#30daysofWVmusic Story Archives - Page 3 of 11 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

From Nashville to Nitro: Tony Harrah Sings the Blues

“There’s another generation [of blues players] coming up… if the flames are stoked well and kept alive. “

From West Virginia Public Broadcasting and A Change of Tune, this is 30 Days of #WVmusic, the interview series celebrating the folks who make the West Virginia music scene wild and wonderful.

And today’s interview is with a gravelly-bluesy singer-songwriter who has dipped a foot in the musical waters of Nashville and Nitro, West Virginia. This… is Tony Harrah.

Tony Harrah & and the Putnam Prohibition’s latest release is Oklahoma Blues. Hear more #WVmusic on A Change of Tune, airing Saturday nights at 10 on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Connect with A Change of Tune on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And for more #WVmusic chats, make sure to go to wvpublic.org/wvmusic and subscribe to our RSS / podcast feeds.

Interview Highlights

On starting in music:

I wanted to be a musician since I was little, back when Kroger’s used to sell VHS and albums when you’d walk right through the door in Teays Valley. I went in there and Prince’s Purple Rain stared me right in the face in the mid-‘80s. And that’s when I realized… that’s what I wanted to do.

So at one point in grade school, I crafted this whole rock star outfit complete with guitar with rubber band strings. When all the kids were getting ready at their desks, I went back and got dressed up and came out, and they all laughed at me. But I thought they were laughing with me.

I took piano lessons when I was a kid. By the time I was a teenager, I got a guitar and did angry youth banging out of Nirvana covers [laughing]. I wanted to start my first blues band when I was 19, but I didn’t see at the time how short-sided that was. You really don’t have much to be blue about when you’re 19, not really anything anyone can sink their teeth into. That didn’t really go anywhere.

Tony Harrah performing at the Boulevard Tavern in Charleston, WV.

On playing the blues:

My biggest influence is probably Muddy Waters. I found him when I was 16, and I was really taken by that. I got really into James Cotton, and I found out he was the harmonica player on Muddy’s last record. It wasn’t until I really got older that I started seeking out Lightnin’ Hopkins and some of the blues folks that aren’t as popular as the “name your top five” favorites.

I found Tom Waits in my early twenties. At the time, I wasn’t interested in him. I was never a singer, and I never sang. But when I began singing, I was like, “Man, I’ve got a gravelly voice. I think I’ve got soul, I guess.” I figured if Tom Waits has that same range, I could get by with it, so he became a big influence. He has no fear to do anything.

Blues music is kind of like country to the effect that I really like that its simple, and it tells a really good story. I wanted to get back into blues and stay there, but the problem with that is I’m not a really good guitar player. When you play blues, you’re either the guitar virtuoso that sings, or you’ve got a backing band, so I do a lot of stuff on slide guitar or resonator. When I play Americana, the guitar playing isn’t much of an issue. But it’s all a version of the blues, whether its country, Americana or whatever.

I was reading a book called Why It Hurts So Good about the history of the blues. The blues was once very popular in the South, predominantly black music. But it’s flip-flopped, and they were showing the statistics: now it’s like 90% white and 89% over the age of 50. So there is some concern that there’s a dying out of it, but when I was at the Memphis International Showcase this past year, you wouldn’t believe how many young kids were there. Some of it was, “Oh, that’s cool,” and some of it was, “Wow. This is really good,” and some of it blew us away.

On moving down to Nashville for some time before returning to West Virginia:

We were playing a lot in Huntington in the mid-2000’s. We did well there, but around the time American Minor had moved from West Virginia, it gave me the idea that if you want to do something, you’ve got to leave here. So in 2004, we thought about it and packed up and moved down there. We got a house and all lived in the house together. We played some down there. You think it’s the land of milk and money, but there’s a lot of people down there looking for the same opportunities as you are. It taught me a lot about the music industry, and it taught me I didn’t know anything about it when I moved there.

It’s not always bad being a big fish in a small pond. I realized that you need a reason to move there, and at the time social media hadn’t arrived and being able to record on your own wasn’t affordable. By the time I left, I thought, “I don’t need to be here.” Networking as a young artist, you think your music will stand for itself. Having a great record will fail without the right publicity. Getting to know the right people is where you get your ins-and-outs.

Music featured in this #WVmusic chat:

Tony Harrah and the Putnam Prohibition- “Port of Call”

Tony Harrah and the Putnam Prohibition- “Hard Times”

Tony Harrah and the Putnam Prohibition- “Simple Times”

Support for 30 Days of #WVmusic is provided by Kin Ship Goods, proud supporter of DIY music and the arts. Locally shipped worldwide at kinshipgoods.com.

ScroungeHound Wants to Spread Love (But Not Before Melting Your Face with Psych-Rock Thrills)

From West Virginia Public Broadcasting and A Change of Tune, this is 30 Days of #WVmusic, the interview series celebrating the folks who make the West Virginia music scene wild and wonderful.

And today’s interview is with a loud and unapologetically proud pysch-rock outfit out of Huntington, West Virginia. This… is ScroungeHound.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a data-cke-saved-href=”http://scroungehoundwv.bandcamp.com/album/born-of-father-sun” href=”http://scroungehoundwv.bandcamp.com/album/born-of-father-sun”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Born Of Father Sun by ScroungeHound&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

How did the band get together?

ScroungeHound came to be in summer of 2014. Remaining members of The Allure paired up with Mike Parker and James Hairston to reveal ScroungeHound’s debut EP “Born of Father Sun” in November of 2016. We’ve become a mix of jazz, stoner metal and jam music with influences ranging from Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus to Black Sabbath, The Grateful Dead and Phish. The goal is to provide an enticing show that has you dancing, swaying, jumping off things and floating on top of people in a sea of psychedelic amazement. ScroungeHound wants to rip you up, zip you up, melt your face, slick your hair back and send you on your way with love and our best to your mum.

What previous bands have the members/acts been in?

The Allure, Dub V Funk, Qiet, Downtown King and Sasha Collette and the Magnolias. So yeah, we’ve been all over the place.

And the band’s name? How did that come about?

We’re named after a little fuzzy dawg named Kiefer. It’s as simple as that.

How has ScroungeHound’s sound changed over the years?

We went through a lot of different directions at first, including folk, rock and jam music. We settled into our Scroungy sound with the release of our recent full-length Born of Father Sun. We don’t know where we’re goin’, but we’ve settled somewhere between Black Sabbath and Phish.

What’s been the highlight of your musical journey thus far?

Opening for Big Something was pretty cool. And anything to do with the Huntington Music & Arts Festival is always awesome! We’re hoping to hit the road hard this fall, so who knows?

What’s it like making music in West Virginia?

Huntington has a lot of great bands, but we only have one serious venue: The V-Club. And we should mention we love The V-Club. We haven’t had much luck in drawing people in Charleston, but we’re excited to branch out into Beckley and Morgantown. West Virginia has a lot of talented, original bands that are young and motivated. People will be paying attention to all of us in West Virginia soon.

Do you feel held back by being in West Virginia? Or does it feel like a musically-supportive place?

We support each other in Huntington and have nothing but love for West Virginia and its bands.

ScroungeHound is Gabe Smith, Casey Fitzwater, Mike Parker, Jared Layman, Adam O’Neal and James Hairston.

What, in your opinion, needs to happen in the West Virginia music scene for it to move forward?

Bands that make it need to remember where they came from. We have the drive, but we need more funding for arts and venues. And we need more cross-promotion between bands among our different cities.

What’s your advice for anyone who wants to get into music?

Practice. Record your stuff, but don’t officially release your music starting out. Record demos, post them, get feedback and write more songs. Then in a year or two, when you’re used to really playing together, use some of your better songs to release an EP. Also save some of your best songs for your second EP. Don’t Appetite for Destruction yourself. Always be open to criticism, but do your own thing. Don’t miss practices; that’s your job, assuming you really want to do this for real. Don’t let anyone put you down, and know the difference between someone putting you down and someone giving constructive criticism.

ScroungeHound’s latest release is Born of Father Sun. Keep an eye (and ear) on the band’s social media for tour dates and new releases. Hear more #WVmusic on A Change of Tune, airing Saturday nights at 10 on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Connect with A Change of Tune on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And for more #WVmusic chats, make sure to go to wvpublic.org/wvmusic and subscribe to our RSS / podcast feeds.

Support for 30 Days of #WVmusic is provided by Kin Ship Goods, proud supporter of DIY music and the arts. Locally shipped worldwide at kinshipgoods.com.

Introducing MarcfromMars: Hip-Hop from the Hilltops

“I’ve realized there is no recipe for rap.”

From West Virginia Public Broadcasting and A Change of Tune, this is 30 Days of #WVmusic, the interview series celebrating the folks who make the West Virginia music scene wild and wonderful.

And today’s interview is with a self-described “coffee table rapper” who is originally from Wayne County but who now makes hip-hop from the hilltops of Huntington. This… is MarcfromMars.

How did you get into music?

I started writing and making instrumentals at a young age, but I never felt confident to perform until several years later (when I was around 21) at Open Mic at The V-Club. I always wanted to share what I was writing, but I wasn’t sure if it would appeal to average rap fans as the content was atypical. I felt The V-Club was a good place to premiere this music as it hosted a variety of patrons. At my first set, there were two or three people standing on the dance floor actively listening while others sat at the bar. When I was done, a man in a spiked denim vest approached me explaining that he knew a bunch of local rappers and that I should come back next week and he would bring them. That was not who I was expecting as my target audience, but I came back next week, fully prepared to rap my ass off, and I did just that. The local guys, including several members of the collective Couch Life, expressed interest in my non-traditional approach and invited me to one of their shows. I went to that show and grabbed the microphone at the end for an open cypher and gave it my all. A few days later, I was invited to join the collective. It was a long way from writing lines in my notebook while failing Spanish class and practicing to my Pit Bull, but I’m here.

Where does the name MarcfromMars come from (beyond the fact that your name is Marc Sowards)?

When I was young, we would call smoking marijuana “going to mars” as a kind of poorly-thought out verbal password. I first adopted the name as a social media handle. When I was signing up for open mic the first few times, I was putting my actual name of Marc Sowards down. One day, I was going to be late and had a buddy secure me a time slot, but he put down MarcfromMars. It really stuck with the people that night, so I adopted it as my rapper name. Although, I kind of wanted something rough-sounding in the dame vein as Big Pun or DMX or something.

How has your sound changed over the years?

At first, I was more into the length of the song. I thought it was important to have the traditional 16-hook-16-hook recipe for song structure. That style produced more punchlines and room to flex the flow, but now I’ve been making songs that get in and out. Perhaps the punk influence of “I’m gonna say what I got to say” in a more fast-paced, aggressive manner. Passionate, I’d call it. Nowadays, if I write an 8-bar verse that is exactly what I imagined it to be, I will not attempt to flood it with reiterations and catchy one-liners. I’ve realized there is no recipe for rap.

Where do you perform in West Virginia?

A lot of house venues, mostly. My favorite being the Cricket Cave in Huntington. The residents and the crowd are all amazing, supportive people. Sometimes I open up my own home for local and touring acts; that’s always a good time because my introvert-seft loves going directly to bed after the music’s done. I’ve played at the Monkey Barrel in Charleston through associates in the electronic dance music industry, which was a hell of a night. The V-Club’s open mic has always been a nurturing environment for my and my people’s music, and Mike the sound engineer has always been helpful and supportive along with the rest of the people who hold it together down there.

What’s been the highlight of your musical journey thus far?

I feel like there is always a new highlight. Every time I open for a traveling act, they’re pumped by my set and get excited to be in Huntington, West Virginia, at a random Southside house show. Or we’re having a night for locals, and everyone-who-is-always-there is still losing his or her shit when it gets intense, following along and punching in. It’s wild how with art, if you’re passionate, someone will relate to it. I guess my biggest highlight is connecting with the crowd.

What’s it like making music in West Virginia?

It’s been a trip. Especially growing up in Wayne, rap wasn’t the most accepted deal, among other dividing ideas. My first few songs, which were written in high school, had a heavy message trying to scrape across to my peers about the damage of not accepting differences. Moving to Huntington helped me find my intentions with art and release UNAVAILABLE, which is a more personal album. A downside to making music here can be resources, professional quality mixing and mastering; it’s out there, but the connections can be hard to make.

Do you feel held back by being in West Virginia? Or does it feel like a musically-supportive place?

I think the right type of music can thrive in its own environment, and West Virginia has so many environments to explore. I feel I was lucky enough to land in a supportive place, and if I stay committed, West Virginia’s influence can only offer more assistance and opportunities.

What, in your opinion, needs to happen in the West Virginia music scene for it to move forward?

More all-ages, public venues. This has been an idea of many since the HYAMP (Huntington Youth Arts & Music Project) closed its doors some 10 years ago. It’s time to bring all ages to all shows.

What’s your advice to anyone starting to make music (particularly hip-hop)?

Don’t do it because you want to make money. Don’t do it because you want to make friends or make love or make people look at you. Do it because you need to, because you have something to say, and you really need to say it. Because if you didn’t, you would be denying yourself a right. If you feel that way, please make everything you can, make the connections and find the resources, make the money for the equipment and the studio time and your favorite pen, make an effort and make time for breaks. Art isn’t a competition or a scheme or a savior, but an expression, more like nervousness or anger.

MarcfromMars’ latest release is UNAVAILABLE. Hear more #WVmusic on A Change of Tune, airing Saturday nights at 10 on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Connect with A Change of Tune on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And for more #WVmusic chats, make sure to go to wvpublic.org/wvmusic and subscribe to our RSS / podcast feeds.

Support for 30 Days of #WVmusic is provided by Kin Ship Goods, proud supporter of DIY music and the arts. Locally shipped worldwide at kinshipgoods.com.

'It’s Not Just a Show… It's a Spectacle:' The Company Stores on Love, Loss & 'Little Lights'

“When we get on stage, I feel like that’s where we’re supposed to be… that’s what we’re supposed to be doing.”

From West Virginia Public Broadcasting and A Change of Tune, this is 30 Days of #WVmusic, the interview series celebrating the folks who make the West Virginia music scene wild and wonderful.

And today’s interview is with a folk-fusion band out of Charleston who command the stage with Appalachian rock, old-time jazz and even a few theatrics. This… is The Company Stores.

The Company Stores’ latest release is Little Lights. Find their tour schedule and check out their music on social media. Hear more #WVmusic on A Change of Tune, airing Saturday nights at 10 on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Connect with A Change of Tune on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And for more #WVmusic chats, make sure to go to wvpublic.org/wvmusic and subscribe to our RSS / podcast feeds.

The Company Stores performing at 2016’s Kegs for K-9s.

Interview Highlights

On forming The Company Stores:

Matt Marks (guitarist): I started working at Charleston’s Pies & Pints in 2012, and Casey [Litz] started a couple of months after. It was a slow day shift, and we were talking about music, she said she wrote songs and played open mics. I told her I’d been writing music for a while, and we decided to get together. She came over to my house and started singing and as soon as I heard her voice, I was like, “We need to start a band.” I grew up playing music, and I was always interested in it, my dad was a pastor. I started playing drums at five, and then at 8 or 9 years of age I got bored with that. The violin didn’t stick. I started playing guitar when I was 14.

Casey Litz (vocalist): Before that, I had been playing open mics by myself, and I’d really been looking for a guitar player. And that day at Pies & Pints, I was talking to one of my tables about how I played music, and they were like, “Oh, you know one of your other employees plays music, too.” I was playing less than a year before I met Matt, and I always wanted to sing and I was learning guitar. I grew up in Lincoln County, but I went to George Washington High School [in Charleston], so I spent a lot of evenings on a farm in the middle of nowhere. We were allowed to do one thing on the weekends since it was too much driving. And I was never that interested in music in high school; it came later on.

On the band’s new record Little Lights:

Marks: It’s hard to incorporate everything from the record into one direct message; it touches on a lot of different things. But the title track “Little Lights” is about my best friend who passed away in 2016. He committed suicide. And this song is a realization that I came to during the mourning process. Brian was his name, and even though he’s gone physically, there are certain parts of him ingrained in my personality. There are things I say, phrases I got from him, things that I do.

One of my favorite authors is Stephen King, and if you read a lot of his books, they talk about how kids growing up have this tight unit that is hard to break, and whenever they get older, they still have that connection. For me, it was like I could look at my friends and see him in all of us. So in a way, that part of him is never going to die and will be passed on to other people. The more time you spend with someone, the more you affect them. Casey knew Brian before she ever met him through me. So I took the “This Little Light of Mine” hymn and incorporated it into our light, our being, having an effect on the people we touch, and that goes on even after we’re gone. It’s how much we choose our light to shine.

Litz: Matt has written a lot songs on this album, and he’s gone through so much change, and I’m grateful he’s able to take all that’s going on and putting it into this outlet that’s music because I think it’s really healthy. Once you hear his stories and then hear our songs, I think it’s really inspiring.

The Company Stores perform on Mountain Stage in February 2017.

On making their Mountain Stage debut in February 2017:

Litz: For me, it was a point I will remember for the rest of my life. I was also so nervous! We’ve played hundreds of shows, but this was a different kind of show. It was so cool to see everything that went into the production. Mountain Stage has been an all-time inspiration for why I wanted to start playing music. I remember going to a show with my dad and thinking, “I want to do that, I need to do that.”

Marks: It was so short [laughing]; it went by so quickly. I was trying to savor it as much as I could, trying to soak everything in.

The Company Stores are a Charleston staple.

On the future of the band:

Marks: We definitely don’t want to plateau so we’re touring a lot more, we’re hitting Nashville, Lexington, New Orleans, Tampa. We’re going to try to keep expanding our radius. There’s been some talk about relocating, but we’re going to try to figure out what’s right for us and right for the band. We always want to keep climbing. We played Orange Peel in Asheville last December, and the promoter was like, “I didn’t know West Virginia had music like that. I wish I had known.”

Litz: This is where the band is supposed to be for now. Playing in Charleston and being from here has kept us grounded and humble, but personally I think we’re ready to spread our wings and get out there. You have to keep pushing yourself.

Music featured in this #WVmusic chat:

The Company Stores- “Little Lights”

The Company Stores- “So Good”

The Company Stores- “Shenandoah Fall”

Support for 30 Days of #WVmusic is provided by Kin Ship Goods, proud supporter of DIY music and the arts. Locally shipped worldwide at kinshipgoods.com.

Real Talk: Pop, Pirates & Pat Benatar with TeamMate

“Had we not chosen to be in Morgantown, TeamMate wouldn’t exist.”

From West Virginia Public Broadcasting and A Change of Tune, this is 30 Days of #WVmusic, the interview series celebrating the folks who make the West Virginia music scene wild and wonderful.

And today’s interview is with a Los Angeles pop duo with early-beginnings in Morgantown who believe in the power of collaboration. This… is TeamMate.

TeamMate just released their self-titled full-length debut on Rostrum Records. Catch up with the band on social media as they tour from coast-to-coast. Hear more #WVmusic on A Change of Tune, airing Saturday nights at 10 on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Connect with A Change of Tune on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And for more #WVmusic chats, make sure to go to wvpublic.org/wvmusic and subscribe to our RSS / podcast feeds.

TeamMate’s Dani Buncher (with Scott Simons in the background)

Interview Highlights

On forming TeamMate:

Dani Buncher (vocals/drums): Scott and I started TeamMate a little bit after we broke up, while we were trying to figure out what our relationship and friendship was going to be like post-breakup. It felt kind of natural to start playing music together. Scott asked me to sit-in on drums for a couple of solo gigs and it felt great! It kind of took on a whole new meaning of what it meant to be together and stay friends and be a part of each other’s live. It kind of transitioned to a full band project for us.

Scott Simons (vocals/keyboards): We met at WVU and dated for ten years before we started the band, but we had never played music together except for maybe a few drum sessions. We were both in the marching band at WVU, and music was always a big part of our life’s when we were a couple, but we never played it together until after we broke up. It sort of became our therapy.

On the Morgantown music scene:

Scott: I grew up in Bridgeport, about 45 minutes away from Morgantown. I was more active in the Morgantown scene [than Dani]. At the time, it was such a great place to be in a band because it was such a diverse scene, but also we could drive anywhere and be in another college town in not a lot of time. There was a punk underground scene, a hip hop scene and a jam band scene, and my old band [The Argument] didn’t fit into any of that. Morgantown was a great place to play music, and I stayed around after the band broke up and did side gigs before I moved. There was a lot going on considering the size of the town. It taught me just about everything I ever needed to do. When I moved to L.A., I played in piano bars the songs I figured out in Morgantown. All the experiences we’re doing now, I got to cut my teeth in Morgantown.

Dani: I didn’t play music while I was in college very much. I saw a lot of bands, but it was mainly Scott’s old band [The Argument]. After college, I moved to Pittsburgh and began playing more.

On the #WVmusic scene’s lack of a pop presence:

Scott: I think that’s reflective of the culture. The poppiest acts haven’t come out of West Virginia, and obviously L.A. is a very pop town. To do it at the scale, we want to do it and to fit our sound we really have to be here. The way the music industry is now, you have to be different and own what comes naturally, and a lot of people in West Virginia are owning what they grew up with, what they grew around and reflecting the culture. You can make things work there, but we’re a little too poppy to be anywhere but L.A. at the moment.

TeamMate’s self-titled debut is out now via Pittsburgh-based label Rostrum Records.

On their self-titled debut release:

Scott: When we started, I was in L.A., Dani in Pittsburgh, and we did an EP that was sort of long distance, sending files back and forth so the writing wasn’t as collaborative. On this new album, once we went into it, we decided to write everything together and sing everything together in unison. We named the band TeamMate because if we couldn’t be partners romantically, we’d be teammates. Keeping up with that name, it felt like the output needed to be more collaborative. We sing mostly 50/50, write 50/50.

Dani: We don’t have one song that we think is the best, but we have songs that are more special to us individually, songs we enjoy playing more on certain nights or if the writing process meant something. I really like “Souvenir,” and “Until You Find Me” was one that helped shape the direction of the record.

Music featured in this #WVmusic chat:

TeamMate- “Until You Find Me”

TeamMate- “We Belong” (Pat Benetar cover)

TeamMate- “Damage”

Support for 30 Days of #WVmusic is provided by Kin Ship Goods, proud supporter of DIY music and the arts. Locally shipped worldwide at kinshipgoods.com.

'It’s Not a Race. It’s Not a Comparison': Katelyn Read on Musical Soul-Searching

“As an artist, you’re your own product. When all you see is everyone’s best and all you feel is your worst, it can be so defeating and crippling to be stuck in this place of ‘Why am I not there yet?'”

From West Virginia Public Broadcasting and A Change of Tune, this is 30 Days of #WVmusic, the interview series celebrating the folks who make the West Virginia music scene wild and wonderful.

And today’s interview is with a Parkersburg West Virginian who has found growth and community in Raleigh, North Carolina. This… is Katelyn Read.

Katelyn Read’s latest release is We’ve Come This Far. Catch up with the rising singer-songwriter on social media. Hear more #WVmusic on A Change of Tune, airing Saturday nights at 10 on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Connect with A Change of Tune on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And for more #WVmusic chats, make sure to go to wvpublic.org/wvmusic and subscribe to our RSS / podcast feeds.

Interview Highlights

On her musical beginnings:

I started doing music in Parkersburg, I started playing in a little coffee shop there called The Daily Grind and play kind of through lunch during their busy hour as background music. I actually grew up in Bridgeport through my elementary school years, and then moved to Parkersburg for junior high and high school. Music was always something my parents enjoyed. I grew up listening to all of the great ‘70s tunes – the Eagles, America, Bill Withers. That was a great time for music. My dad played saxophone, but the only song I can remember him playing was the Pink Panther theme song [laughing]. And both of my parents sing, but my dad didn’t let me take voice lessons until my final semester of high school because he said it was something you didn’t need lessons for. “You either sing, or you can’t sing.”

We have this video of my third or fourth grade talent show, and I wanted to sing. I’m holding the microphone, chord in my hand, walking across the stage as a superstar. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed doing, but I never viewed it as a realistic career path or even a realistic hobby. It seemed so far and unreasonable. I pursued a degree in art, like sculpting and watercolor and charcoal and all of that. I wanted to be a high school art teacher.

On moving to North Carolina from West Virginia:

We moved in 2013. It was kind of a two-part move. My dad was looking to start a new company, and we were wanting to move to Raleigh with some friends with church plans. We talked my dad into coming down, and now we’re here with our friends and hope to start the church. The move wasn’t planned for my music, but it was a big benefit for me as far as moving to a bigger town with more opportunity to find places to start branching out and getting into music.

Raleigh is interesting because on almost any given night, you can find live music in the area, which is amazing that people enjoy it so much. But it can be a difficult thing because no matter when you plan your show, there’s five other shows doing on. But it’s also a really great community of musicians and artists. Even though there are so many artists, it’s really a small world. Everyone is so supportive of each other.

On the long road leading up to her new EP We’ve Come This Far:

We started recording it in January 2016, and I didn’t plan on doing any type of crowdfunding, just self-funded and low budget as possible. Since I am an art person and not a math person, I realized half-way through the process that I had gotten the numbers all wrong and would need help from the community. So I started raising funds for it, but I got sick sometime through the process, so it made the timeline get a lot longer. And then we had issues with getting the mixes back. All-in-all, my timelines was decimated last year. So we had to wait, but we released it May [2017], and it totally exceeded my expectations.

The release party was actually on the same night that Bastille and Chris Stapleton were playing in the area [laughing]. But people came! They had the choice between the three of us, and I’m glad some of them chose me.

On the name of the EP We’ve Come This Far:

If I had guessed five years ago that I would be at the place that I am now, I wouldn’t have seen a path to it. I don’t think a lot of it has happened because of the effort I’ve put into it; it’s been a lot of the people around me. So I’m thankful for that support and encouragement because if it were up to be, I’d recluse and retreat and not risk and not put myself into a position to be rejected. It’s because of the community around me that I’ve been able to take these steps.

Music featured in this #WVmusic chat:

Katelyn Read- “Moving On”

Katelyn Read- “Brick + Mortar”

Katelyn Read- “Still”

Support for 30 Days of #WVmusic is provided by Kin Ship Goods, proud supporter of DIY music and the arts. Locally shipped worldwide at kinshipgoods.com.