One of Annie Stokes’ earliest memories is watching the PBS broadcast of Sondheim’s musical ‘Into the Woods’ and rewinding the scenes to study what the actors did to make the audience laugh or react. “There was a never a version of my life where I wasn’t going to be a performer,” she says. But her connection to a televised musical went a bit deeper than getting praise from an audience: she wanted, from an early age, to collect stories. To see how they all bind us together.

A childhood spent alternately in dance studios, buried in books, or outside on the easternmost seam of the Blue Ridge Mountains shaped Annie’s childhood and teen years, before college allowed her to pursue the study of history and gender (two themes that come up frequently in Annie’s work). After giving a ‘real’ job the (literal) old college try, it became evident to her that her life’s calling was in music and performance, albeit not on Broadway. Annie’s parents got her a Breedlove guitar for her 21st birthday, and she diligently began paying her dues at open mics, bars, street festivals, and anywhere that would let her plug in her mini Fishman amp and set out a tip jar. “If I’d had a clue about the scope of what I was endeavoring to do, I might have been too overwhelmed to try.” While taking the long way certainly has its share of potholes (and cheap motels), Annie greeted 2020 with nearly a decade of hands-on experience in the independent, DIY school of musicianship.

And then the world changed, on a big and small scale. The pandemic coincided with new motherhood, and Annie and her husband (and bandmate and co-writer) Will Berger found themselves hunkered down with a newborn baby and a half-finished album. “When you have a child, you have to squeeze an hour out of 20 minutes, and when the world is locked down, you have to pause. So we just cracked open some moments.” The result was their 2021 album “The One That Gets Away”, which would go on to win the 2022 WAMMIE (Washington Area Music Award) for Best Country/Americana Album. Written and produced by Stokes and Berger, this album finally encapsulated the sound that had been gestating and forming since that 21st birthday Breedlove was unwrapped, and audiences (and the industry) responded accordingly.

Annie teamed up with producer Austin Bello for her 2023 EP “Wild Rose” which brought further acclaim and placements, including being featured on season 6 of The Martha Bassett Show. Currently, she is working with Bello on her upcoming full length LP, due out in early 2025.

“Water Tower is this wonderful band that is made up of “the lost boys”… its like a soup kitchen for those in need of belonging and family who have been through some of the experiences they have over come” -Grand Ole Country Bunker.

Frontman Kenny Feinstein (right) has spent more than 15 years curating the band to what it is today. In 2005 he began performing and recording with the Water Tower Bucket Boys then modified members and style as Water Tower String Band. In 2018 he moved from his Portland Oregon roots to Los Angeles where he began the new iteration of the band as known simply as Water Tower. The core group is made up of three unlikely protégés who came from very different backgrounds to form one great sound of their own. Kenny brings solid string experience (banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar) in his favorite genres of Punk Rock, Old Time Music and Bluegrass. Soon after moving to Los Angeles he met Tommy Drinkard , an audio engineer , songwriter and front-man for his own rock band called Tommy Drinkard and the Remedy. Tommy who is already a great electric and acoustic guitar player began taking banjo lessons from Kenny and within a year he won first place intermediate banjo at the highly acclaimed Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Competition. Soon their songwriting collaboration began to take place and songs like “The River Song”, “Fivers” and “AMPM” began to form their sound. Soon after that, they met Jesse Blue Eads a 19 year old jazz bassist who held his own on the banjo. They met while busking at the beach in Southern California. Unbeknownst to Kenny and Tommy at the time Jesse had just received a Jazz Award from Berklee School of Music. Amazing sounds were heard across the beach as the three met and traded styles and licks for hours including what would become the double banjo performance signature sound in songs like “Take me Back” . Together they share their love for Bluegrass, Old Time, Jam Grass while adding their individual infusion of reggae and rock (Tommy Drinkard), Jazz and prog-rock (Jesse Blue Eads) and Punk Rock & Old Time styles (Kenny Feinstein).