Velvet

Principle songwriters Jay Manley (guitar/vocals) and Jane Francis (bass/vocals) joined by Hungarian drummer Zsolt David, craft more than just smart pop songs with fascinating structures. Manley and Francis bring a lifetime of musicianship to Velvet and seamlessly assimilate a batch of influences including The Beatles, Ravi Shankar, The Pretenders, Guided By Voices, Aimee Mann, Television, with hints of Jimi Hendrix, and Pat Metheny.



Since its beginnings as a Wilmington-based art-rock outfit in 1995, Velvet’s artistry and career continue to be upwardly mobile. The bands work is featured in Daniel Kraus’s debut film Jefftowne and MTV bought the rights to use the groups songs in its reality-based programs. Velvet also appears on the Lets Active tribute released by Australian label Laughing Outlaw Records and on the German Compilation Coast to Coast, where the bands work was placed alongside Ani DiFranco and the Cowboy Junkies. Two tracks from The Juggernaut are on the soundtrack of Jonathan Landau’s new film, The Last Summer and more recently, the band has been film scoring for Carrboro based film director Nic Beery.



Lately, the band had been studying and assimilating North Indian classical music into their songwriting. Manley, who has been studying Hindustani vocal for over two years now, brings ragas and melodies to guitar. Velvet is currently recording songs at their home studio for the next release. Stay tuned for some singles!

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