I got to the show late, stopped on my way to grab a beer from the bar, and watched the rest of the set from right there. It wasn’t that the band was a precision-tight ensemble of professional speed pickers, or that they were playing a favorite old-time tune of mine. There was something in the personality of their sound, the way their notes jumped and bumped together and expressed a kind of weary curiosity, worn romance. Something that would be almost childish and innocent if it weren’t weathered and enduring like some river-rat jeans on a Sunday afternoon.
I got to the show late, stopped on my way to grab a beer from the bar, and watched the rest of the set from right there. It wasn’t that the band was a precision-tight ensemble of professional speed pickers, or that they were playing a favorite old-time tune of mine. There was something in the personality of their sound, the way their notes jumped and bumped together and expressed a kind of weary curiosity, worn romance. Something that would be almost childish and innocent if it weren’t weathered and enduring like some river-rat jeans on a Sunday afternoon.
Andy Cobb is the type of guy who you can’t really tell if he’s been drinking, or just in a good mood. It makes me wonder how much of that personality comes through in the Itchy Hearts’ music, and how much comes from it. I don’t ask him though. They’re on tour and, relegated to a Facebook interview, it’s impossible to spring a question on someone. And that’s one I didn’t want him to have time to think out. Here’s what I did ask him, and his answers, both direct, and dancing around the way the crowd at an Itchy Hearts show is known to be.
S. Preston Duncan:How long have you been playing music together?
Andy Cobb: About 9 months.
What genre(s) does your music fit into, and what is the role of that style in Richmond’s musical identity?
Maybe some sort of high energy soul-folk category. I don’t know Richmond’s musical identity.
Influences?
I’ll try to speak for everyone cuz they ain’t here. Um.. Blink 182, Steve Earle, Tom Waits, Jackson 5, so much more jank too.
Where does your name come from?
A line in an oooooooold song I wrote in my first band.
Which band have you most enjoyed sharing the bill with, and which would you most like to play with someday?
This question is AWESOME. Favorite bands to play with: Pendleton ( RVA), Gospel Years ( Greenville, SC), Peculiar Gentlemen (BK, NY), Mudcat (ATL), and TONGUES! (BK, NY) .
What comes first, lyrics or melody? And, how do they affect each other?
It depends. Usually if the melody comes first it’s a more nonsense happy or fun song, and if lyrics came first then it’s more of a songy-song, with meaning and shit. But usually they happen around the same time.
Who writes the songs?
Whoever sings the song wrote it, usually.
Do you play any old-time folk songs, or is it all original?
Mostly originals, we did cover “I Try” by Macy Gray once .
How has your tour gone so far? Which city has been the most fun?
The tour is been awesome!!!! It’s hard to say which was the most fun, each one really was a ton of fun. Brooklyn is always fun cuz we’ve got a pretty good support up there. Gainesville, Florida was a really good time, there are a bunch of really cool bands down there. Every night was so much fun in lots of different ways.
You played for, amongst many, many others, Tim Kaine at The Camel. Why was he there, and was that weird at all?
Not that weird. Bill Murray was at the Camel another night when another band was playing. I bet THAT was weird.
House shows, venues or street corners? Which one fits ya’ll better?
House shows are fun cuz it’s free and small and crowded and sweaty and drunk. Venues are sweet cuz we make money. Street corners are fun cuz we have to be reaaaaaaally loud so that people hear us.
What do you imagine people doing while listening to your music, what is it the soundtrack to?
Cooking, cleaning, skydiving, meditating, pooping. I think about this all the time.
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For my own part, they’ve been the soundtrack to noontime rides to the office, rooftop wine bottles, and hopefully one day, if I ever show up on time, they will be to a rowdy folk dance party on the floor of an audibly great evening. Now if only I hadn’t scratched their CD…
