THE EARL BROTHERS
by Christer Davidsson, May 2006
Hello! How are you doing? John McKelvy: Good thanks!
INTERVIEW
THE EARL BROTHERS
by Christer Davidsson, May 2006
Hello! How are you doing?
John McKelvy: Good thanks!
For how long has the group been together?
About 5 years.
How come you started playing Bluegrass/Roots Music?
Just raised around it and love that style of music.
How was the band formed?
Bobby Earl Davis and I used to hang out at the same bar. Kind of a hole in the wall place where you always see the same faces and play pool with the same people. Outlaw country always on the jukebox.. anyway, he and I are both from the southeast (he's from Virginia and I'm from North Florida).. I found out he was a good banjo player and we started playing music... and writing songs.. this was around 2001.
What artists would you say have been your main influences?
I can only speak for myself.. I know Bobby doesn't listen to too much music as he says he's like a sponge and doesn't want to immitate anyone unconsciously.
But for me.. I grew up in an area where there was a lot of southern rock & country.. but me and my friends were total metal heads and punkers.. so I got a full dose of both sides... I still like bands like old Lynard Skynard, AC/DC, CCR, Motorhead, Ramones, Fugazi, Bad Brains, Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Ozzy, The Cure, The Smiths, Pixies, Metallica, Megadeth, many others.. as for bluegrass, I guess I'd say Bill Monroe, Stanley Brothers & John Prine.
There's a lot of difference between traditional Bluegrass & what you do. Can you explain your type of music?
We get catagorized all over the place... people have called us "hardcore", "ultra traditional", "modern", "honky tonk" and now "hillbilly gothic".. I think we are hard to classify because we write 100% of our material, which is a little uncommon in the bluegrass world. Also, the blending of our voices I think is pretty unique. We basically strive to make music that is enjoyable for us to play which is a pretty stripped down kind of straight ahead bluegrass I guess.
You just released your second album “Troubles to Blame”. How would you describe that album?
A lot of songs about heartbreak, sorrow, death and uncontrollable women.. we consider it a good follow up to our first CD, "Whiskey, Women & Death". They kind of work together in tandem.
How long did it take to record it?
As I recall, we would record like 2 or 3 days in a row then take a week or so off then come back to it. I can't remember exactly how long it took... it was over a period of a few months I guess.
What do you tap into to write your originals?
Personal experiences as well as divine intervention..
Is there a lot of people coming out to your shows?
Ya.. we are getting good crowds. When we play new areas we almost always have people come up and say they drove 50 or 100 miles to hear us. That always makes us feel good.
You´ve been playing a lot of shows. Do you have any favorite cities you’d like to go back to again?
We've got towns that we tend to play alot on the west coast and have good friends in each town.. Portland is always good to us.. there's a great music scene brewing there.. We'll be playing the KBOO Pickathon in August there with some other great bands... right now we're looking forward to going to Knoxville, TN this month and playing the WDVX Camperfest again and seeing our friends down there..
What’s the craziest thing you’ve experienced when you’ve been out touring?
Probably when we got our window shot out in Philadephia on the way to a gig... bullet missed my head by 4 inches.
Is San Francisco a good place to live and play music in?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. You can see 100,000 people come out for the free bluegrass festival in the park and then two weeks later see 50 people come out for a show in some downtown club.. its kind of weird.
Have you seen a change in roots music audiences on the road?
Ya, for us we've seen a change happening with more of a rockabilly and punk crowd coming out which I like to see. I think this type of music is once again appealing to a younger crowd that is starved for originality and just plain old stripped down raw music, so the audiences are expanding which is a good thing..
Would you say that Bluegrass/Roots music is on the rise?
Yes
What’s your favorite band of all times?
Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem
What’s going to happen with The Earl Brothers for the next couple of months?
Just playing more shows... In May we'll be in Georgia and Tennessee... Then in June we'll be in Colorado and maybe Utah... and July we'll be in Oregon and Washington. Our tour schedule is constantly being updated on our website.
What would you like to say to the people who read this interview?
Hope to see you real soon...
Good luck with the new record and everything, and thanks a lot!
Thanks man..
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