Kareeta – Kareeta

In the spring of 2020, Chuck Harris and Jon Siembieda holed up in Costa Mesa to quarantine together after a last hurrah rocking out at a friend’s show the night before the world shut down. The two music heads began playing along with Howlin Rain’s The Alligator Bride; soon enough, prolific writer and artist Chuck was writing lyrics while Jon came up with guitar parts. Not long after, they had an album’s worth of material (and then some).

Cut to safer times, joined by Brian Lara on drums, and Aaron Barnes on guitar & bass, the newly-formed band hit the studio in Oakland with Greg Loiacono to produce, inviting guest stars like Danny Eisenberg, Adam MacDougall and more to add in a little cosmic flavor to the band’s stoner-fried country-rock sound.

Kareeta is pure California country-rock, risen from the swamps and Southern Delta heat, but incubated in SoCal so I’m claiming them. Their sound is classic, clever, and never predictable, and Harris’s lyrics are soulful, poetic, and down-home. There’s no ambiguity about what this is, and it works like a charm.

“I had a great time making this record. The band was super tight and easy to work with in the
studio, and the songs are excellent. Chuck has a way of really painting a picture with his
storytelling. The lyrics and the powerhouse rhythm section are what engaged me right away.
Getting to produce this album has been such a pleasure,” says Loiacono.

Kareeta is playing the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco with The Mother Hips on
December 18th, and at Harlow’s Nightclub in Sacramento (also with The
Mother Hips) on December 30th.

Kareeta is out now exclusively on Bandcamp (yay!). Buy it here.

Photo by Robert Brown