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World Cafe Nashville: Little Bandit

Alex Caress leads the Nashville band Little Bandit.
Courtesy of the artist
Alex Caress leads the Nashville band Little Bandit.

Little Bandit is a group devoted to the songs of Alex Caress, who's making classic country music with a sassy and subtly political twist. Caress first impressed Nashville audiences as part of the dream-pop band Ponychase, which was led by his sister, Jordan. More recently, he's played keyboards in breakout punk-blues star Adia Victoria's band. Alex Caress' own music recalls both Dolly Parton and Stephin Merritt of Magnetic Fields. It's highly evocative and slightly hilarious. In Little Bandit, he offers an openly queer perspective on classic country music and the themes of heartache, big dreams and drinking at the bar. Little Bandit, a group of local all-stars who've played with Margo Price, Nikki Lane and Sturgill Simpson, joined us at Sound Stage Studios in Nashville. Hear the full session in the player above.

Copyright 2017 XPN

Ann Powers is NPR Music's critic and correspondent. She writes for NPR's music news blog, The Record, and she can be heard on NPR's newsmagazines and music programs.