The Ann Arbor band The Appleseed Collective just ended their album release tour for Young Love, which came out in January. The band will play a show with Trout Steak Revival Thursday night at 9 p.m. at Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo.
Traditional Style, Non Traditional Band
Anyone who listens to The Appleseed Collective might get a sense of the past. But though the band draws from genres like Dixieland soul, bluegrass, ragtime, and western swing, singer and guitarist Andrew Brown says they like to add part that go outside the confines of those old-time tunes. Take the last few notes of the band’s song “Novelty Item” for example:
“The whole song has this kind of bluegrassy, western swing feel,” says Brown. “But at the very end of that song we play a hit. And the base line and the guitar line kind of play this run together while the violin plays this diminished triplet run. And it’s nothing that would ever be in any traditional old-time country, western swing, or bluegrass tune.”
Brown says it’s almost like something you would hear in heavy metal only with acoustic instruments.
The Uncertainty Of “Young Love”
On the cover of The Appleseed Collective’s latest album, artwork by Andrew Brown himself, a boy cautiously eats a hamburger while a girl looks hesitantly at a hot dog. Brown says the album talks about old souls trapped in young lovers’ bodies. It’s that feeling where we know better than to do the crazy things we all do when in love, but yet…we do them anyway. If the cover says anything about love, it’s to proceed with caution.
Dark Themes Ahead
The Appleseed Collective will release a live album from their recording at The Ark in Ann Arbor this December and Brown says they’re working on another album to be released sometime next year. Brown says the band will debut some of the songs off of the new album at their upcoming show at Bell’s Brewery on Thursday. He says expect that album to be a little grittier.
“Being a huge fan of contrast and dichotomy, I’ve also been trying to write songs that still capture that upbeat swing song feel while sort of being almost satirically dark,” Brown explains.
Getting Back To Our Roots
In recent years, more folksy bands like Mumford and Sons and The Lumineers have seen a sudden rise in popularity. But Brown says it’s not just about the music, it’s a movement we can see in many different areas today. Take the local, organic food movement, for example. Brown says people want something natural and authentic today, and music is no exception.
“At its base, roots music is about is usually music of the folk and music about being human and hardship and stuff like that. And I think people are just…they’re interested in that still,” says Brown.
