Originally founded in 2013 as an acoustic duo, Bourbon House was comprised of Lacey Crowe on vocals and Jason Clark on guitar. They performed between 50 and 100 shows each year with covers of Led Zeppelin, Heart, Janis Joplin, Guns n’ Roses, etc. In early 2017, they recorded their debut EP and since expanded their original retro rock band to include James Mijal on drums, Jennings Buri on bass, and Evan Middlesworth as co-producer for both albums and bassist on their second album, “WILD ABANDON“.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Bourbon House about the new album, motivations, challenges and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
The band is mostly located in Wausau, WI, although our singer, Lacey, is from Sudbury, ON, Canada, and our bass player lives a couple of hours away from the practice space in Ellsworth, WI. It’s probably not an ideal situation but we love travelling and we know we need to get out of the area as much as possible to increase our exposure anyway. As far as our sound goes, we’re a rock band mostly. But it’s far from modern and also far from what is referred to as “indie rock.” Our sound, stylistically, is retro groove-rock. Most of the bands who inspire us are long gone but still resonate (Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix). In a long-worded nutshell, we’re a modern, classic 70’s hard, bluesy-rock band.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
We’re self-motivated and also dependent on each other for motivation. Creating music is something we sort of fell into, but it always felt very natural. It might be our chemistry together. Maybe if we were with other band members, it wouldn’t have been a path for any of us. Writing, recording, promoting, gaining new fans, and really the entire process is somewhat of an addiction. We absolutely love what we do, and that is our primary motivation.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
Our first release was a little more whimsical. It’s a lot more diverse than our sophomore album. For our second release, we wanted to accomplish something a little more streamlined. More songs on this new album fit together than on our EP, but we’re all interested in so many styles of music that it was still necessary to explore and throw in a couple of oddball tracks. “Take Us Away” doesn’t necessarily fit into our niche style with the other songs, but it was intentional. That song was written specifically in a style similar to Soundgarden and Chris Cornell’s solo work as a tribute to him, with lyrics to accompany it. “Yet We Run” is our other oddball song. It’s a little dark and sad, which is a place we can all get to sometimes, but most of the other songs are uptempo and uplifting. Our lyrics in that song might be the best, though.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
It’s hard to tell if our challenges are greater now than they would have been if we’d done this years ago. Yes, there are tons of independent musicians. But maybe that’s not an issue. We believe that every style and genre has its place and its own fans. The biggest struggle is reaching them. Social media is essential and it definitely helps with that, but it’s not easy. It takes a lot of work and planning and posting engaging things that your fans want to see. We’re starting to get a better handle on that.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
Probably Instagram. We love meeting new people and talking with them there. You can hear all of our music on Spotify by clicking the link in our bio. We’re also on iTunes, Amazon Music, Deezer, YouTube, iHeart Radio, and other smaller online streaming sites. And for discovering music from other bands, Internet Radio stations are great because they don’t play the same, repeated songs as on terrestrial radio. Also, these internet stations are often genre specific so you can find one that will play tons of new bands specific to your taste.
Anything else before we sign off?
We have plenty of news coming up for the band, including new music videos and tour dates. If anyone wants to keep up-to-date with us, follow us on Instragram, Facebook or Twitter! And if you want the VIP treatment as well as a free mp3, you can sign up for our email list on our website: www.bourbonhouserocks.com.
