‘Catch of the Day’ – Post Monroe – “Red Hot American Summer” [AUDIO]

It's Unsigned/Indy Artist Thursday, and today we turn our focus to a trio of singers who manage to blend three very distinct voices, backgrounds, and experience together into a sound unlike any other in country music.

Ashlee Hewitt, Whitney Duncan and Shelby McLeod came together in Nashville in a very unlikely fashion to form the group Post Monroe. Ashlee grew up on a farm in Lancaster, Minnesota, far away from the hustle and bustle of Nashville's bright lights. She began singing at age 3, and by her teenage years was playing nearly 150 shows a year across Minnesota and North Dakota. After high school was completed, she packed her belongings and headed off to Nashville.

Shelby McLeod was raised in Madison, GA, spending her early years singing and doing local musical theater. She too had dreams of Nashville after high school graduation, but her father insisted on a college education, so after graduation, she was off to college. Four years later, with a degree in communications in hand, she was off to Music City, landing a job with Reba McEntire's Starstruck Entertainment within just a couple months.

Whitney Duncan is a native of the Nashville area, and she grew up singing at fairs and festivals throughout Tennessee. At age 15 she started making the regular trip from her home in Scotts Hill, TN to Nashville to write with some of the best songwriters in town. It was because of songwriting that Duncan met Hewitt through a mutual friend, and the pair began writing together. Feeling comfortable together as songwriters, they began looking for representation in Nashville, with one of their first stops being Starstruck Entertainment, where they met McLeod.

When the trio first met, Duncan and Hewitt had no idea that McLeod could sing, but one thing they could tell right away was she had a look that caught their eye. After being told by a mutual friend that Shelby could sing, and was interested in working in a trio, Whitney and Ashlee suggested they meet and discuss the idea. After trying their voices together in that meeting, it was obvious they needed to take it to the next step. They went into the recording studio and what resulted was "pure magic" according to Hewitt.

The trio adopted their name from a fashion concept that Ashlee had been holding onto after hearing the phrase "Post Monroe" in reference to a style popularized after the passing of the legendary Marilyn Monroe. But the group says, the name is open to interpretation as reference to the late blue grass player, Bill Monroe. "There are some great Monroes" says Duncan. McLeod adds "we'll be whatever Monroe you want..."

But no matter the Monroe you choose, Post Monroe is about the sound of three voices blending and three lives coming together to share experiences. Their self-titled debut EP, on which they wrote or co-wrote all 5 songs, is currently available at their website and on iTunes. The trio is in our spotlight today with the lead single from the project, "Red Hot American Summer" as our Unsigned/Indy Artist Thursday Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.