December 5, 2013

Music Industry students Alexandra Berenson and Maura Mullen met four years ago when they lived in the same dorm. After realizing that they shared many of the same musical influences – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Supremes, Beck, and Jefferson Airplane – they formed their singer-songwriter duo, Moonshine Heather, using pristine harmonies set to the sounds of folk, R&B, rock and roll, and indie pop music. Berenson and Mullen played at local venues and dive bars, gaining a following, and they recently recorded an album in Drexel University’s MAD Dragon Studios with the help of Music Industry student engineers. Now, Music Industry Professor Marc Offenbach’s Bantic Media class is promoting the Dec. 10 launch of Moonshine Heather’s self-titled debut album.   

Offenbach’s class put together a marketing plan and timeline to assist the band in the album launch, coordinated the creation of all of the art needed for the packaging, and hired an outside music digital publicist to assist Bantic on the project. “The members of Moonshine Heather have been playing music since childhood, and come from a Jazz and Motown background, as well as one rooted in punk and folk traditions,” says Offenbach. 

Their first single, “Changin’ Eyes” (click here to listen) channels their love of folk music with a bit of twang, while their second track, “You Don’t Wanna Know,” focuses more on their rock interests, channeling the Violent Femmes. “The girl-guitar duo of Maura Mullen and Alex Berenson present themselves rather alternatively, building their style on strong counterpoint harmonies, wrapping their voices inventively around their guitar chords,” writes Dan Herman of RadioCrystalBlue.net. 

You can catch the duo on their upcoming limited release tour on these dates:

December 13th, Philadelphia: Connie’s Ric Rac
December 14th, New York: The Grand St. Bakery
December 15th, Williamstown: Water Street Grill

The Music Industry program is made possible by the generous support of the Kal and Lucile Rudman Institute for Entertainment Industry Studies