Kendall Street Company & Underground Springhouse at Avondale Brewery: Official Preview March 15, 2022 09:55

Louis: Yeah man. We all met at University of Virginia in Charlottesville. We started playing around town: Greek life events and the local bars. We kept at it, and when we graduated, we decided to keep going at it. We've been doing this full time for several years now. We started by traveling up to DC and doing the regional tours. Eventually, we were playing in New York City, Charlotte, and other markets like that. That's pretty much the story. Just keeping at it. That's what you have to do.

Louis: It was really tough for us. We're definitely a "live" band. Not being able to play live was really a big thing to be taken from us. First, we were totally isolated from each other. Then, we got to a point where we felt safe getting together. We did a live stream series called "Containment Entertainment," and we focused on getting The Stories We Write For Ourselves out there, as well as The Year The Earth Stood Still project. We just dug away in the studio doing a lot of writing and recording. It was a really stressful time, not really having an income. Not being able to fund these records, but we figured it out. 

Louis: It was amazing. We booked the gig and blasted down to Texas. I think we had a few other shows booked along the way, but you couldn't really make a well routed run at that point. We just wanted to go play the show. They had already paid a deposit, and we were ready to make it happen.

Right on. Well, I'm glad you mentioned The Year The Earth Stood Still. I noticed that this wasn't the band's first double album / multi part album. How has this particular concept worked for KSC?

Louis: It's worked pretty well. The first time we did it was by design. We had about 17 songs, and we figured we could divide those into two releases, which both had their own vibe to them. With The Year The Earth Stood Still, the whole preface behind that record is that we went into the studio with nothing written. We wrote and recorded the double album in six days in the studio. We did some overdubs and things like that afterword. 

Louis: We did. I think it ended up being 16 or 17 total songs.

Louis: It really was. We really didn't know what we were going to get. Maybe we'd get a full record. Maybe we wouldn't. We recorded at White Star Studio, where we recorded Space For Days several years ago. It's in Louisa, Virginia. It's out in the country, with places to sleep and stay for a bit. So that's what we did. That isolated atmosphere really helped get the creative juices flowing.

Louis: It really was. They had some goats out there. We released a video for "Say Hey" which featured some of the goats (laughs).

Louis: Yeah, pretty much. We had a few days off in Nashville, and we figured we'd try to get in the studio and record something. We've been doing that cover for many years. It seemed like the right one to record, and it's actually a first take. We knew what we were doing, which helped us knock it out pretty quick. We had two days in the studio, and we also recorded a couple of songs for an upcoming project called "The Untitled California Project." We're trying to coordinate that with a West Coast run later in the year.

Louis: Yeah, it's nice because we have a lot of great songwriters in the band. We don't really tether ourselves to a certain sound, so with anything that someone is inspired to write, we can generally find a place for it. The Untitled California Project, in particular...it's pretty silly. It's almost a bit of a joke, in a way, but we're putting the effort in to make it sound great. Hopefully people will get the joke. It's kind of similar to The Nautical Aquatical, which is the nautical themed album. We have some other themed releases that we're working on as well.

I'll be looking forward to that. I know you're gearing up for a big run of shows, which includes Saturday, March 19^that Avondale Brewing Company in Birmingham. This is one of many with Underground Springhouse. Atlanta's Bird Dog Jubilee is also on this show. Tell me a little bit about the band's history in Birmingham and the Southeast in general.

Louis: We have played in Birmingham a few times. It's always been a great time. I know we've played WorkPlay in the past. We've also done Tuscaloosa several times. I believe we have another private gig in Tuscaloosa in April. We love playing in the South. The energy is great. The traffic is bearable, with the exception of Atlanta. You can cruise around the southeast a lot easier than the northeast. I'm really stoked to be heading down there this time of year. Our old keyboard player, Andrew King, lives in Birmingham.

Louis: Woo-hoo! That's great to hear man. We are excited about it.

Louis: We're hitting the Southeast markets over the next few weeks. Next month, we're heading up to the Northeast. We'll be back in New York City. We have our first show in Portland, Maine. It's our first show ever in Maine. I'm a big fan of Maine. We're hoping to play as many festivals as we can this summer. Hitting up the West Coast in the fall. We're planning to make our way back out to Colorado as well. There should be an announcement for an official live release coming up soon. We will be announcing a new studio album pretty soon. We're still deciding on a final name for it. As I mentioned, we also have The Untitled California Project as well. Lots of studio releases and live releases. Lots of shows too.

Louis: That's right. I also wanted to mention that we have Repsy and Relix Magazine presenting this March & April tour, which is really exciting. We have a full page in Relix Magazine, which people can pick up at our merch table. That was really cool to be featured in Relix.

Charlie: It was certainly a big bump in the road for us, considering our busy touring schedule. Like all bands, we’ve had plenty of shows cancelled over the past two years, but we still managed to be pretty productive as a group. Writing new music and playing whatever shows we were able to at the time. We definitely improved a lot through that period of time, and it ended up being a nice break to regroup. But now we’re back at it and ready to hit the road again full speed.

Charlie: We’re super amped for our upcoming tour with Kendall Street Company. We’re hitting most of the Southeast, and they should be some of our most exciting shows yet. We’ve also got new music coming very soon, so we’re really excited to release some new tunes.

Charlie: Our first few singles and EP,Tom Foolery, were recorded in a home studio in a friend’s basement. The studio had decent equipment, but it was also pretty bare bones. After our first EP, we recorded our next singles and debut album at 1093 in Athens, which is a great and affordable studio space. That was really fun to be in a real studio and have access to a lot more gadgets and gizmos.

Charlie: It seems we’ve played every city in Alabama except for Birmingham. This will be our first show there, and I can’t imagine a better way to do it than at such a great venue with such a great lineup of bands. This run with Kendall Street is shaping up quite nicely, and it sounds like both bands are gearing up for a hell of a time. We’re super excited.

Charlie: I’d tell them to expect some groovy original tunes, one or two surprise covers, and some saucy improvisation making for a funky tropical rock show.

Charlie: Our goal is to keep making the best music we can, both in the studio and on stage. We’re aiming to keep the train rolling and play as many shows in as many places as we can.