www.roanoke.com

These guys rock, and they play tonight at the Lantern, in Blacksburg. Get details on our Top Tickets page. Here's our e-mail q&a with the band ...

cutnscratch: The band comes across really intense and authentic live. Do you guys come from pretty deep personal backgrounds of roots music, or did you find it later on in your musical growth?

Josh Daniels: Personaly I've been into roots & country-ish music for years... my grandfather played lap steel & my great uncle (85 years and still kicking) played what he refers to as "old time" music (hank williams style country music) and they both are carolina natives so I would say its in my blood.

Justin Fedor: Roots music has always had a place in my playlists since childhood. I found Simon & Garfunkle as well as Bob Dylan at a very young age as I rifled through my parents vinyl collection. The Grateful Dead's 70's acoustic shows were among some of the first bootlegs that I fell in love with because of the clarity and raw sound of the songs. I've usually started playing music with others through the acoustic means. It hasn't always stayed there, but I find it to be a fairly easy introduction to someone on a musical level. Everyone has an old traditional that they love, or at least they should. People have been writing wonderful songs for centuries.

Eric-Scott Guthrie: Roots music has always been a part of what I listen to, but never in any way *exclusively* what I listen to. In all honesty, though it was always around growing up in North Carolina (and I'm sure I soaked a lot of it up by osmosis) I didn't even really start listening to bluegrass until my early 20's when I had a roommate who played in a Bluegrass band. Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Woody and Arlo and Leadbelly... all were big influences, but so were The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Doors, and such; not to mention the contemporary bands of my youth in the 80's and 90's. And GRUNGE. Whoah. Looking back I think it's been the most honest music (from any era, with any sort of technology) that's always resonated with me, personally. Funny that you ask though, as I've only played an electric instrument (even a guitar) a handful of times in my life. Though I really like the sound, acoustic instruments have always felt a litte more 'right' in my hands.

cNs: Three of the band members, aside from the rhythm section, are multi-instrumentalists. Did you each come into the band that way, or have you picked up new instruments along the way?

Josh : I started out on drums when I was really young and when we got the new familiars together I was actually in a band playing drums... that had to stop because of time constraints. I still occasionally play a gig here & there with friends. I also love to play my electric fender bass whenever I get the chance!

Justin: We've come in this way. We've all played different roles in different bands depending on which band needed what at the time, but in this band we've decided to let the songs dictate each persons role in the band. It allows for some nice textures and dynamics in the overall performance on stage. We can go from a very traditional rootsy sound to an acoustic rock sound pretty quickly in a set. And don't sleep on the rhythm section, we're just starting to scratch the surface on their talents. Pat's been with us since January and Daniel has been with us since April, so they've been finding their own space in the music and we've just now started to find new areas for them to explore as we head into the studio. You'll see/hear soon.

Eric-Scott : Um... yes and... yes? I started playing banjo when Justin and I were still playing together as a duo, back before The New Familiars existed. He picked up the mandolin (and the banjo) at about the same time, actually... we were looking to be able to diversify our sound, so we picked instruments we felt suited our guitar playing styles and I feel it's fit wonderfully. When we met Josh and formed The New Familiars, he was just picking up the Resonator guitar as well, so our sound has developed by all of us stretching our foundations. It's been cool too, because none of us play in what could be deemed a traditional style, though we've always had an ear for tradition and it definitely has shaped all our playing. This being said, we're always still pushing ourselves, and that includes the rhythm section. Dan and Pat are huge contributors to our sound, and there's no telling how we'll all find places for each other to fit in the future. Or who will be playing what next. Heh.

cNs: Your band seems to be playing on the road an awful lot. And last time you were in Roanoke, your audience at Blues BBQ seemed to grow toward the end of the night, with people hearing you from outside and walking in to see what's going on. Have you been around the circuit enough times yet to have begun building a solid out-of-town core?

JD DID NOT GET THE REVISED VERSION OF THE QUESTION

Justin: Well, that seems to be the nature of the beast at this point. We're spreading through the word of mouth and the performances that we give. We don't have a label or a manager to send out all the hype, so we have to rely on giving a heartfelt performance with good songs every night to really capture people who have never heard of us before, but we give our shows 100% and I feel like its paying off. We're also entirely grateful to folks like you who help spread the word, so more people will be able to say, "oh, I've heard of them, so I will go check them out while they're in town."

Eric-Scott : We're getting there, but really it's on a town by town basis... ya know? We make our homes where we can, and we take our lumps where we must, and we try to play our best for whoever is there be it 10 people or 1000. We're definitely seeing more and more crowds starting to come out and such, and it's a great feeling to get a return on your efforts like we have, but you never can rest on your laurels. With every success there's new challenges, which (while hard at times) is a cool thing about doing what we're doing. Our 'good' shows help pave over our slower shows, and support in one town allows us to take a chance in another. It really is a case where, if you come see our show in Blacksburg or Roanoke or wherever, you're really helping to support us in the next couple of towns down the line too.

cNs: You guys do interesting covers. I've heard you perform "Baba O'Riley", and your promo CD has a cover of "My Girl." Each has a pretty unique arrangement. How do you select them, and how natural is it for you guys to come up with those arrangements?

Josh : I think we just look at songs we love & try to put a new spin on them. We kind of fell into covering My Girl. It was a request from a friends mom....

Justin: Covers, covers, covers...they are unexpected and are selected out of fun or love. For instance, our friend's mother emailed us a couple of years ago and asked us to learn "My Girl" for her daughter's birthday. They were coming to our show in a couple of weeks and she thought it would be a nice tip of the hat. Well, we started off trying to play it like the original arrangement and it sucked or we sucked or something about the experience sucked. So, we decided to take a different direction on it, which is what you hear today. You'll see a thank you in the credits to Lois, the woman that inspired us with a suggestion. Overall, we don't do covers to try to sound like someone else, we do covers because they're good songs. Folk groups have been covering each others music for years, and we carry on that tradition in a very non-traditional format. Songs like "My Girl" and "Baba O'Riley" are the new traditionals for a new generation. They're songs that will stand-up for years to come.

Eric-Scott:   A lot of it is just jamming, really, and being ourselves within the music. The tempo of My Girl was the initial inspiration of JD, he slowed down the song and played it on the guitar for us, and from that foundation the arrangement kind of built itself as we played it as a group. Similarly, Baba's just come from us playing it, from each of us trying to contribute in a cool way, I think. That one we've never really even practiced it outside of live shows, it just was born in the moment and it's never really the same from show to show (at least not at this point). In the end, we're not playing these songs to sound like someone else, rather we've added these songs to the repetoire of The New Familiars and it seems they sound like us when we play them. Which is cool, I think... if you're not putting your own mark on a song, if you're just playing it like it's been played in the past, you're not showing the audience what that song means to you. Whether it's an original or a cover, you have to OWN it.

cNs: Charlotte seems to be blowing up a little bit, with good young bands who are either from there or have moved there to get into the scene. But you guys were Creative Loafing Charlotte's critics choice for best band. So congratulations on that. What can you tell me about Charlotte's scene that is spawning all this music? And among those bands, what do you feel is your niche?

Josh: I think our niche is rocking the f*** out on acoustic instruments-

Justin: I quote Public Enemy when I say "Don't Believe The Hype!" Its humbling to have someone say that you're better than someone else, but we do appreciate the compliment. I think that there are some amazing acts that come out of the area and I'm inspired by many of them and proud to have them as my friends. But Charlotte is blowing up because of the fans. You can have all the best musicians in the world living in one town, but if no one goes to hear them, what's the point. Charlotte has embraced its diverse music scene and you can most noticeably see this in the NoDa area of town. It's the home to two of the east coasts best venues, The Evening Muse and The Neighborhood Theatre. If you're ever in town and looking for the cool area, head there.

We fit in by doing what we've always done, by writing good songs and performing them with every bit of emotion as we can muster up. I know that's what I look for in bands, and I can only hope that what people find in us.

Eric-Scott: Charlottes scene DOES have a lot going for it, I think, which is why it's such a mind-blower that we were chosen for such an honor. There is a LOT of local talent, and there's a lot of folks that seem to be headed our way because of the burgeoning scene, which is great. There's GREAT fans, but it's often a distracted fanbase (we're in a big city) and a lot of folks still haven't 'witnessed' the power of great, small club, live show... they're still stuck in American Idol mode. I think a lot of it has to do with a great network of venues that provide a 'stepping stone' approach to promotions. We have awesome clubs from the 50 person capacity mark to the 1000 person capacity, and it gives a band appropriate rooms for their fanbase size (important so the energy of a show can build) as well as a path to grow on. But I think the thing that's really been making a difference lately is so many musicians, club owners, and promoters opening up and working with each other. We're supporting each others shows, we're learning from each others strategies and pushing each other, we're collaborating, and we're spreading the word about each other. I remember being so excited that the night we had our CD release in September of last year to a great crowd, while two other local bands (and friends of ours) also had great crowds. That sort of stuff never used to happen, if one band had a great night everyone else had crickets, and it's a testament to how competition can be CONstructive rather than destructive. Ultimately, this city's got almost 2 MILLION people in the metropolitan area, there's plenty of attention to go around and we can all help each other. And I should reiterate that the GREAT fans I alluded to up above are of course a huge part of this growth as well. They're providing the street teams, the buzz at the water coolers, and the necessary yin to the performers yang that creates a healthy, sustainable music scene.

As for our niche, man I don't know... we're just one hard working band out of many from these parts. I just want to keep playing tunes with my musical family