The Belle Sounds featuring Noëlle Hampton - Austin's finest!

California natives turned Austin mainstays The Belle Sounds have made a name for themselves as seductive folk pop aficionados, creating lush soundscapes intertwined with effervescent harmonies and beautiful lyricism. Their sound at different times will evoke Fleetwood Mac, Neko Case, Aimee Mann, The Shins or Jenny Lewis, and yet they stand out in their own unique sonic space with their effortless melodies, floating guitars and reflective storytelling. Throughout the five years they have called themselves The Belle Sounds, the band has undergone different iterations with various musicians sitting in, recording and performing, but the core of The Belle Sounds has always been frontwoman Noëlle Hampton and her husband, musical counterpart and electric guitarist André Moran.
In the early 2000s they visited Austin while on tour with their band and they fell in love with the city and decided to relocate there permanently.The move to Austin took its toll on both of them, but particularly Noëlle. Exhausted from years of performing and then starting over, she ended up in a deep depression and stopped playing music and writing for a few years. She was creatively stifled and bogged down with the emotional weight of feeling forgotten. It wasn’t until she and André met producer Mark Hallman (Ani Difranco, Carole King, Eliza Gilkyson) that they decided to go back into the studio and start making music together again. They recorded Noëlle’s last record under her name, the critically acclaimed “Thin Line”, which celebrated her newfound influence of a rootsy, Americana sound. The record saw a ton of radio airplay on everything from AAA, Commercial and College Radio to Internet Radio, and was embraced in Europe with substantial airplay as well. The passion and inspiration that came from recording and releasing “Thin Line” had reignited Noëlle’s drive, and the musical connection between this husband/wife team was stronger than ever. In 2013, the couple traveled to East Nashville, TN to work on a batch of songs with a new producer, Neilson Hubbard. Noëlle, André and Neilson, along with a few other players including Evan Hutchings (drums) recorded the eponymous “The Belle Sounds” in a week-long recording session, full of creativity and sonic discovery. Their music had started heading in a new exciting direction and they decided to form a new band, The Belle Sounds. They went on to add more members to the band such as Emily Shirley on keys and vocals, and Harmoni Kelley (Bob Schneider, Kenny Chesney) on bass and vocals. After Harmoni moved to Nashville they were joined by Kris Nelson who fell effortlessly into the sound, covering Neilson’s vocal parts and adding immensely to the rhythm section. Since the groups’ formation, they have accomplished a great deal as The Belle Sounds. In 2013, the band traveled back to Nashville to record their EP, “Black Stone,” which they released in 2014. In 2016, The Belle Sounds were named one of Austin’s “Best New Bands” by the Austin Chronicle Music Poll and The City of Austin even proclaimed April 13, 2017 to officially be “The Belle Sounds Day.” They have performed at ACL Moody Theater, 3Ten ACL Live, One-2-One Bar, The Saxon Pub, Cheer Up Charlie’s and more. Their next creative undertaking, the highly anticipated album, “The Sea Within”, is the first record they have made as The Belle Sounds in Austin.