From Aaron Copland to American roots music blues, bluegrass, and beyond, Bristol Lightning’s live shows take the audience on a high-energy adventure of bluegrass cello and mandolin, blues guitars, tap dance, and storytelling, weaving a powerful and poignant tapestry of the true creativity and resilience of the American spirit.
Bristol Lightning is the baby of cellist Dave Eggar. He’s a student of the great American composer Aaron Copeland and the legendary cellist Yo Yo Ma. Eggar has performed, recorded, and arranged for artists across genres, including Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Coldplay, Frank Ocean, John Legend, Lewis Capaldi, Tony Bennett, and Andrea Bocelli, to name a few. He is a multi-Grammy nominated composer, has scored multiple films and regularly performs in the classical and American roots music worlds.
In addition to cellist Dave Eggar and guitarist Phil Faconti, Bristol natives Blake Collins and Jamie Collins, brother and sister, add the authentic sound of the Appalachians to Bristol Lightning. Rapper, singer, songwriter, and actress Le’Asha Julius, based in New York but originally from Washington, DC, is the unexpected but inspired last piece of the puzzle.
Upon college graduation, after self releasing QV’s first album, Cookin’ in Brooklyn, in 2010. Le’Asha and her partner CE followed up with albums Sentimental Moods (2012) and Utopia/LDZ (2014). Later, they teamed up with record label Styles Upon Styles and released their latest EP, Chi’ren (2016). Together, Quincy Vidal has opened for Kendrick Lamar, Salt ‘N’ Pepa, Noname, Ravyn Lenae, Talib Kweli, and more.
Since then, Le’Asha has starred in many acting projects, including HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness, where she portrays Wendy in a Dominican musical remake of Peter Pan; and Still Here, a VR Short Film produced by Al Jazeera which premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2020.
In 2020 Le’Asha was accepted into Black Thought’s “School of Thought,” which took place at Carnegie Hall in NYC. She released her first solo mixtape, The Universe Project, in February of 2021, available on all digital platforms. Followed by 4 singles released in 2023 Damn Good, Saturn Return, Swirl, & Demons which was used in the film Prom Dates now on Hulu.
Most recently, you may have seen Le’Asha on NPR’s Tiny Desk with The Lox. Since then, she has performed with Jadakiss at other live events. She was also a featured artist on Kimbra’s latest project titled Idols and Vices.
Le’Asha is currently the 1st year BFA Acting Professor at SUNY Purchase College.
