When I think of families forming bands, the first images to appear in my mind are of psychedelic singing children, like in The Partridge Family or The Brady Bunch. Or even dysfunctional married/divorced/pseudo-sibling couples like The White Stripes. So I was in for a pleasant surprise when I entered the basement the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in downtown DC.
Based in Nashville, Tennessee, the six-piece and actually unrelated Kopecky Family Band combine an eclectic combination of guitar, bass, drums, keys, xylophone, cello, trombone, and many more to create their multi-layered indie sound. With the only female member of the band, Kelsey, as lead singer, the band’s music took a sultry turn, a la Slow Club. This was especially evident when she sang duets with lead guitarist Gabe.
Although the band makes beautiful music, not everything in their lives goes smoothly. Onstage the band discussed how much of a struggle their touring van, nicknamed “The War Wagon,” had been having on their most recent tour. “I learned how to change an alternator today!” Gabe announced. “Cross that one off of the bucket list!”
The band’s recent EP, The Disaster, also deals with a lot of struggle and trauma, internally and externally. Not only was the band going through a lot of changes when the album was being recorded, but the Katrina disaster in New Orleans and other Southern storms were affecting the band near their Nashville homestead. The songs they sang beautifully conveyed this struggle and certainly manifested a positive from the negative of the incidents.
But despite the band’s issues with “The War Wagon,” the band has still managed to make their way around the country playing shows and music festivals, including CMJ and Bonnaroo. They also impressed NPR’s Bob Boilen and recorded a segment with him right here in DC, to be premiered June 16th.
The Kopecky’s opening act, MyNameIsJohnMichael, also brought a bit of a southern flavor to our east coast stage. Being from New Orleans, the band’s southern flavor was evident as the group contained a trumpet and trombone section in addition to their lively rock and roll sound. Very enthusiastic and eager to play, this opener certainly engaged the audience by including a lot of clapping and sing-a-long lyrics. The lead singer often got extremely excited and was constantly apologizing for cursing, as he would remember after each expletive that he was, in fact, in a synagogue.
This offbeat setting worked well for this show, however. The intimate feel helped the audience connect with the groups and even got them to prompt an encore out of Kopecky Family Band. I would encourage all to see both bands the next time “The Disaster” rolls into town.
