A washboard and a ukulele do not seem to go together, but “The Appleseed Collective” has done just that and combined these with a violin, a resonator guitar and all members on vocals to create their unique sound. This new, four-person, folk band has seemingly come out of nowhere with their self-categorized Americana-Folk-Jazz style impressing their growing audience.
“We can shred. We don’t mind picking it up. I mean I really like the Ann Arbor folk scene… but you don’t actually see a lot of bands that play folky music and can actually like really wail on instruments and that’s something that we have been working on,” said Brandon Smith, violin and mandolin.
“I think that we are not afraid to incorporate an older sound than other folk bands… I think that some people think it’s kinda dorky to go that far back,” said Sophie Tulip, upright and electric bass and ukulele. Smith added, “we embrace the highest level of our dorky-ness.”
“[We] are into traditional jazz and swing and like Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. And so that type of stuff is very roots oriented still but all those cats were like nasty, nasty dudes,” continued Andrew Brown, national steel resonator and guitar. “They could play so good. And so we still want to have our cool folky songs that we write and express ourselves that way but we also want to express ourselves as some bad cats. And kittens.”
Vince Russo, washboard, describes the band as “a little bit Dixie, a little bit Gypsy” and cites his own instrument as something that sets “The Appleseed Collective” apart. “There’s not a lot of washboard, you don’t see a lot of percussion in folk,” he said.
Russo, Tulip and Brown played together unofficially as the group “Honky Tonk Gospel” previous to forming “The Appleseed Collective” making Smith a recent addition.
“I was outside of Cafe Ambrosia playing violin, it was nice out and I was playing with Nick Wick – this cat- he had a guitar there and were playing for a little bit. Then Nick went inside for a minute and Andrew stepped out and he was like, ‘Can I play that guitar?’ and I was like ‘Yeah, let’s play man.’ So we played a little together and it was like ‘We got to play together!’ So then it kinda fell into place after that,” explained Smith.
Now the band is incredibly close knit, “you couldn’t fit a greased needle between us,” Brown said.
“We do want to record, but I think keeping it independent is really important. Actually, it sucks getting record deals, you end up in debt for years,” said Smith.
“… we could become commercially successful but we’re still going to be an independent band. And why would we sign some record deal where we’re going to be making some other dude rich too when we could be making ourselves rich and selling our own CDs,” said Brown.
Though a record deal would help with distribution, Smith feels they can do it independently. “When it comes down to it, the internet is real and exists and is like the number one easiest way to distribute your music without having to pay like 70 people between you and the guy who listens to your music.”
“Pretty much what we are trying to sell is the performance more than a crafted product. At some point when we’re like, ‘Alright, yeah, we like these 10 or 12 songs, they’re super solid … let’s go and bust them out in the studio and have that thing.’ we’ll have that thing. But right now we’re like what we have is this live show, you should come see this live show.” said Russo.
“I really don’t want to be rich, I don’t desire a great ocean, but just an enjoyable steady stream and I would like to make all of my money playing music. That’s my goal,” said Brown.
This summer “The Appleseed Collective” plans to go on tour this summer, mostly on the east coast. They will perform on the street with some performances in small venues.
Brown said, “Once it gets warm in Ann Arbor, look for us on the street.”
Listen to “The Appleseed Collective’s” performance at the Canterbury House on March 11, 2011:
A song about Tulip’s friend with Tulip on vocals:
A song about traveling, with Smith on vocals:
A cover of “Summertime” by George Gershwin with Brown on vocals:
For more information on “The Appleseed Collective” check out their facebook page.
