dead and Phil Lesh and Friends, opened for the Dixie Chicks, co-headlined the Lilith Fair, appeared on the Grand Ole Opry, sang on a Chieftain's album, and has seven Grammy nominations (no wins)

Anyway, I think I am good on this one.  She's got a lot of soul, but hopefully something else is playing at the same time!

Paula Cole

One Liner: DAWSON WAS A WHINY, MANIPULATIVE BITCH THE WHOLE TIME!!
Wikipedia Genre: pop, rock
Home: Rockport, MA
Day: Sunday

Thoughts: Oh, that is funny.  Like Joan Osborne, I couldn't come up with who Paula Cole was - I think I was thinking of Sarah McLaughlin's music.  But instead, this is the Dawson's Creek theme song lady - I still hear that damn song all the time because middle kid is streaming that show again right now.  Her photo on Spotify makes her look like she is (a) dead and (b) in a bad remake of Wonder Woman.  She's also got the "Where Have All the Cowboy's Gone" song that is very weird.  Her big album was that 1996 one This Fire, which had both of those big hits on it.  She's been cranking out music ever since, and while none of it sounds all that great to me, I can say that her voice seems to still be cranking.

Apparently, she first gained notice as the background vocalist for Peter Gabriel's Secret World Tour in the early 90's.  Weird that it doesn't sound like she was on the album, just the tour?  I feel like it would be really weird to go to a Peter Gabriel show and be like, "man, I really love that backup vocalist, I wonder who she is, oh she has no albums or music of her own but now she is famous?"  Simpler time back in 1993.  Ah, wait, now this makes sense: "Cole joined the two last legs of Peter Gabriel's 1993–94 Secret World tour.  A video of the concert was shot just days after Cole joined the tour. The video was released as Secret World Live, with Cole covering all the primary female vocals and featured in duets with Gabriel, especially the songs "Don't Give Up" on which she sang the part that Kate Bush recorded with Gabriel in 1986, and "Blood of Eden" recorded by Gabriel and Sinéad O'Connor in 1992. The film received the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video. Cole was also the main female vocalist on Secret World Live, the audio album documenting the tour. The tour gave Cole international exposure as well as experience performing on a large stage. Her performance earned high praise: in a retrospective review, PopMatters wrote that Cole was "one of the real stars" on the tour, that she easily handled Kate Bush's parts, and that she was "maybe a superior vocalist" to Sinéad O'Connor."  That is what happened.  Cool!

She attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, and afterwards moved to San Francisco to work on her music.  But it was the Peter Gabriel tour that kicked her career into the stratosphere.  Gabriel's studio engineer told him to give her a call after O'Connor bailed on the tour, and Gabriel left her an answering machine message.  She flew to Germany, rehearsed it all one time, and then jumped on stage.  Pretty wild.  Another Lilith Fair headliner as well.  This line of the poster is big in the Lilithsphere.  Like her buddy Joan up above, she has been nominated for Grammy awards, but also took home Best New Artist in 1997.  Since then, she was "Ship" on season twelve of The Masked Singer.  I had no idea that show has existed for so many seasons.  That feels incorrect.

Anyway, top song is obviously "I Don't Want to Wait."  130.4 million streams.

AHHH!  WHy did they use that image for the YouTube thumbnail!  That video is deeply weird.  So dramatic.  I have not hated going down into this hole of her music - a lot of the new stuff feels more like bluesy soul standards and whatnot.  But I doubt I'd go watch this show.

Vertical Horizon

One Liner: Personal favorite of old alt rock and "camp"-feeling tunes
Wikipedia Genre: Rock, folk, country rock, blues, R&B
Home: Louisville, KY
Day: Sunday

Thoughts: I saw Vertical Horizon once when I lived in Dallas.  They played the iconic Trees club down off of Deep Ellum, with Jackopierce.  It was a good show, but also I remember just how much I used to listen to the There and Back Again album.  If you haven't heard that album, you should.  I have actual goosebumps on my arms right now hearing the opening track again - definitely a Jackopierce-style acoustic thing.  I'm sure I discovered it at camp back in the day, it gives off vague Christian vibes.  "Lines Upon Your Face" is lovely.  And of course, because I have Chad on my mind after writing about his Joan Osborne comments, I'm sure that he will hate this pretty stuff and call me names.  Whatever, I like it.

And their big hit album too - 1999's Everything You Want.  The title song from that is still their biggest hit, with 141.3 million streams.

Still love it - but hilarious how hard core they appear in that video, all bald headed and black, tight shirts.  "You're a God" is also a great pop rock nugget of happy memories for me.  "Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)" sounds more like a Live ripoff than I remembered.  But you know those albums, where I have probably not heard this in at least a decade if not two, and yet I still remember the words.  Makes me smile.

But, I will readily admit that their newest album, 2018's The Lost Mile, is pretty cheesy pop rock schlock that brings me no joy.  I would have been happier never knowing that they made new music.  Way too many synths.

Kaitlin Butts

One Liner: Excellent story-telling Americana
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but I'd call this Americana
Home: Nashville (but originally from Tulsa, OK)
Day: Saturday

Thoughts: I ran across her one time several years ago, when I was listening to an album by Flatland Cavalry.  She was featured on that album, and I was kind of enamored with her name.  "The hit on here is the one featuring the excellently named Kaitlin Butts.  Who is either an heir to the HEB fortune and therefore it makes sense that she kept that surname, or was hoping for the old Beavis and Butthead crowd to find her and push her into stardom, or has a fantastic seat.  I'm going to imagine it's number 2.  Huh huh, cool.  Butts."  She also came through Two Step in 2023 and 2025.

She's not on Wikipedia, but she is mentioned in the Flatland Cavalry post because she is married to the vocalist for the band, which was formed in Lubbock in 2012.  That post says that she is a frequent collaborator with the band and an "oft-seen part of their live shows."  And you can tell, because both of the top songs on Spotify for her are Flatland songs on which she is featured.  

I've pretty much just let these songs play for the past two days.  I really like her stuff.  Good lyrics, strong voice, fine instrumentation.  It all sounds really good, like a more Americana version of Kacey Musgraves.  "blood" is an excellent song, that she does two ways in her Spotify, a regular version with full accompaniment, and then a stripped-down version.  Lot of soul in there.  That is the top song from her 2022 album - What Else Can She Do - 2.1 million streams.  This is the stripped version.

Just a killer set of lyrics about trying to measure up to your family and the things you do for your blood.  Makes me think of the way my sister-in-law treats my wife, and then the way my wife hides her feelings about it.  Really good.  She also does a cover of Leadbelly's "in the pines" that is pretty killer.  "It Won't Always Be This Way" is another well-composed tune about tough times.  Her cover of "Tulsa Time" is good stuff - I love that song.  And her cover of Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" sounds very much like Kacey Musgraves and is a pretty reimagining of the tune.

3 albums.  2015's Same Hell, Different Devil, 2022's What Else Can She Do, and 2024's Roadrunner!  She also released an EP in 2022 called Sad Yeehaw Sessions, where that stripped-down "blood" is from, that also includes a cover of Miley Cyrus's "Angels Like You" that sounds really good.  Her top single, of her solo stuff and not including the Flatland tunes, is a 2021 single called "Marfa Lights," with 6.5 million streams.

(1) nice tune.  (2) I was really hoping for a real video that would have been set in Marfa.  (3) that highway on the cover looks nothing like Highway 90.  Have you ever seen the Marfa lights?  They're pretty damn cool.  I've seen them a few times, and even with really good binoculars, I have no clue what is going on out there.  And her analogy is pretty good - "I'll chase you around, low and high, we're just out of reach, we're just out of sight."

Dig it.  I'd love to see her play.

Langhorne Slim

One Liner: A great folky Americana laced with classic soul rock
Wikipedia Genre: Americana
Home: Langhorne, PA
Day: Thursday

Thoughts:  I have a random story to tell that really doesn't connect with this fella, but bear with me.  Have you ever heard of Slim Whitman?  That was who I was really hoping this was going to be when I saw it on the poster.  Well, a few months ago I found a box of old 8 tracks and a player out at my step-mom's ranch, and the group had a blast jamming the old country goodness in that box of tapes.  None were mega-hits, the Dolly Parton album was some lesser-known mid-career thing, or the Oak Ridge Boys tape was from pre-fame, but we had a great time reveling in the old technology and the classic music.  Anyway, among the music were two tapes from Slim Whitman, who I had never heard of.  When I asked my step-uncle about them, he grinned with a far-away look in his eye and said "ol' Slim Whitman. That boy can yodel."  Which was hilarious.  So anyway, go check out Slim Whitman's yodeling some time.  I mean, look at this dope ass MOFO!!!

I need that robe right now.

But this guy, on the other hand, mainly reminds me of Lord Huron, but every once in a while he does a Paul Simon thing too.  Actually, the new album has some Black Keys undertones in it too.  Born as Sean Scolnick in Langhorne, PA, he gained some fame while touring with something called the Trachtenburg Family Sideshow Players.  As he gained a little notoriety, his songs have now been featured in other media, like a Microsoft Windows 8 commercial, the movies Waitress, Admission, and 21& Older, and a Travelers Insurance Commercial.

Check these accolades: Rolling Stone praised [2012 album] The Way We Move as "damn near perfect," while Laura Barton of The Guardian proclaimed the band as "one of the greatest live acts."  Additionally, Entertainment Weekly called Langhorne Slim "your next obsession," and The New Yorker described him as having "Leadbelly's gift for storytelling and Dylan's ability to captivate crowds."  Pretty good!

His top song has the Paul Simon flavor - from his 2015 album called The Spirit Moves (and which also features a backing band called "The Law") this is "Changes" with 117.5 million streams.

Gimme those old gospel singers!  I love it.  Overall, I think this guy's music is really good.  I am glad I came across his stuff and will keep listening even after this is all over.  I'd definitely go check out the live show.