Photo credit: Rachel Weber
Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
Old Shelley is a freaking workhorse. Black, boxy 2014 Nissan van that they don’t even make anymore. She doesn’t look like the typical tour van. She was actually used for limo services before I got her. She has a very CIA/special ops feel to her. We posted up all the band stickers we get while on the road on the inside so 1) we can enjoy them while driving down the highway, but 2) so we don’t get robbed. Nearly a decade and 200,000 miles and we’re still gravy — knock on wood. The only breakdown we’ve had literally happened in the parking lot as we rolled up to a festival weekend. Mile of Music in Appleton, WI last summer. Literally one of the best places to break down if it was gonna happen. We’ve been lucky on that front.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
We all try to eat pretty intentionally while on the road. Cheap and clean, with the occasional frozen pizza/Taco Bell post-show if that’s all that’s open. But if we have time, I am the Yelp queen of the band. I love hunting out cool, local spots. I mean, let’s be real, the perks of traveling is the food!
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
Ha! I play hard on my old Silvertone. Probably break maybe 3-5 a year at the most unopportune times. But I’m getting better about changing them BEFORE that happens. That’s the key. $100 max. Cost of doing business. How are you supposed to shred with a dull axe?!
Where do you rehearse?
You can check it out online through our Basement Sessions on YouTube! Got a cabin feel and all the instruments needed to rock. String lights and my favorite art, band posters, and quirky knick-knacks I’ve picked up over the years thrifting/vintaging while on and off the road. It’s definitely one of our most loved spaces at our house. A whole lot of late nights spent there.
It’s in a finished basement/converted garage and the worst was when we found out water would seep in after heavy heavy rain. Would only happen like once or twice a year, but when it did, me and Brian (Dowd) would be up all night defending the fort, making trenches, trying to divert the rainwater. After a few years of that, we broke down and got a sub-pump system put in…not the funnest way to spend money but now every time it rains, we smile.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
Whew, the very first, I can’t remember. Really bad I’m suspecting. Something to do with love cause I was a lonely little tumblr teen. But a couple songs in, I wrote “Beyond the Blue” which has a line that I think is pretty cool: “like our founding fathers we are filled with doubt about what happens next”.
Describe your first gig.
Was at a local coffeehouse in Eustis, FL. I ritually attended their weekly open mics and made a point to always bring at least one new song to the nights. A lot of older hippy types who treated me like family. But insanely, I think it was a three-hour gig!?
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
Stacking beers at grocery stores with my hubs and musical partner Brian when we first moved to Nashville. It was fun because we got to do it together, but it was also a kick in the ass — like let’s figure this shit out. The early mornings got old fast.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
When it comes to recording, there are no shortcuts. Do it till it satisfies your itch in your brain. No one knows and cares as much as you do. So just do it. You have to.