Four-piece band The Blue and the Grey have a sound that’s very genre-bending and a sound you wouldn’t want to close off into one little box.
Four-piece band The Blue and the Grey have a sound that’s very genre-bending and a sound you wouldn’t want to close off into one little box.
Some of its whimsical and folksy, other times it’s bluegrassy/Americana.
Much to do with that is the instrument lineup they have chosen to include. Besides a guitar and drums, the band incorporates an upright bass, a mandolin, ukulele, harmonica, cello and a dobro to round out their sound.
The songs are very intimate and personal and much of that emotion is evoked through the voice of singer Julianne Marie, who also gets down on the upright bass. It’s very soft and happy, but powerful at the same time.
Nick Baker, Matt Mciver, and Aaron Walker make up the rest of TBATG and the Americana group consisting of mostly Richmond natives will debut their new album Home at The Camel this Saturday.
Home, the newest release from the group was put out in May and will be online by late August.
Baker said the crew recorded the material for the new album at Montrose Recording Studio in Richmond in fourdays but the songs have been in the works for about a year.
Marie said she and Baker write all of the band’s songs, and you can get a little glimpse into their musical style and inspiration by the way they both describe their writing process.
“When I’m writing I typically sit down with an idea in mind, come up with a melody, then write something absolutely completely different than what I intended,” she said. “My best songs just kind of come out like a sneeze. Unexpected but oddly gratifying.”
Nick added to what gets his creative juices flowing.
“For me, I like lyrics that stir up emotions, the sad kind,” he said. “That’s when a song hits me the hardest. I try to write tragedies in a simple, universal way, that’s still personal to me.”
“Julianne and I write the skeletons of the songs. The band as a whole, gives them organs, dresses ‘em up in fancy clothes and gets them walking.”
TBATG released their first self-titled album in 2013, but the two both agreed Home is much different and warmer than their previous material.
“We’re still the same band but this album sounds like us,” Marie said. “We created the previous recordings in our infancy so we waited until we knew a little more about ourselves before giving it another go. We chose to track the album as a whole band, instead of individually, so this album has more of that warm room feeling and has the ebb and flow of non-click track music.”
The band just released two new music videos for their album Home entitled “I’ll Be There to Meet You” and “Wolf.”
Baker, who has been playing and writing music since he first picked up a guitar in Hanover at 15, started the band.
“It started as Kyle {Cortez} (our former banjo player) and I in my shed with a handful of songs,” he said. “Kyle actually co-wrote “Wolf” with me in those early days.” We started adding members until we were five-strong, but needed a bass player. In my opinion, we didn’t become the band we are now until Julianne joined. It was magic.”
A native of Tennessee, Julianne Marie moved here from Boston in August 2012 after a bicycle accident and later joined The Blue and The Grey. The rest of the crew are local to Virginia.
Both Marie and Baker are excited for the album release party and for Marie, playing the Richmond music scene’s been much more rewarding than her previous experiences.
“It’s been a long time coming so I can’t wait,” she said. “I love playing in Richmond. I grew up in Nashville, TN where it’s impossible to get a gig and it’s all country. I love this town because there is a huge, amazing music scene that’s completely accessible. I feel so lucky to have landed where I am.”
The band doesn’t have any plans to tour just yet, but they will play Carytown Watermelon Festival Sun., Aug. 9.
And for those thinking through this whole article the name of the band is a Civil War reference, Baker is here to clear that up.
“It’s actually just two colors I picked that make the tiniest story,” he said. “A girl with blue eyes and a boy with a grey heart, The Blue and The Grey.”
Aww.
Catch The Blue and the Grey this Sat., Aug. 1 at The Camel for their album release party along with Tarrant and Long Arms. Show starts at 9. $5. Get tickets here. http://www.theblueandthegrey.com/wp/
