Country trio Lost Saints are making their mark with the release of their debut EP ‘Emotions,' out now via Two Hats Music Group. Built on the timeless tradition of three-part harmony, the project introduces a sound that feels both fresh and familiar, with echoes of the harmony-driven country groups that once defined the genre.
Comprised of Afton Addington, Chris Biano and Derrick Casteel, the band came together in Nashville after casual jam sessions revealed a rare vocal chemistry. With roots in gospel, bluegrass, and classic country, Lost Saints blend contemporary polish with a ‘90s-inspired edge. “We want to bring harmony back into the country music scene, and there’s a space for that,” says Addington, pointing to the legacy of groups like Diamond Rio, Restless Heart and Lonestar as inspiration.
Produced by acclaimed musician Ilya Toshinskiy, ‘Emotions' builds on the trio’s early singles ‘I Wanna Let You' and ‘The One,' weaving heartfelt storytelling with seamless vocal interplay. The EP features a mix of outside cuts, covers, and an original co-write from Biano, underscoring the group’s belief in the enduring power of harmony. With their debut, Lost Saints are not just honouring country’s vocal group tradition—they’re carving out a space of their own, filling what they describe as a “huge hole in modern country” with the soul-stirring sound of three voices coming together as one. We caught up with them recently to talk all about it.
Thank you for time today guys, your EP blew me away and so it's great to be able to talk to you.
Chris: Thank you so much, it's lovely to meet you.
Not knowing a lot about you guys aside from the wonderful ‘Emotions' EP I guess it would be good to start at the beginning. Where and when did the three of you first meet in Nashville and at what point did you realise there was something special there?
Derrick: I moved into a new condo building a few years ago and a few weeks later Afton moved in and I introduced myself to her and we soon realised we had several mutual friends. We started to sing a little bit around the piano and the wheels in my brain started turning! Chris and I had written together a couple of times and he was really pursuing a solo but we managed to shut that down real quick! (laughing) I have a friend who produces Gospel music and the three of us got around his piano and we knew pretty much straight away that there was something special there.
Afton: This story is always told quite lightly but Chris and I will always say that Derrick basically kidnapped us! (laughing) We had no idea what he was up to really!
Chris: We were at CMA Fest one year and Derrick asked me if I'd ever be in a group and I was, like, ‘No! I'm doing this solo thing and writing songs.' He told me that the producer liked a song of mine called ‘Back to You' and I thought it wouldn't hurt to go see him but I didn't realise what it was he was up to! (laughing) We spent about eight months just hanging out and singing songs together – there was no pressure trying to force something, we sang at parties and just enjoyed the intimacy of it. I occurred to me that people were really into what we were doing way more than they were into what I was doing! (laughing)
I was aware of you, Chris, through ‘Tackle Box' back in 2017….
Chris: Yep, I released that one and a song called ‘Old School' back around then. I was working on three more songs but the three of us all met up in 2018 and we formally started in 2019. We were showcasing for people and being advised to not release any music yet and then we had meetings in early 2020 with the presidents of Universal and Sony and Warner and then the pandemic arrived…………… The whole world went sideways after that so it's been a good journey, discovering ourselves as independent artists.
They say Nashville is a ten year town. What are your experiences of the grind of being writers and musicians in town for that long?
Afton: We're really lucky to have each other to lean on because it can be very tough. We love what we do, we love what we do together but it is a dog-eat-dog world out here – everybody can sing well, everybody can play well and numbers have become so important in the industry so there are a lot of balls to juggle but we know deep-down that this is something we are supposed to be doing.
Derrick: If someone gets down there are always two people there to pull you back up again. Someone is always in an optimistic mindset between the three of us so that is a big support. It makes us feel so blessed.
Chris: If you stripped everything away so there was no industry, no money, no nothing and asked yourself if it was still something you would want to do, we'd still say yes to that! We want to put out great songs and make people's day better. If that isn't in your heart it's easy to get pushed aside.
Afton: The grind is hard sometimes but to see where we are now compared to where we were when we first started out….. to have the EP out now, something that we're really proud of… it's an amazing thing.
The EP is a great listen. There's some outside writes, there's co-writes, there's the Vince Gill cover. How many songs did you have up for contention and how did you decide on the ones that made it on there?
Derrick: We had about 30 in demo phase and we picked what we thought was the best….
Chris: I don't even know if we would say that they were ‘the best' because we held some back for another EP. It was what fits together under the title of ‘Emotions.' We wanted to focus on the emotions on relationships – break ups, excitement, long term love, the whole deal. The cover of ‘Go Rest High…' was just another facet – Derrick sings the heck out of that and we wanted to add our interpretation of it.
Afton: The emotion around that song is still another very strong type of emotion so it fitted onto the theme of the EP really well. We've always sang love songs – the good kind and the sad kind – and we wanted to flesh that out into a whole emotional journey.
Did you see that Vince Gill just released a new version of ‘Go Rest High on That Mountain' with an extra verse in recently – you're going to have to learn that version now!!
Chris: Oh really???
Afton: Derrick can't wait – he'll be right on that after this call! (laughing)
You draw from Gospel, Bluegrass, Americana and Country. Which artists from those genres do you particularly admire as a trio?
Chris: As a trio there are definitely some and then as individuals there are some completely different influences, which is what makes it cool. We love Rascal Flatts, they are a huge influence.
Afton: We all grew up singing in church so we all have Gospel routes. I sang in a choir, Chris was on a worship team and Derrick sang anywhere and everywhere he could. Derrick is very Bluegrass, 90s country and you can hear that in his voice, right? Chris is a very Country influenced guy but there are some rock influences in there too.
Chris: My dad listened to Tom Petty and my mom Fleetwood Mac and those artists would be considered Country today. I love your Tim McGraw's and George Straits too.
Afton: I grew up listening to Christian music but I was very pop influenced too. The harmonies of Rascal Flatts, the power of Carrie Underwood. We all come from different places but when we come together this amazing thing happens.
Do you have a favourite song on the EP, vocally, that you just love to sing together?
Chris: They might all be different!
Afton: Vocally, I mean, ‘Rain' is a more challenging song to sing but it's our best vocal. It's so powerful. When we sing live I'm always, ‘DO we wanna sing ‘Rain' today?' (laughing)
Derrick: In some respects it's my least favourite to sing live!! (laughing)
Chris: I feel like we've really grown into loving to sing ‘St Joe Sunset' too. There's a lot of background vocals and harmonies in that song but we've really nailed it down now.
I love ‘So Far' and that song was co-written by Laci Kaye Booth. How did that one find its way to you?
Afton: Dave Turnbull is a writer and part of our independent label's team was also a co-writer on that song which is how it found its way to us. Laci has a couple of other songs that we've actually been looking at as well. She's an incredible writer and artist too. When we did the demo it felt like such a cool song to do.
I also like the lyrics to ‘The One' – it's a nice twist on a love song and probably how most people end up getting together in real life.
Chris: Exactly! With Dave being on our team we are getting passed songs that we shouldn't really get at our level (laughing) I'm the married one in the group and that song really calls out to me. Originally, when it was sent to us it was just a male led song but I wanted to figure out a way to get a female voice and story in on it. We worked really hard to make sure that it was in the right key for Afton and I to be able to both sing on it and I think it brought more impact to what the song stood for.
That's an interesting point – what challenges do the three of you face in terms of staying in tune or blending your voices together to suit the song?
Chris: Rehearsals are always going to make your muscle memory better but at the end of the day, you can't quantify a blend. You take the best vocal groups that there are and you can still hear the individual voices within the harmonies….
Derrick: It's either there or it's not, it's not something you can force.
Chris: That's what made us turn our heads after never having considered being in a group. You can't control that part of it. You can rehearse and practice all you like but if it's not there, it's not there. Ilya Toshinsky was a big part of why the songs turned out so well in the studio – getting to work with him on the EP made sure our mix and our vocals finally translated to the studio setting because they hadn't necessarily done that before compared to our live shows.
Afton: We've definitely learned a lot and learned what our limits are. Derrick sings high and I don't love singing high but I've had to learn to because he really shines up there. But then if I sing too low, Chris is then up in the rafters so we've had to learn the boundaries of where everything needs to fall but we've learned that over the years and are fairly good now about where we all need to be.
Derrick: We'll always try out new ideas and new approaches, especially when it comes to signing the lead parts. I thought ‘St Joe Sunset' wouldn't have been a song for me, in fact I didn't want to sing it! (laughing)
Afton: And so I was like, ‘Well, I will then because I love this song!' (laughing)
Chris: And I thought it was gonna be me but where the harmonies ended up when Derrick started singing, we were, like, ‘Sorry man, this is all you from here on out!' (laughing)
Afton: That's my favourite vocal of his that he has ever done! He crushed it.
Chris: That's so cool, right? What a mystery! The song chose the person there! That happens to us a lot. Sometimes there's songs that connect with us personally, like ‘The One' did with me and through the demo process you can tell whether it's going to work out for you or not.
What does the short and medium term look like for you going forward? What goals have you set yourselves as a band?
Derrick: To be playing for the next 40 years!
Chris: We've had this thing in the back of our minds – to be able to play at the Grand Ole Opry. We want to release music that makes us all proud and that connects with people but we'd love to sing our songs from the Opry circle. We'll keep chasing that dream.
Afton: That's a huge one. We are finally getting in a space where we've found someone in Ilya Toshinksy who has managed to translate our live sound into the studio – it's taken a lot of time to find that. Now that we have that and are working on more music we are looking to be able to tour more in the coming year as well.
Check out Lost Saints' new EP ‘Emotions' in all the usual places. It's a slick, harmony-filled listen that will delight fans of bands like Rascal Flatts and Lady A.
