Teardrop City’s ‘RENT PARTY,’ a six-song EP, will be released digitally via Bandcamp on November 6th, 2020. It is a collection of covers, ranging from Woody Guthrie’s “I Ain’t Got a Home” to Carl Perkins “Sure to Fall” to the Bee Gee’s “To Love Somebody.” It features Tyler Keith on electric guitar, Laurie Stirratt on acoustic, and George Sheldon on stand-up bass. The result is a dynamic sound that is rowdy, tender, and harmonious.
“We have these influences integrated into our personalities” explains Keith. “Laurie and my dad played folk music, so that's just our basic language. George also grew up on country and blues. He played with blues guys from the Delta, including Paul “Wine” Jones. We also had a profound love for 60s music from the Velvets to the Girl Groups. It's just in there. It wasn't a thought-out strategy.”
Stirratt agrees that ‘RENT PARTY’ was “definitely spur of the moment, with the Covid and all. It was a great break from everything to get back in the studio again. It was engineered by Schaefer Llana. She knows her stuff and was great to work with.”
The session was recorded at Dial Back Sound in Water Valley, which is also where Teardrop City made their debut album, It’s Later Than You Think. Its twelve songs were mostly originals with Wallace Lester on drums and netted in two days by Bronson Tew, who Stirratt proclaims “was amazing and captured the essence of the band right away. He knew exactly what to do. It was one of the most rewarding and magical studio experiences I’ve ever had.”
Going back to Water Valley was a no-brainer for Keith. “When you find something like that that works you take advantage of it. You can't turn your back on the magic,”
Magic is nothing new to Stirratt, Sheldon, and Keith who for the past 25 years have been part of iconic Oxford bands like The Hilltops, The Neckbones, Blue Mountain, The Preacher’s Kids, and the Kenny Brown Band.
“We had a group called the Cowboy Killers with Wallace, Jake Fussell, George, and me,” Keith recalls. “When Jake left Laurie just fit right in there. We'd all played together over the years and had talked about this band. It just seemed natural. I am such a fan of their musicianship.”
Keith’s admiration for Stirratt began in 1992 when he was in a band called The Sky Pilots. “I was a huge fan of the Hilltops and then Blue Mountain. I used to go over to Laurie and Cary Hudson's house, hang out, and talk music. They took me in and taught me so much.”
Stirratt remembers first meeting Sheldon “on the square when Blind Jim’s was still around. Cary and I were amazed to see George hauling his upright piano up the stairwell once a week to play his afternoon shows. Eventually, George joined Blue Mountain when I became unable to play bass due to severe tendonitis. I switched to guitar. George was with us for two years.” It was then that Keith says he and Sheldon became fast friends, bonding “over our love for music and whiskey.”
Covid has challenged that bond by preventing regular rehearsals, which Keith calls “a real drag. It's been rough since we used shows to play new songs and work out material as well as sell records and make a little money for the band to operate.”
Stirratt knows this obstacle is not unique to Teardrop City. “Covid has decimated live music and income for working bands, hurt record stores. I’m worried about the already struggling small clubs that have hosted hard working bands nation-wide… many probably won’t be around when this is over…which makes touring for smaller bands even more difficult. Still, it makes sense to be cautious and try to wait it out.”
Hopefully, Teardrop City, will soon be able to take the stage in Oxford, and the music loving community can gather again to dance and have fun. “Europe when it’s over,” says Stirratt.
Keith dreams ever farther, for he wants to “make many more albums and be together as friends and bandmates for the rest of my days. Like I said, it's really a family band. We've known each other for so long and we love each other so much. I wish it to be something we can have together forever.”
Beginning November 6th, Teardrop City’s It's Later Than You Think + ‘RENT PARTY’ will be available to download for $10 on Bandcamp.com.
