SUBMITTED; Silver City Rodeo
Last July, I interviewed Lancaster act Silver City Rodeo. Like many bands, I’ve interviewed in the past, Silver City Rodeo has kept in touch. Group member Neil Martin recently emailed me to let me know that the group is seeing a boost at York area shows and will be releasing a new EP in early June. It will be the first installment of a four-disc set. Martin answered a few questions I sent him via email about the project:
Does the EP have a title or theme? Yes, the EP is called “The Spring EP.” Its theme is about the changing from cold weather to warm weather. Two of the songs specially sing about spring and … the growing season etc.
Can you walk me through some of the inspiration behind one or two tracks? The single on the EP is called “Spring Time In Bloom.” As you know, this winter has been brutal. We as a band have been feeling the cabin fever you get when you’re (cooped) up inside because of cold and snow. We as musicians felt the need to write a fun song that reminded us of the warm weather. The second song is called “Be a Farmer’s Boy.” This song was a traditional folk song. I was surfing the internet one day looking for traditional Irish folk songs about Coal Mining and I stumbled on this gem. We couldn’t find any music for the song so we made our own up and jazzed up the melody and then we wrote our own chorus for the song.
Where did you record it? We recorded this EP mostly at my parents’ farm in Elizabethtown. We record and produce our own recordings because I have acquired professional recording equipment over the years, and it allows us to take our time with each song to produce the songs as we want. It was also recorded in various project studios in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Ocean City, Md.
I’m interested in the four-disc set idea. Will the albums have a theme? Do you have a timeline to record those? Yes, all four EPs will follow a theme. The next EP will be released this fall — and yes, you guessed it — it will be called “The Fall EP.” We have several of the songs written for this EP, and we will begin recording it at the end of June. Next January, we will be releasing “The Winter EP” and the summer of 2015 we will conclude the four-disc set with “The Summer EP.” Once the all are completed we will release all the EP’s on a full-length disc called “Seasons.” Each disc will convey a feel or have lyrical content that is appropriate for the season it’s in. The other unique aspect of this disc is how we produced each song. As you know we are a seven-member band. There are very few venues that have the ability to support our size. We have crafted our sets to accommodate the venues we play, and a lot of times that means we can only do an acoustic set. We have come to really love these smaller shows, and we wanted to release songs that (reflect) this type of performance.
Are you planning an EP release show or party? Yes, our CD release party/show will be (6 to 10 p.m. June 12) on the Rooftop of Tellus360, 24 E. King St., Lancaster.
