This week’s Local Spins Artist Spotlight shines on a Grand Rapids folk-rock trio which blends the voices of a seasoned singer-songwriter and a classically trained vocalist. (Podcast, video)
Deep Greens & Blues: The trio, from left, Jason Upton, Kelsey Gustafson and Travis Atkinson. (Photo/Anna Sink, Local Spins)
Deep Greens & Blues bassist Jason Upton doesn’t hesitate when pinpointing the key to the Grand Rapids band’s almost instantly captivating, folk-hued approach: guitarist Travis Atkinson and singer Kelsey Gustafson’s distinctive harmonies.
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“That’s what really gets me,” Upton concedes. “It’s so beautiful to hear and be part of it with these two.”
Indeed, the three-year-old band named after a line from singer-songwriter James Taylor’s iconic song, “Sweet Baby James,” appeals to fans of the sort of acoustically pleasing, vocally centered music that’s marked the career of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer and ’70s superstar.
‘HARMONY-DRIVEN MUSIC’ WITH AN EARTHY FEEL AND A LONE BELLOW VIBE
“When we go out and play, we find other James Taylor fans because they hear the name (of the band) and they immediately know the lyric from ‘Sweet Baby James,’ ” says Atkinson, a self-professed “James Taylor enthusiast.”
“That’s certainly part of our influence. We play folk music, a lot of harmony-driven music and that’s what’s influenced our writing as well.”
That writing and rootsy vibe – spanning alt-country to folk-rock – also paints Deep Greens & Blues with the sort of sonic textures that have made contemporary acts such as The Lone Bellow and Phillip Phillips so popular in recent years.
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“I think people just have had a desire to go back to the basics,” suggests Atkinson, a longtime singer-songwriter who graduated from Forest Hills Northern High School and once played with the Chicago acoustic rock band Second Frost. “Music follows this natural ebb and flow of more production and less production, and now I think it’s back towards earthy feels.
“It’s very raw and in that way it can be inspiring because it’s just people, their emotions and their energy that’s driving the music instead of the synthesizer or the produced sounds. I like it. I like that simple sound and I think right now that’s where we ‘re at in this subculture of music.”
This week on Local Spins Live, Deep Greens & Blues demonstrated that “simple sound” and the band’s striking harmonies by performing the title track from its 2013 studio debut, “Back to Home,” in the studios of News Talk 1340 AM (WJRW). Listen to the entire show podcast her and watch a video of the performance below.
The pairing of Atkinson and Gustafson’s voices actually began when the pair met at their church several years ago, and Gustafson has gone on to study the singing of classical music. The Northview High School graduate will earn her music education degree from Hope College this spring. And she loves balancing her classical training with popular music.
WORKING IN TWO DIFFERENT MUSICAL WORLDS AND LOVING BOTH
“I’ve always kind of known that music is what I want to do,” says Gustafson, who started singing in middle school. “I’ve really been having to work in two different worlds (of music) a little bit and learning two different parts of my voice. It’s been a lot of adjusting and learning, and I really love both. It’s very cool to be able to do both.”
The trio on Local Spins Live. (Photo/Anna Sink)
“We try to find where we can all meet and the type of music that all of us can enjoy writing and performing,” adds Atkinson, who writes most of the band’s songs, which resonate with emotion, honesty and passion. “I’ll do most it, then talk to Kelsey about harmonies, and I trust Jason to just masterfully craft whatever bass lines that are going to sound good to blend in.”
The band continues to work on new material that will eventually appear on the follow-up to “Back To Home,” which was recorded by Andy Mitchell last year at Audio Bay Studios in Cannonsburg.
But until then, they’ll perform across West Michigan, with regular sets at Flanagan’s in downtown Grand Rapids and Cheers on Plainfield Avenue NE, sometimes adding a drummer to their lineup, which alters the dynamics of their songs.
At 10 p.m. Saturday, April 19, the band plays Flanagan’s, followed by an 8:30 p.m. May 1 show at Cheers. At 9 p.m. May 10, they perform at the Curragh Irish Pub in Holland.
Get more information about the band, a schedule of upcoming gigs and listen to their songs at deepgreensmusic.com.
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2014, Spins on Music
