Every band says they grew up with a passion for music. Satya Graha understands the It factor with music. The Chicago-based band loves music enough to give it space and life of its own. They don’t fill every second with sound and action…they give the music enough openness to invite listeners into it and go their own way. There is no grandstanding, no pontificating and it’s all ego free; just bare boned melodic Americana sounds with a slight twist of classic country with a touch of an old country folk roots vibe that gives this music such an intimate feel. It’s a mix of old and new that sits so comfortably together.

It’s the intimacy that’s the key. Playing large stadiums isn’t what Graha is all about. The energy and connectedness of smaller venues is where Graha is at its best. The ability to genuinely make contact with the crowd is one of the keys that make Graha the growing success that it is. The live performances are simple magic effortlessly delivered.

Graha is composed of seasoned singer-songwriting team B.B. Mayes and David Vella (also lead vocalist) with vocalist Anna Bensch. These aren’t teenagers bemoaning their existence. Nor are they fashionably negative, belligerent or morose. This is situational music with a wry sense of humour.

The band’s key message is one of perseverance. It’s about that invisible something that spurs you on when the easy way out is so appealing. Then again, the band’s name means ‘soul force.’ Taking the name from a belief of Gandhi, who believed a satya graha would grow and become more courageous the more a person is crushed.

Satya Graha’s debut EP "Under the Skin, Vol 1" is filled with songs about slices of life and peoples’ take on their own responses. Their solid lyrics, distinctive vocals, insightful arrangements and organic production values deliver a great ambience. "Kali’s Tongue", "Roanoke", "Lunar Dreams" & "Torch Bearer’s Salute" are natural singles.

The successes Graha has enjoyed to-date has been no less organic than the band itself. A growing underground interest in America has spread on the underground to the United Kingdom, Europe, Japan and Australia. No fanfare involved…just simple word of mouth.

As the band says: “Mankind has been singing about everything under the sun for – oh – at least 50,000 years. So let’s face it … it’s all been said before. It’s kind of hard to come up with new topics to sing about when you look at it that way. So we just have a different approach to singing about the same old stuff. We just write and play stuff from our perspective and give it our own little twist. It works for us and people really respond to it. That’s what counts.”

"Under the Skin" makes you realise that the name Satya Graha is the perfect fit for this kind of music. The easy road has been avoided.