The Delines

Reno-born novelist Willy Vlautin has been widely acclaimed for his reality books about ordinary people such as The Motel Life, Northline, Lean On Pete and The Free, but he always managed his writing alongside a successful music career. He made eleven albums with Richmond Fontaine, the band he formed in 2004, noted for his dark, evocative songs, touring with them all over America, Europe and Australia. Struck on tour by the emotional strength emanating from the bruised, soulful voice of one of Richmond Fontaine's guest singers Amy Boone, he decided to write new material specifically for her voice, and thus The Delines were born. The name is said to have come to him in a dream. He quickly got other Richmond Fontaine associates, such as keyboard player Jenny Conlee (of The Decemberists), pedal steel player Tucker Jackson, and percussionist Sean Oldham involved and within weeks, they were recording their debut album Colfax. The rootsy style and Willy Vlautin's stark, brutal songs worked well with Amy Boone's voice and quickly found favour with audiences. Their progress was suddenly halted in 2016 when Any Boone was seriously injured in a car accident, but she eventually made a full recovery, and the band resumed their career with new album, The Imperial, released in early 2019. They continued to put out full-length releases at a consistent rate, from The Sea Drift in 2022 and 2023 LP The Night Always Comes to Mr. Luck and Ms. Doom in 2025.