Bio
Adrianne Blanks & The Oracles
SULTRY JAZZ | COCKTAIL NOIR
Burlesque performer turned femme fatale frontwoman, Adrianne Blanks leads a band of wickedly talented and versatile musicians conjuring a unique musical style of cocktail noir with a playful point of view sure to put you in the mood for a sensual spin across the dance floor.
Inspired by the colorful world of Jacques Demy and evocative of the 1960s, the band provides a soundtrack of jazz & swing to Adrianne’s speakeasy storytelling of paranormal phenomena, vampires, witches, metropolitan murderesses and deep-sea monsters with sonorities that range from as lush as a Bond film to gritty as vintage surf rock.
You can hear their music on Spotify, Apple Music, and all your favorite music streaming services.
Adrianne Blanks
Lead Vocals, Songwriter
Asheville-based singer-songwriter Adrianne Blanks has written “impressive melodies full of enviable talent and inspiration” (Roadie Music). She has been heard on WNCW, Buzz Radio Asheville, Asheville FM, WTZQ, and has appeared locally with her band, the Oracles.
Originally from Chicago, Ms. Blanks started her professional career in opera. Her opera career took her as far as Italy to perform lead roles in Le Nozze di Figaro and The Magic Flute. She has sung with The Lyric Opera of Chicago and Chicago Opera Theater. Career highlights include Hermia in Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Opera Naples, Ellie Mae Shipley in Showboat with the Natchez Festival of Music, and Mae in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath with Sugar Creek Opera.
Adrianne maintains an active career singing both her original music and championing some of her favorite songwriters. She is a published model and cover model for Appalachian Life Magazine. She has been in the Top 20 most requested songs on Buzz Radio Asheville and has been interviewed on Asheville FM.
You can hear her music on Spotify, Apple Music, and all your favorite music streaming services.
DILLON YOUNG
Guitar, Songwriter
Dillon Young has a unique, expressive voice on the guitar, rooted heavily in the blues. His playing draws from delta and electric blues, decades of jazz tradition, as well as influences of Zydeco, Classic Country, Neo-soul, Gospel, and Latin music. Epiphany Arts and Navy Pier in Chicago, Marked Tree Vineyard’s La Vie en Rosé Festival, and Witchlab and Cedar Point Amusement Park in OH are a few of the places he has appeared with Adrianne Blanks and the Oracles.
Born in Louisiana, Dillon has played in bands and made music across the Deep South, including his home state, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, and North Carolina. The wide range of cultures and musical dialects have informed his sound and developed nuance in his playing. Still, as far as taste, grit, and emotional connection, nothing showcases this guitarist quite like a slow, electric blues.
ELIAS GRIMSLEY
Drums
Originally from Fayetteville, North Carolina, Elias Grimsley began his musical career by performing in orchestral ensembles and rock bands throughout the central region of the state. He would eventually move Cullowhee, NC to study music at Western Carolina University. There, he would gain experience performing a variety of musical styles such as jazz, funk, and latin. During his studies, he began to explore and become involved in the Asheville music scene where he'd meet Adrianne and become an oracle.
In addition to being a member of The Oracles, Elias maintains a career as a professional drummer and performs with many musicians in the Asheville area.