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If you are not familiar with Penny & Sparrow they are based in Austin and are awesome. I really wish they were more well known. They recently released Struggle Pretty earlier this year and it's really great. I want to promote as many Austin based bands that I can, but these guys are REALLY good so they definitely deserve a post ;)
Penny and Sparrow is made up of Andy Baxter and Kyle Jahnke. They were previous roommates and they make some lovely music along the lines of Bon Iver and The Swell Season. They were gracious enough to answer a few questions for me and I can't believe it will be less than a few weeks and ACL will be here! I am going to have to somehow make a way to weekend two so I can see them live.
WMB: Who does the songwriting or is it collaborative?
Andy: What usually happens when we write music is the 90-10 split. Kyle is responsible for about 90% of the melody & music while Andy (me) is responsible for 90% of the lyrics. In 3 albums we've only made a few notable exceptions to this math rule. Kyle wrote every piece of Bones & Serial Doubter I wrote every piece of Duet & Fantine But overall, I'm the words fella, and Kyle is chords & melody.
WMB: My first thought is - why are you guys not more famous :) ?
P&S: We have some theories on this. Nothing concrete.
WMB: I noticed some horns, strings and extra elements in the new album which is great - as a duo how will you portray live or is it more of a stripped down acoustic set for touring? Did you collaborate with anyone for recording the album ?
Andy: Honestly, all the music we've written was designed to be malleable. Dressed up or down, with a folk setup, or full band/jazz trio look, or even on stage with 8 pieces, we wanted to be able to play the same songs with infinite different feels. While we usually tour with just Kyle and I (2 guitars and 2 vocals) we have also toured full band and we've also had one or two buddies who played violin/viola/cello on our album come out and join us for a limited number of shows on tour. Again, malleability in music is highly valued by us. And yes, we did collaborate with a bunch of people for the most recent album. Namely, Alex Page (who has played all the strings except for cello on all of our albums) and another friend of ours who we love (Chris Jacobie) who produced the album and played a ton of the instruments as well. It is an understatement to say that they are majorly responsible for our sound. We adore our surrogate music family.
WMB: Are you guys excited for ACL?
P&S: We've died three times thinking about it.
WMB: Is there anyone playing at the festival that you would love to see?
Andy: Lucius, Jenny Lewis, Ana Tijoux, Sam Smith, Lorde, & Eminem & Outkast & Chromeo & everybody
Kyle: Outkast, Head & the Heart, St. Vincent, Sam Smith, Poliça, Lana Del Rey, Lorde, & Phantogram & Lucius & everybody
WMB: Besides your new album, playing ACL and with an upcoming summer tour going on - is there anything else in store for this year? From what I can tell you guys are truly independent doing everything on your own - is that how you would like to keep it or is the dream to get signed to a label soon?
P&S: We're open to whatever, but we are certainly trying to operate under the "choose your own adventure" lifestyle. We fight worry and over-planning as often as we can. We do have leads as to some (fantastic) potential future stuff, but honestly we don't know what will happen yet. We just know that we have an incredible life, and we smile a ton these days.
WMB: Since you guys are based in Austin has it been competitive - or do you guys feel it has helped you get to where you are today?
P&S: I think we would both agree that it's helped. It's been a creative hotbed since forever and there's so many different outlets of art that have made us want to make more. Beyond that though, it has been home for almost a decade. We know the places and the traffic and the "locals only" things well. That makes Austin invaluable.
I'm posting one of their lovely songs from the new album Struggle Pretty titled "Rattle".
Penny and Sparrow is made up of Andy Baxter and Kyle Jahnke. They were previous roommates and they make some lovely music along the lines of Bon Iver and The Swell Season. They were gracious enough to answer a few questions for me and I can't believe it will be less than a few weeks and ACL will be here! I am going to have to somehow make a way to weekend two so I can see them live.
WMB: Who does the songwriting or is it collaborative?
Andy: What usually happens when we write music is the 90-10 split. Kyle is responsible for about 90% of the melody & music while Andy (me) is responsible for 90% of the lyrics. In 3 albums we've only made a few notable exceptions to this math rule. Kyle wrote every piece of Bones & Serial Doubter I wrote every piece of Duet & Fantine But overall, I'm the words fella, and Kyle is chords & melody.
WMB: My first thought is - why are you guys not more famous :) ?
P&S: We have some theories on this. Nothing concrete.
WMB: I noticed some horns, strings and extra elements in the new album which is great - as a duo how will you portray live or is it more of a stripped down acoustic set for touring? Did you collaborate with anyone for recording the album ?
Andy: Honestly, all the music we've written was designed to be malleable. Dressed up or down, with a folk setup, or full band/jazz trio look, or even on stage with 8 pieces, we wanted to be able to play the same songs with infinite different feels. While we usually tour with just Kyle and I (2 guitars and 2 vocals) we have also toured full band and we've also had one or two buddies who played violin/viola/cello on our album come out and join us for a limited number of shows on tour. Again, malleability in music is highly valued by us. And yes, we did collaborate with a bunch of people for the most recent album. Namely, Alex Page (who has played all the strings except for cello on all of our albums) and another friend of ours who we love (Chris Jacobie) who produced the album and played a ton of the instruments as well. It is an understatement to say that they are majorly responsible for our sound. We adore our surrogate music family.
WMB: Are you guys excited for ACL?
P&S: We've died three times thinking about it.
WMB: Is there anyone playing at the festival that you would love to see?
Andy: Lucius, Jenny Lewis, Ana Tijoux, Sam Smith, Lorde, & Eminem & Outkast & Chromeo & everybody
Kyle: Outkast, Head & the Heart, St. Vincent, Sam Smith, Poliça, Lana Del Rey, Lorde, & Phantogram & Lucius & everybody
WMB: Besides your new album, playing ACL and with an upcoming summer tour going on - is there anything else in store for this year? From what I can tell you guys are truly independent doing everything on your own - is that how you would like to keep it or is the dream to get signed to a label soon?
P&S: We're open to whatever, but we are certainly trying to operate under the "choose your own adventure" lifestyle. We fight worry and over-planning as often as we can. We do have leads as to some (fantastic) potential future stuff, but honestly we don't know what will happen yet. We just know that we have an incredible life, and we smile a ton these days.
WMB: Since you guys are based in Austin has it been competitive - or do you guys feel it has helped you get to where you are today?
P&S: I think we would both agree that it's helped. It's been a creative hotbed since forever and there's so many different outlets of art that have made us want to make more. Beyond that though, it has been home for almost a decade. We know the places and the traffic and the "locals only" things well. That makes Austin invaluable.
I'm posting one of their lovely songs from the new album Struggle Pretty titled "Rattle".
Penny & Sparrow plays Friday of weekend 2. I'm telling you - some really great bands are playing early in the day..don't miss out!
You can connect with the band here:
Penny & Sparrow Facebook
If you aren't going to ACL, check out these upcoming tour dates.
(Date/Venue/City)
Oct 01/New Earth Music Hall w/ Judah & The Lion/Asheville, NC
Oct 02/The Square Room w/ Judah & The Lion/Knoxville, TN
Oct 03/Exit/In w/ Judah & The Lion /Nashville, TN
Oct 04/The Masquerade w/ Judah & The Lion/Atlanta, GA
Oct 07/HARVESTER PERFORMANCE CENTER w/ Judah & The Lion/ Rocky Mount, VA
Oct 08/The Studio at Webster Hall w/ Judah & The LionNew York, NY
Oct 10/ACL Music Festival/Austin, TX
Nov 03/Soda Bar w/ Drew Holcomb/San Diego, CA
Nov 04/Troubadour w/ Drew Holcomb/Los Angeles, CA
Nov 05/Don Quixotes w/ Drew Holcomb/Felton, CA
Nov 06/City Winery w/ Drew Holcomb/Napa, CA
Nov 07/The Chapel w/ Drew Holcomb/San Francisco, CA
Nov 08/Crystal Bay Club w/ Drew Holcomb/Crystal Bay, NV
Nov 11/Triple Door w/ Drew Holcomb/Seattle, WA
Nov 12/Wow Hall w/ Drew Holcomb/Eugene, OR
Nov 13/Mississippi Studios w/ Drew Holcomb/Portland, OR
Nov 14/Neurolux Lounge w/ Drew Holcomb/Boise, ID
Nov 15/Kilby Court w/ Drew Holcomb/Salt Lake City, UT
Nov 19/Belly Up w/ Drew Holcomb/Aspen, CO
Nov 20/FOX THEATRE w/ Drew Holcomb/Boulder, CO
If you aren't going to ACL, check out these upcoming tour dates.
(Date/Venue/City)
Oct 01/New Earth Music Hall w/ Judah & The Lion/Asheville, NC
Oct 02/The Square Room w/ Judah & The Lion/Knoxville, TN
Oct 03/Exit/In w/ Judah & The Lion /Nashville, TN
Oct 04/The Masquerade w/ Judah & The Lion/Atlanta, GA
Oct 07/HARVESTER PERFORMANCE CENTER w/ Judah & The Lion/ Rocky Mount, VA
Oct 08/The Studio at Webster Hall w/ Judah & The LionNew York, NY
Oct 10/ACL Music Festival/Austin, TX
Nov 03/Soda Bar w/ Drew Holcomb/San Diego, CA
Nov 04/Troubadour w/ Drew Holcomb/Los Angeles, CA
Nov 05/Don Quixotes w/ Drew Holcomb/Felton, CA
Nov 06/City Winery w/ Drew Holcomb/Napa, CA
Nov 07/The Chapel w/ Drew Holcomb/San Francisco, CA
Nov 08/Crystal Bay Club w/ Drew Holcomb/Crystal Bay, NV
Nov 11/Triple Door w/ Drew Holcomb/Seattle, WA
Nov 12/Wow Hall w/ Drew Holcomb/Eugene, OR
Nov 13/Mississippi Studios w/ Drew Holcomb/Portland, OR
Nov 14/Neurolux Lounge w/ Drew Holcomb/Boise, ID
Nov 15/Kilby Court w/ Drew Holcomb/Salt Lake City, UT
Nov 19/Belly Up w/ Drew Holcomb/Aspen, CO
Nov 20/FOX THEATRE w/ Drew Holcomb/Boulder, CO
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