Story by Rachel Rascoe and Amy Fennie
To gear up for South by Southwest, the ORANGE Music Staff polled some of our favorite artists playing next week, and nothing was off-limits. From the silly to the serious to the mysterious, their answers made us love them even more. Check out the their responses below, and be sure to catch them live next week amid the festival madness.
Judah & the Lion
Judah and the Lion are headed to SXSW from Nashville to shake things up. We can’t stop listening to their bold new record, “Folk Hop ‘N Roll,” so we reached out to banjoist, Nathan and mandolin player Brian for a little chat. Catch their SXSW set at Lambert’s on Saturday, March 19, and check out their answers to our questions below.
What’s your most treasured article of clothing?
Brian Macdonald: Our Exofficio underwear, no joke. Two months, 34 cities, one pair of underwear.
Nate Zuercher: My Broncos Peyton Manning jersey.
What album can you not stop listening to right now?
Macdonald: “Are You Alone” by Majical Cloudz.
Zuercher: “Surf” by Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment.
What was your favorite song in middle school?
Macdonald: “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World.
Zuercher: “Stay Together for the Kids” by Blink-182.
What color is your music?
Macdonald: Blue rainbow.
Zuercher: We’d all say different colors, but to me it’s often orange. Bright orange.
What food best describes your band?
Macdonald: A Chick-fil-A kids meal.
Zuercher: A delicious cheeseburger topped with bacon, ham and a runny, sunny-side-up egg. It’s unpredictable and messy, but delicious.
What’s your weirdest tour experience?
Macdonald: We were looking at staying at an Airbnb in Memphis, but we had to divert because the host ended up being a nudist, and he wanted us to partake.
Zuercher: I was asked to judge an air-sex competition at Pemberton Music Fest this past summer. Hahaha. Yeah. That was weird.
See Judah & the Lion’s SXSW schedule here.
Frankie Cosmos (answers by frontwoman Greta Kline)
Melody magician Greta Kline, known by fans as Frankie Cosmos, made name for herself by releasing seemingly endless amounts of catchy, intimate tunes on her bandcamp page. Kline’s poppy songs are typically short in length and heavy in personal references to her friends and former pets. The singer-songwriter gave ORANGE enthusiastic answers to our questions.
What was your favorite toy when you were little?
Kilne: Bop It.
What was your favorite song in middle school?
Kline: “Hey Ya” by Outkast.
What was your worst vacation?
Kline: I think by definition vacation is good. So never!
What food best describes your band?
Kline: Sandwich. We are neat and easy to deal with… except for sometimes.
What’s the best gift anyone has ever given you?
Kline: I love all gifts! But one of the best is my acoustic guitar that I write everything on.
See Frankie Cosmos’ SXSW schedule here.
Penny and Sparrow
We are so excited Penny and Sparrow is back in Austin to perform their new Americana album, “Let a Lover Drown You,” during SXSW. Check out the duo’s hilarious answers to our questions below and catch their set at The Majestic on Thursday, March 17.
What’s your most treasured article of clothing?
Andy Baxter: Currently my khaki Carhartt coat. Also, I’m almost always all about alliteration.
Kyle Jahnke: My [Adidas] Sambas. They are the best shoe ever invented.
What album can you not stop listening to right now?
Baxter: Frightened Rabbit’s “Pedestrian Verse.”
Jahnke: Alabama Shakes’ “Sound and Color.”
What was your favorite song in middle school?
Baxter: “All Around The World” by Boyz II Men.
Jankhe: Anything by Usher.
What color is your music?
Baxter: Dark, dark, dark white.
Jahnke: The color of a Newfoundland puppy after he swims in a pool of milk.
What food best describes your band?
Baxter: Swallowed gum, because we stay with you… for seven years… in your stomach.
Jahnke: Chips and salsa, because Andy is more like the chips and I’m the salsa.
What’s your weirdest tour experience?
Baxter: We had a drunk sound guy who ran the board three feet from the front of the stage, and he kept screaming during our set, “MAKE ‘EM WONDER! MAKE ‘EM WONDER!”
Jahnke: There are so many amazingly weird moments. Literally just now at breakfast, a woman with a baby walked up to us and apologized for what she said at an Ani DiFranco concert and then ran off. What.
See Penny and Sparrow’s SXSW schedule here.
