Merlot Embargo

We're Merlot Embargo, a collective of humans from Los Angeles headed by singer/songwriter and guitarist/producer pair (and wife/husband) Scarlet and Geoff. We write and record out of our home studio and perform throughout Southern California.

In December 2014 we walked away from a nearly fatal automobile accident, and left the scene wondering what we'd have regretted if we'd been killed. The answer was immediately obvious: not pursuing our own music. This brush with death unleashed a flood of drive and creativity that propelled us to form Merlot Embargo and leave our creative stamp on the world.

We recruited (bassist) Jeremy, (drummer) Lonn and video game composers Dave and Ben to complete our sound. Truth be told, we'd been playing with these guys for years on other projects, and we knew they were right for Merlot Embargo. Their musical experience and good taste helped lead us in unexpected directions that we'd just not have imagined on our own. Scarlet's sultry, powerful voice and Geoff's groovy guitar-ing became something both bigger, and subtler. "A modern-day, unconventional family band" is how Scarlet describes the group.

Made entirely in our makeshift home studio, we dropped our debut record, Don't Look Back, in 2016, and have been excited about the response from both fans and critics ("gripped with beautiful melodies and heart-felt lyrics," "moments of creativity and risk-taking," "taking the listener beyond the music and into the life of the artist"). We slowed up a bit when our daughter was born in early 2017, but have (mostly) caught our breath and are back at it, planning for another full-length album in the next few years. In the meantime, we are releasing as many singles, music videos, and covers as we can manage!