"Sal owns the stage, takes command of it, then serves up her heartfelt songs for the audience as a smorgasbord plate of frenzied in-your-face rock for the ages." --Allan Rinde, A&R Columbia Records
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Award-winning Asheville-based indie rocker Sal Landers has been rousing audiences with her gritty, high-voltage performances since the early 1980’s. A professional musician by her mid-20’s, Sal is a veteran artist with a staggering amount of shows under her belt. Touring heavily, she’s logged thousands of miles on the road— both nationally and in Europe and Japan. Sal has shared the stage with Joan Jett, Will Smith, Alabama, Linda Perry, The Tubes, Chris Williamson, Holly Near, Gina Gershon, Sandra Bernhardt, Roy Clark, Taylor Dayne, Eddie Money, M’shell Nedegacello, Judy Tenuta, and Suzy Q, just to name just a few.
Sal gained notoriety and a cult-like following in the Los Angels area in the 1990’s as rising star in the Women’s lesbian community fronting her band The Fixations. The popular band headlined many of the West Coast Gay Pride Festivals, Yosemite Women’s Music Festival, Province Town Festival, and eventually the worlds biggest lesbian event, the Dinah Shore Girl Bar. Sal has had commercial success with her originals songs as well, including, “Want Your Love” which was picked up by television shows Dawson’s Creek and Time Of Your Life via a publishing deal with Sony/TriStar Television.
Sal went on to form the highly successful indie/rock all-female band, Sideswipe, who went on to tour extensively in the USA and also Europe (three times) for over a decade. In Sideswipe’s eleven year history, the band released three CD’s, including a greatest hits compilation in 2002, and won two awards with OCMA for Best Alternative Rock Band and Best Acoustic Group. The band was also listed as “Top 10 OC Bands Of All Time” and “OC’s Most Rockin’ Band” by OC magazine readers.
As a perennial front woman for her power trio, Sal has honed her singer/songwriter/guitarist talents to perform intense Who-inspired raucous rock n roll, often busting out percussively crushing 16-note rhythms on her ’66 Tele. From the first note it’s delightfully obvious that Sal takes total command of the stage, deftly sets it on fire till the very end, then triumphantly emerges smiling: unscathed and leaving her rapt audience to shout, “More, please!”.
Sal cites Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin as important influences for her own powerfully raw and emotive vocal style. Musically, Sal takes the very best from her 60’s and 70’s classic rock influences like Bruce Springsteen, Stephan Stills, Janis Joplin, Stevie Nicks, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, CCR, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, CSNY, Bonnie Raitt, and the Beatles— deftly making either her smartly crafted original songs or iconic cover tunes her very own with raw, visceral guitar work (incorporating droning strings in the Stephan Stills and Pete Townsend style of playing) and her signature strong, raspy vocals to not only engage the audience, but her band members as well. Sal knows exactly what the audience wants, and she skillfully delivers; solidly and consistently.
These days, whether performing solo or with her band, Party Rx!, she brings the same inimitable high-energy performances— awash with palpable joy for her audience, that made her a hugely popular and successful stage legend in her touring days.
This is a woman who has paid her dues in life: learned some hard truths, healed from the wounds, and has not only lived to tell the tale, but effortlessly and exuberantly gives the gift of her full heart and electrifying musical mastery to her audience at every show.
Infectious, indeed.