Critics say Osage's haunting ballads, lush rock textures and rock-out, amped-up attitude make grunge blush a bright pink. The soulful/cerebral brand of garage rock Osage delivers never fails to seduce the listener into contemplating life at the place where soul meets angst. At the heart of Osage's heady and unusually dark folk-meets-grunge rock is chanteuse Chelsea Bryan and multi-instrumentalist Kate Jarosik. Chelsea fronts their young, up and coming band with a sort of dark drama that gives strong color to Osage's pop rock moves. That signature pathos screams catharsis and guarantees Osage melodies will loop in your head. Osage has been compared to 60s psyche rockers, folk rockers and pop rockers, but any comparison is always born from the rock and roll sensibility the band exudes. The band's take on rock and roll is a synthesis of angst, soul and rhythm that lights a fire under your soul when you hear it. Osage's music is more than anything very honest and that's palpable through Chelsea's emotional, timbre-rich vocals and literary lyrics. She takes the lead with powerful pipes while Steve Pierce plays guitar, Dennis Stocker plays drums, Billy Boyce plays bass, Alex Bryan plays saxophone and Kate Jarosik sings harmony and plays keys and melodica. The Story Behind Osage The unique chord Osage strikes in the independent rock genre is due to a mix of rootedness in heritage (thus the band name according to Chelsea's Osage Native American lineage) and a highly artistic aesthetic. The band started as Post-Burgundy, based in Charlottesville, while Kate and Chelsea were students at the University of Virginia with friend and fine art photographer Ellen Anderson. Chelsea, a budding short story writer, found that her post-college writing featured dramatic themes; Kate built on that in co-written songs with a taste for the nostalgic. Have/Hold also features a song co-written with their friend and songwriter Ellen Anderson, "Soft Speak." On Have/Hold Album Art In college Chelsea Bryan modeled extensively for friend and artistic collaborator Ellen Anderson's art photography. A photo from Ellen's 2011 art show "An Introvert's World" is the album art and reflects the mood of Have/Hold, an incandescent blend of angst, pathos, hope and pure, dark, unadulterated independent rock.