By Jamie A. Cooley, MTSU Sidelines Contributing Writer
Brooklyn art-pop band Rubblebucket will perform at The High Watt in Nashville on Wednesday.
This band shys away from genre-labels and aims for a very unique, upbeat sound that is conveyed through drums, electric guitar, a brass section and the leading voice of frontwoman Kal Traver.
Before Rubblebucket officially began, Traver and trumpet player Alex Toth were friends while attending college in Vermont. The pair joined various local projects together and, as a result, landed their first big gig traveling with reggae band John Brown’s Body. After touring with John Brown’s Body for a few years, Traver and Toth decided to break away and begin Rubblebucket in Boston.
The band was first known as Rubblebucket Orchestra, and featured primarily instrumental and afro-beat music.
“[We] quickly realized that we wanted to have more songwriting structures and precise arrangements,” Travers said in a recent phone interview with Sidelines.
This realization caused the band to become what it is now, although Traver said the Rubblebucket’s sound is “always evolving.”
The band is currently touring the U.S. in support of their new album Survival Sounds. This is not only the band’s longest tour, but it’s also their first since taking off last year to record the new record. They spent 20 days straight in the studio recording before heading to Dallas to mix the tracks.
“We started writing the music about three or four years ago, and by the time we went to record, had around 45 songs to choose from,” Travers said.
On Survival Sounds, you will predominately pick up on Toth’s composition, but each member of the band contributes to the complete sound of Rubblebucket.
When asked about their song “Sound of Erasing” from the new album, Traver seemed very enthused to answer.
“It came about from a trip that Alex and I were on in France,” she said. “It was a windy cold week, and we decided to strip down naked and run in the water and do a sort of ‘ceremonial cleansing’ and so many years later, the song emerged from that moment.”
Even while touring all across America in a van, Rubblebucket is excited to take the stage in Nashville this Wednesday and give one of their high-energy performances.
“Nashville is such a legendary place musically, kind of like New Orleans and Austin,” Travers said. “Those three towns stand out to me.”
Rubblebucket will be playing at the High Watt in Nashville at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
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