Hot Show Alert: Sarah Shook & The Disarmers’ take on Atwoods in Cambridge Sunday! (Interview in Post)

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Ladies who rock are easily my favorite kind of artists to cover and one that won me over from that first note was Sarah Shook who’s currently on the road with her band Sarah Shook & The Disarmers! The perfect combination for I will be going down at Atwood’s, easily one of my favorite venues in the city when her band swings by town Sunday night.
To learn a little more about the band, I spoke with Shook about their new album “Years” that they’re currently out on the road in support of as well as what to expect when it comes to the live performances. Find my chat below with this talented lady and see you at the show Sunday. The show’s sold out and for good reason. If you weren’t able to pick up tickets, better not sleep on the band the next time they come around!

 

You release your new record “Years” in two days time, 4/6. How long has the album been in the works for you? When did you start writing/recording this album?
Only one or two of the songs are from awhile ago but all were written within the last couple years. It’s been great to have some time to play around with them with the band and tweak things ‘til everybody felt real good about ‘em!

When it came to the writing/recording process for this album, was there something really new you tried or left-field?
When we recorded “Sidelong” I was super stressed and recovering from tonsillitis, I killed the anxiety with whiskey. Which totally worked but I was determined to do things a bit differently this time around. I wanted to track everything sober, I wanted to be emotionally and mentally present with more control of my vocal performance. If you listen to “Sidelong” and “Years” back to back there is a noticeable difference, I’m super glad I went that route.

With you currently on tour, are you road-testing any of these new tracks? Any that are standing out for you crowd-reaction wise, some of your favorites to play live?
For sure, we have a few we like to play that don’t belong anywhere, ain’t claimed on any record as of yet. Always gotta have fun with it and keep moving forward.

How do you go about planning your sets? If fans haven’t seen you play before, what makes a Sarah Shook & The Disarmers show something people need to see?
Sets are written based on duration and a few other factors, we’re always tweaking things and evolving. There’s a pretty wild energy to this band in a live setting, each of us are super into not only what we’re doing on our respective instruments, but feeding off each other’s intensity and presence, it’s a total blast. Recording albums is a blast too but playing shows is just about my favorite.

You just came off playing SXSW last month, you’ve been on tour consistently. What are the three things you must have with you while on the road, essentials?

Always gotta have a pair of scissors, a towel, and a bathing suit. Even when it’s cold out you’d be amazed where hot tubs pop up along the way.

 

We’re still relatively early into 2018. With the new album out, what are the plans, maybe focuses or goals for this year? 

We’re about to embark on our heaviest touring schedule of all time. We have an 18 days long northeast/midwest US tour immediately followed by a 32 date Scandinavian tour. Then we’ll be hittin’ the west coast, Canada, a ton of other spots all in between, and a UK tour will be announced soon for the fall. Somewhere in there I got a lot of writing to do to gear up for the next record! We party hard but we work even harder, all of us got our boots on and our sleeves rolled up. 2018 is the year of the Disarmers.

About Author

Colleen

Colleen has been writing about music since 2009. Interviewing bands since the glory days of Warped and has continued to do so for now over fourteen years. As well as doing freelance for other publications, the love for everything rock continues today.