Alabama based five-piece The Crossbows is formed of members that have spent the last decade+ playing all over the Southeastern U.S. Their focus on guitar-driven grooves, sweet harmonies and catchy melodies is the trifecta which drives their memorable songwriting.
In this interview spotlight, I speak with the band about their single (Carry Me Home), technology, challenges, motivations 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.)
We are from Alabama. We initially were performing as a sort of folksy Americana trio but realized we missed the sound of a whole band and added another guitar player and a drummer. I think we’ve retained our original sounds, especially in the vocal harmonies we enjoy constructing, while adding some solid Southern rock and roll with the full group.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
After playing in previous bands of a more indie/alt rock type of persuasion we’ve all kind of leaned into our roots a bit in this group. It just feels right at this point of our musical journey, and more than that it’s just a fun style of music to play. That’s all we need to keep us going!
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
This is our first release! We’re hoping to get some of our other tunes recorded before too long.
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)?
Just getting our voice heard at all can be a challenge when everyone has so much available at their fingertips. It’s hard not to get lost in the crowd. That said, there are more avenues than ever to take advantage of and there’s something quite exciting about the present day opportunities to reach an audience that would have never been possible before.
What was the last song you listened to?
Slow Talkerz by Futurebirds
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
The audiophiles might yell but it’s tough to beat the convenience of mp3s.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Personally Spotify has been great for discovering new artists. I’ve been to some amazing concerts as a result of Spotify recommending someone that I ended up loving and then checking out when they came to town. I know there’s argument that they don’t fairly compensate artists but they give great exposure to groups who might not otherwise get it.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
We’re pretty new and so we’re just getting started developing an online presence! But you can check is out on Spotify or most other streaming platforms, and also follow us on Instagram @thecrossbowsband
Anything else before we sign off?
That’s all I’ve got.
