Violet Bell's upcoming release Shapeshifter features original music by Lizzy Ross & Omar Ruiz-Lopez, recoded with Tatiana Hargreaves, Joe Troop, Joseph Terrell & Libby Rodenbough(Mipso), Sinclair Palmer (The Muslims), Jo MacPhail, Austin McCall (Jonathan Byrd & The Pickup Cowboys), and Grammy-nominated producer Jason Richmond (The Avett Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers, Rising Appalachia)

Shapeshifter

Junkie

Mortal Like Me

Morning Girl

I am a Wolf

Flying Free

Fisherman's Daughter

Back to the Sea

Violet Bell's upcoming release "Back to the Sea," features original music by Lizzy Ross & Omar Ruiz-Lopez, recoded with Tatiana Hargreaves, Joe Troop, Joseph Terrell & Libby Rodenbough(Mipso), Sinclair Palmer (The Muslims), Jo MacPhail, Austin McCall (Jonathan Byrd & The Pickup Cowboys), and Grammy-nominated producer Jason Richmond (The Avett Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers, Rising Appalachia)

Fish to Catch

All the Stars

Featuring 11 original songs, Honey in My Heart was recorded live with no vocal tuning, click tracks, or isolation. Honey in My Heart was co-produced and engineered by Jason Richmond (Avett Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers, Nneena Freelon, Dom Flemons, Bombadil, Shana Tucker).

VIOLET BELL weaves psychedelic, soul, and classical influences with folk-rock roots. Based out of Durham, NC, the duo of Lizzy Ross and Omar Ruiz-Lopez have played over 300 shows from Montreal to Miami since forming in March 2016, including Americanafest 2018.

“Full of personality, Honey in My Heart feels consistent with the duo’s true selves as opposed to hidden behind studio wizardry.”
- Mountain XPress

“Ross is channeling the spirit of Eva Cassidy, and Ruiz-Lopez's violin performance is chocolate; one of the richest-sounding I have ever heard... A very beautiful canvas of earthy, acoustic music, with some of the best arrangements I have heard on this show… Absolutely gorgeous.” 
- Michael Jonathan, Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour

"I cannot recall the last time I heard music so beautifully crafted and presented. From Irish jigs and reels to gypsy soul-trance syncopations, every note felt like a gift of love to us from them. Do yourself a favor - go see them live!” -Presenter John Downing

“Violet Bell have toured extensively throughout the country, earning fans with their fiery live performances, thanks in large part to the chemistry between Ross and Ruiz-Lopez.” -The Boot

Honey in My Heart 11/6/18 Master

Elephant Heart

“A very beautiful canvas of earthy, acoustic music, with some of the best arrangements I have heard on this show… Ross channels the spirit of Eva Cassidy, and Ruiz-Lopez's violin performance is chocolate... Absolutely gorgeous.” - Michael Jonathan, Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour

Lizzy Ross and Omar Ruiz-Lopez are floating in the Eno River, someplace between Durham and Hillsborough. 

A fierce summer sun beats down. Minnows nudge them. They float, holding onto large rocks and letting the current point their feet downstream. Kids wade by, headed from the gentle waterfall to the inches-deep ford. 

As two humans navigating life together, Ross and Ruiz-Lopez are present; the only moment is now and the only location is here. As a band, as North Carolina progressive folk duo Violet Bell, they are present; a recording is not expected to be the platonic ideal, the authoritative version of a song, but just one brief window of its lifetime. And that sense of letting go and leaning in, of accepting that spirit and heart count far more than the myth of the perfect take, is central to Violet Bell's debut LP, Honey in My Heart.

"When you're standing on the edge of fear and you have that deep desire to control… I think it is ego stuff, because the ego is the one that gets scared." Ross says, "If we let go and let it flow, we’ll come out of the studio with something that feels alive."

Accordingly, Honey in My Heart is vibrant, full of ebbing and flowing emotion; full of passion, fear, hope, angst, frustration, humor — all the messy emotions comprising the worthwhile chaos of the human experience. Stylistically, the songs take familiar Americana textures and bend them in surprising directions. The album draws from all over the spectrum, ranging from folky psychedelia to subtle jazz and experimental indie-pop. Honey in My Heart is what happens when two musicians at the top of their craft share the same sandbox.

To make these songs feel alive, Violet Bell rewrote its own norms and expectations. Honey in My Heart was recorded largely live. If there were mistakes in the best take, that didn't stop it from being the best take. "We didn't do scratch tracks," Ross says, “Once we got into the room together, it felt so good. The songs are just what came out.”

Ruiz-Lopez is quieter than Ross. He considers his words, then speaks in terms of ideals, of acoustic instruments, of teaching children to play music and of bringing things of beauty into the world. Indeed, each half of Violet Bell has dedicated their life to the pursuit of music: Ross as a songwriter who briefly tried her hand in Nashville before returning to more receptive soil in North Carolina; Ruiz-Lopez as a music educator and sideman who plays a staggering array of instruments (violin, viola, cello, guitar, mandolin, banjo). From his work with Kidznotes, a nonprofit that offers instrument lessons to underserved Durham schoolchildren, to his collaborations with Triangle-area musicians and membership in bands like Jonathan Byrd and the Pickup Cowboys,  Ruiz-Lopez was a busy musician for years before Violet Bell.  "For a long time I had wanted to work with something I felt really aligned with," he says. "Lizzy came, and all of the sudden there's this depth while there is light." 

Ross thinks melodically and lyrically, while Ruiz-Lopez thinks in tones, textures and colors. To him, an arrangement is a Rubik's Cube — a satisfying challenge that is solved by different changes, sections and timbres. As a multi-instrumentalist, Ruiz-Lopez has a broad sonic palette at his disposal. A consistent soundscape throughout a record is uninteresting to Ruiz-Lopez, as is undue obedience to genre. As simple as it sounds, his tools are rhythm, harmony and melody.

"We need things of beauty and not just products," he says. "If people open to the arts and creativity in general, we can make the world a better place and more colorful. The tribute is to beauty when you make song and raise a joyous noise."

Elephant Heart

Violet Bell

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