After steadily releasing songs and music videos for the last several years, Indiana songwriter Laura K. Balke found herself creatively shifting to country music. Known for her explorations of the folk, pop and rock genres, Balke ventured into the western world in 2017 by helping found Indianapolis band Indy Annies.

Her time playing in honky tonks and dive bars stuck with her like an old flame.

“I had about 50 country covers rattling around in my head,” Balke says. “It began to affect my songwriting. It’s like they got into my bloodstream and the songs just started writing themselves.”

The result is the Neon Sun EP, a collection of songs influenced by mid-20th century country classics. Balke’s writing invokes those legendary honky tonk angels and coal miner’s daughters with the same attitude and sincerity that launched them to stardom.

For the EP, Balke had the band Willis Miller serve as her session players. Balke debuted her country songs, with the band backing her, at their monthly variety show “Willis Miller & Friends,” and the show’s success prompted her to record with them.

The Neon Sun EP will be out on August 29th with a release show at Duke’s. Backed by band members Erik Fox, Isaac Vining, Nick Traeger, and Zach Welch - all of whom have racked up numerous studio and live credits in the Midwest country scene - Laura Kay and the Bootleggers put on a performance invoking classic country legends with a distinctly Midwestern sound.