Screen Door Porch
"Wrong the Right," the opening track from Screen Door Porch's eponymous debut record, comes off like a Williamsbugian version of a classic Lucinda Williams track. A twangy, soulful cut, the "Wrong" is at once timeless and hip, filled with youthful spirit and age-old playing.
Seadar Rose and Aaron Davis, the gritty and pretty duo who make up Screen Door Porch, though based out of Jackon, Wyoming, spend time here and there (often in Austin, Texas), finding much of their inspiration on the road, squatting and exploring. You can feel the rambling heart in their folksy sound, which could best described as Whiskeytown-era Ryan Adams-meets-Lucinda (and maybe a bit of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, too). Despite all their travels, Screen Door Porch have yet to play in Fort Wayne, a city where folk-spirited acts often do quite well.
"I have been wanting to come through Fort Wayne for quite some time, but it has just never worked out," Rose said in a recent interview. "Zach Smith (Definitely Gary, The Orange Opera) is my cousin, so I was happy when he took the reins and set this show up. We're really looking forward to jamming with some fun Fort Wayne musicians, Zach included."
Earlier this year Rose and Davis released their first proper Screen Door Porch album, just two years after starting the band.
"Aaron and I were both living in Jackson when we met in late 2005. He was a member of several local bands, one of which included a very good friend of mine," Rose explained. "I was searching for a guitar teacher and my friend recommended Aaron. At first I think he didn't know what to make of me, and maybe wondered if I was serious about learning guitar. After a few months he asked me to start singing and playing with him at some local gigs. I only knew maybe three songs at that point! Things sort of snowballed after that, in a great way."
Playing together often from 2006-2008, the duo gigged together regularly while focusing on solo material and projects with other musicians. Then, in 2008, Rose and Davis started to focus more on Screen Door Porch, playing out and writing songs for what would eventually comprise their debut.
Let's back up. Rose, who moved to Jackson during a college break, found the city to be a unique, vibrant place, describing it as "a great place to live if you want to avoid growing up for as long a possible." After college she moved there more permanently, working her way into the music scene in the time since.
"The music scene has in Jackson has been both invigorating and challenging. Because it's a tourist community, bands can get paid very well to play and entertain. But at certain points you realize that it's hard to grow as an artist in that atmosphere," Rose said. "If you stick around for the money you will really get jaded as an artist. So we make a point to get out and travel, and then return with an appreciation for what Wyoming has to offer."
Davis, who has worked extensively as a solo artist, paid his dues sharing stages with artists like Willie Nelson, Wilco, Reckless Kelly and Yonder Mountain String Band, releasing a solo album, Rear View Mirror , in 2008 to much acclaim.
Rose, who has long been talking about recording a record of her own, has found success as a solo artist already in her young career. In 2009 she recorded a solo EP in Austin, Texas with Rich Brotherton (who often plays with Robert Earl Keen), going on to later headline the 7th Annual Women of Jackson Concert in Wyoming.
All that solo talk aside, both Rose and Davis have decided to focus on Screen Door Porch for now, likely due to the huge amount of attention their debut has earned them already. For a band still young in its existence, the record is a major achievement, arriving fully formed and solid front to back.
"We recorded the album in December 2009 in Austin, following a long touring trek. The tour molded the arrangement of many of the songs on the album and gave us a great idea of our vision," Rose explained when asked about the record. "That tour was the point when we finally found our sound and figured out what worked for us. The album is a continuation of that sound and a great representation of where we were in our lives.
"We were struggling with life decisions and situations, balancing the mountain solitude against the city lights, relationships with ourselves and others and so forth. I think the album does a great job of representing all of that in its production and instrumentation. You hear joy, you hear heartache, you feel the travels we experienced and the memories we can't let go of. For a DIY band, we have had an enormous amount of amazing press for this album and it continues to trickle in. Blogs and newspapers across the US - and even in the UK and Europe - have given glowing reviews. Radio stations have continually played the album since April."
Curious about the obvious chemistry between Rose and Davis that has made their early success possible, I hinted around the subject, hoping to find a more personal insight relating to their sound.
"I guess this would be the time in the interview where I admit to the fact that Aaron and I are a couple. Work between us is fun and intense," she said. "Relationships can cause business decisions to be made on a personal level, so we try very hard to separate that. But not so much as to take the emotion out of our work. Traveling as much as we do is much easier when the band is, you know, your family."
As for the future, Rose and Davis plan to keep busy, hitting the road they love so much and eventually recording the new songs that have been popping up all along.
"We are planning a new album for 2011. Other than the 2011 date, not much else has been decided, but I can say that it will most likely be an evolution of the first - taking people through the stripped down folksy tunes to the upbeat alt-country songs. We don't like to be pinned down."
Written by G. William Locke
