THE SHORT OF IT

The Rally Club is an indie groove pop band with 60’s pop and funk influences. Every song features tight three part harmonies and a depth of writing to touch the heart and get the feet moving. Formed and fronted by Ahna Ell and Benjamin Lusk, previously of Forlorn Strangers, The Rally Club is poised to grow quickly with seasoned Nashville musicians. No Country for New Nashville says, “Making a strong introduction with debut single “No Room” and more recent follow up “Diana,” The Rally Club is fast becoming a buzzy live fixture around town… [as a] groovy, energetic indie pop rock outfit.” Featuring Ceci Wahl on vocals, Rhees Williams on bass, and Asa Lane on drums, the group has a full, familial sound that is evidenced not only by their recordings, but the joy and energy in the live show. Their debut single was celebrated on many indie outlets including several AAA radio stations, and on the homepage of Reddit.  Their debut LP will be released in 2020.

THE LONG OF IT

Shortly after meeting in 2011, Benjamin and Ahna formed the Americana band Forlorn Strangers and spent seven years touring the US in support of their three albums. Forlorn Strangers were featured in Rolling Stone and Relix magazine, as well as on Music City Roots, and on many online publications. They were official showcasing artists at Americanafest and the IBMAs in 2017, and they opened for The Head & The Heart, Della Mae, Elephant Revival, Yonder Mountain String Band, Sierra Hull, Leftover Salmon, Mipso, The Wood Brothers, and many other Roots artists. Many of their songs received national airtime on AAA radio, and they developed a beloved community of fans and friends around the nation. 

Ahna began her artistic journey as a poet, eventually finding her calling as a folk singer songwriter, and currently blossoming with full fledged indie pop melodies in The Rally Club. Ahna’s dabbling musical past includes twelve years of playing the saxophone, decades of singing in Church, spoken word poems turned a cappella ballads, college coffeehouses, and old time family bands. Her songwriting became a main focus in 2010 when she spent the year hitchhiking around the US working on various organic farms— getting to know her native soil and the people who live on it. Ahna’s musicality continues to expand with The Rally Club drawing from funk and 60s pop while still maintaining the depth and familial nature of folk music. She spent three years of her childhood in Kenya, which sparked her awareness of living as a global citizen. Her most primary passion is international cultural exchange, especially through the arts. She’s traveled internationally to Central America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and the Far East since childhood, often doing humanitarian work, and she is eager to be a cultural ambassador through music in the coming years. Domestically, Ahna has worked with countless nonprofits and organizations to better the community through education, yoga, the arts, and sustainable food systems.

Benjamin Lusk is a multidisciplinary artist. He has been playing piano for 25 years; he has a degree in theater; and he is a lifelong visual artist. He won several drawing competitions through school years, and he continues to work in drawing and painting, and as a woodworker. In music, his natural understanding of the piano intuitively led him to study music theory and vocal arrangements. Beginning in high school, Benjamin was heavily involved in his school’s musical theater program, as well as in choir. Excelling vocally, he formed a Barbershop quartet with fellow classmates, and studied and prepared arrangements for the group. During this time, Benjamin toured regionally performing with various singing groups. In college, Ben studied theater and began to develop his craft in songwriting and folk music. Community service has always been close to his heart— traveling out of the country for the first time to visit Haiti at the age of nine was a formative experience that expanded Benjamin’s worldview. After that, Benjamin traveled internationally as much as possible with his father, who operates a non profit that provides sustainable leadership training to communities all over the world. Benjamin has been to multiple continents visiting many people groups. Many of his trips included community building activities and arts camps.