Delta Rae Opens for Michelle Obama at UNC Chapel Hill

Durham, NC based Delta Rae opened for First Lady Michelle Obama earlier this week at Carmichael Arena at UNC Chapel Hill. The band's performance preceded The First Lady taking the podium to encourage college students and other supporters to vote, as early voting began in North Carolina yesterday. "There are currently so many issues being discussed and decisions being made in Washington that are going to drastically affect our generation" says Eric Hölljes of Delta Rae. "I truly hope, as young people, we stand up in this election and let our collective voice be heard."

Delta Rae has been very involved with the Obama campaign in their home state of North Carolina. They were invited to perform at the DNC in Charlotte alongside James Taylor, only to have the show washed out at the last minute due to a venue change due to rain.

Several years ago, California voters passed Prop 8, which effectively banned gay marriage in the state. In response, Delta Rae's Ian Hölljes wrote the song "Chain on Love," protesting what he believed Prop 8 to be -- a severely unjust law that directly discriminated against the LGBT community and, by doing so, infringed on the rights of all Americans. In May, North Carolina voters faced a similar choice with Amendment One. Delta Rae fervently supports marriage equality and, more generally, the equal rights of the entire LGBT community.

Delta Rae were recently profiled on NPR's All Things Considered. NPR describes the Durham, NC six-piece band's sound as "modern folklore." The band themselves, which includes three siblings: Ian, Eric and Brittany Holljes, tell VH1 that if one must categorize their music, they usually call it Americana. "It captures so much of American music across all boundaries and time." VH1 selected Delta Rae as their "You Oughta Know" Artist Of The Month for October and has moved their video for their single, "Bottom Of The River," into heavy rotation.

If you've never heard of Delta Rae and need a good introduction, check out this rendition they did of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" for Billboard. Goosebumps. Delta Rae recently performed "Bottom Of The River" on Conan and have been touring relentlessly all year in support of their debut album, Carry The Fire, which came out on June 19th (iTunes). A full list of dates is below, please let us know if you are interested in checking out a show.