With a little bit of folk, pop and bluegrass, Tennessee-based band Judah & the Lion will jam at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The trio is on tour with the eclectic crossover musician, Matt Kearney, and is amplifying sounds from their recently released EP “Kids These Days.”
“When we found out that Matt was interested, it was yet again another dream come true,” banjo player and vocalist Nate Zuercher said. “We have all been listening to him for a long time.”
Tennessee native, Judah Akers, Coloradan, Zuercher and Chicago raised Brian MacDonald met at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee and started the group in 2011.
The Daily 49er caught up with Zuercher to ask about the recording of the group’s third compilation.
I know you all grew up in very different parts of the country, so how did the band come together?
We all went to school in Nashville at “Bell.” Judah had written a few songs and heard about Brian and me playing folk music in church. He thought it would be a cool thing to try out. We all had lunch together and played in the bell tower on campus. Everything just really clicked.
Is this your first time touring in California? What are you excited most about?
We did a three-person showcase in Los Angeles at Hotel Café, but as far as the rest of the state, this is my first time touring here. We kind of neglected the west coast, very unintentionally. But since we started, we’ve seen, especially in LA and Seattle, a lot of people engaging and downloading our stuff and getting excited. One of our favorite things of what we do is engaging with our fans, building relationships and just sharing life. [It’s all about] getting outside of the computer, shaking hands and hearing stories.
“Kids These Days” is the first EP that the band didn’t self-produce; how has the sound of the band evolved?
Dane Cobbs worked with us in Nashville, and he said, “Lets try Moe on a synthesizer bass on this song, just for fun.” At first we were kind of hesitant for sure, because up until then we had an upright bass on all of our songs. We were willing to try things and change it up. It just brought a whole new life to the songs that they had never really experienced before.
What sets the EP apart from your other recordings?
This last release seems a lot more energetic; it’s more electronic-based, synthesizer-based and things like that. “Kids These Days” has definitely been a group effort.
More about the band and tickets to their latest tour can be found at Judahandthelion.com.