Bio
Letitia VanSant’s lyrics trace questions about why the world is the way it is into the human soul. With sparse indie folk arrangements fortifying a distinctly intimate vocal style, her stage presence is down-to-earth and immediate.
Paste Magazine named her among 10 Artists to Watch in 2020, BBC Radio says she is “a fascinating new artist.” Her songwriting has earned several awards, including the Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Competition. VanSant’s debut album Gut It to the Studs and its follow up Circadian established her as an emerging talent on the Americana scene and propelled her on to tour in the UK/Europe.
Letitia is one half of Golden Aster, a vocal harmony-focused duo with Laura Wortman of the Honey Dewdrops, and lead vocalist for classic country band Rusty Sal. Her forthcoming collaboration with David McKindley-Ward is due in fall of 2024.
New album coming Fall 2024
After performing everywhere from tiny living rooms to concert halls in the UK, belting out covers around countless campfires, and rehearsing over empty pizza boxes in various basements, Letitia VanSant and her friend David McKindley-Ward are releasing the sounds of their creative collaboration.
David grew up steeped in folk, traditional, and protest music from all over the world. From his folk foundation of Pete Segeer and Stan Rogers, he found a love for Irish music from cassette tape recordings of the old folk revival balladeers from the 50s and 60s. Letitia’s shy childhood poems about fairies transformed to music after she taught herself to play an old Yamaha guitar. Over the years her art slowly became introspective indie folk ballads and political indie rock anthems that have earned the favor of the music scene in Baltimore and beyond.
David and Letitia have been performing ever since they met years ago as roommates in a group house of eclectic musicians. Their forthcoming album features delicate melodies, intricate leads, and rich harmonies from two distinctive vocal styles. Eye of the Storm will be released in the fall of 2024.
AWARDS & HONORS
2021 Baker Artist Award Winner
2020 Best Vocal Performance in Baltimore Alternative Music Awards for “You Can’t Put My Fire Out”
2019 USA Songwriting Competition Finalist
2019 Nominee for Best Vocal Performance in the WTMD Alternative Music Awards
2018 Baltimore Magazine 50 Artists You Need to Know
2017 Kerrville New Folk Winner
2017 Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist
2017 Rocky Mountain Folks Fest 1st Alternate
2017 One of Baltimore' Sun's "30 Songs that Defined 2017"
2016 Winner of the Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest (Folk)
Culture Trip Top 8 Up-and-Coming DC Musicians to follow
Listeners of 89.7 WTMD voted "Rising Tide" among the top 10 songs of the year
Other projects
Rusty Sal - a classic country/ honky tonk band featuring guitar player Lucas Chohany and upright bassist Alex Lacquement.
Golden Aster - a harmony-focused indie folk duo with Laura Wortman of the Honey Dewdrops.
Patreon page - posts of new songs 2-4 times each month.
ABOUT THE NAME
Letitia is pronounced "Leh-TISH-ah" - "tish" rhymes with "wish." Letitia is an old family name that she shares with a number of women in her family. As a child she was nicknamed “Sandy” from VanSant, her middle name. Her friends still call her Sandy, but she responds to both!