Welcome back to another stellar edition of Fresh Friday’s, this week’s featured artist is the band Show Me Island. The band just released their new album Ring Around & Run on the 6th Aug so let get to know a little more about Show Me Island.
Show Me Island is a ska band from Salt Lake City, Utah, the band formed in 2011 and their musical style is Influenced by an assortment of ska, reggae, and soul revival which has tastefully transitioned their sound into a widely appreciated genre within itself. So lets me the members of Show Me Island
Lauren Hoyt – Vocals
Nick Felming – Guitar
Ken Vallejos – Drums
Christian Lucy – Keys
John Hoang – Bass
Devon Wooley – Trombone
Clark Holzworth – Trumpet
David Hillyard – Saxophone Tracks 2, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 12.
Show Me Island where have you been all my life? I have had Ring Around & Run on repeat for a week, Lauren’s vocals are spot on and her voice has a stunningly beautiful uniqueness to it, like that of Amy Winehouse, it’s full of soul. The guys on the instruments are just unbelievably talented and they have the hit the sweet spot nailed the balance between vocals and music. Their music and sound is infectious and before you know it, the music has taken control of your body and you are taping away. If this music doesn’t get into your soul then my friend you are missing out! (currently getting my groove on to Show Me Island in my arm-chair).
The album features a broad range of sounds from deep undertones of reggae to soul infused ska with modern flair, they have four albums including the new release, Ice Cold Water (2011), MV:MMXII (2012), Show Me Island (2013) and Ring Around & Run (2016).
Guys, I think you will love them as much as I do once you hear the soulful reggae! So check out Show Me Island give them some love and buy their new album ‘Ring Around & Run’, Show Me Island is definitely one for your playlist. Links for Show Me Island are below.
Show Me Island Q&A
Decribe Show Me Island in five words.
Ska, reggae and dark meme
When did the band form and what was the inspiration for the bands name?
We formed in the summer of 2011 with a typical story of most members coming from other various local ska bands. The name came from our bassist, John. He was watching Futurama and Hermes said, “I’m from Jamaica, the show me island!” So, I don’t think he wasted any time in suggesting it as the band name and here we are!
Who are your major musical influences?
Each member has a little bit of a different taste in music but all share a love for some form of ska. So the influences range from Amy Winehouse, the Specials to Westbrown Train, Metallica and more!
What has been your most memorable band moment?
Okay, so, we got asked to open for The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. While filled with excitement, we got some shirts made so we had something to sell at the big show. The design wehad was pretty much a circle with Show Me Island written on the inside and as for shirts, we thought a gray shirt with another shade of grey ink would look cool… That sounds kind of cool, right? Well, we get the shirts back and unless you looked at them juuuust right, it looks like a shirt with a big dark dot right in the middle. We still bring them to the show beacuse it’s all we got. Before the show, Dicky Barrett, the frontman of the Bosstones comes to say hi and asks if we have any shirts. (Side note – nicest guy, 10/10 would meet again) We show him the shirts and he just starts laughing. “This is straight out of Spinal Tap, “he said, “gotta get some new shirts for the Bosstones show, I hope they look good!” After a few minutes of laughing with us (at us?), he brought a shirt and we got this photoand a fun story. We have much better shirts now, check them out at ShowMeIsland.com
What’s the song writting process like for Show Me Island?
Our song writing process is a collaborative effort. We usually start with a chord progression or sometimes a melody and work from there. Once we have a skeletal version of the song, Lauren will start writing lyrics and melodies and we build the rest around that.
Here is a little teaser for you:
Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShowMeIsland/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShowMeIsland
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/showmeisland/ Website/
Bandcamp: http://showmeisland.com/
Hahaha, that shirt story. Too good.
LikeLike
Haha yeah definitely got a kick out of the shirt story!
LikeLike