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Alec Wooden
WHO: Cave Singers, Shane Totmarc
WHERE: Caledonia Lounge
WHEN: Monday,June 4,9:30 p.m.
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JUNE 4!
Folk Rockers Making Pretense-Free Progress
Spanning the country on their most recent
tour, it took exactly one word to turn the laid-
back, joke-jabbing boys of The Cave Singers
from silly to stoic: "domino."
"Domino," says lead singer Pete Quirk.
"We just get along really well on the road
just because we’re so comfortable with each
other—but sometimes we exhibit our love for
each other in the way of just making fun of
each other brutally. So, we had to come up
with a safety word if someone was making fun
of you too much* and you couldn't handle it. It
was a great idea for us."
A great idea, indeed, considering the time
spent in that van as the Seattle-based folk-
rockers trekked across the country in support
of 2011's So Witch. The band opened for big
names like Fleet Foxes along the way, tighten
ing up their stage show and soaking up every
new experience.
"We've had a crazy year, but a great year.
We probably toured the most that we've ever
toured consistently behind [Wo Witch],” says
Quirk. "The shows are getting bigger and live
lier. It's been a great progression."
The progression began with 2007's
Invitation Songs and 2009's Welcome Joy,
showcasing subtle and logical steps within the
deeply rooted, familial qualities of folk-pop
bred from the genre hotbed that is the Pacific
Northwest.
"When I look back over [our discography],
so many things have happened in just living
life over the period of those three records that
it's really crazy to see where we've been," says
Quirk. "I can look back over [the albums] as a
reflection of where I've been, or where I lived
or all these things that, have happened. I'm
glad that those things exist for me because it
documents a certain time and feelings in my
life."
How The Cave Singers came upon their
current sound is surprising, considering the
musical backgrounds of the band's founders.
Quirk hails from indie rockers Hint Hint and
bandmate Derek Fudesco came from the rock/
post-punk outfit Pretty Girls Make Graves. The
early days of The Cave Sihgers came simply
from laid-back, intentionally directionless
jams between the two where a new sound was
bom.
"There was no 'We gotta get into this folk-
pop thing right now; this shit is blowing up/"
laughs Quirk. "From the beginning, there has
been no pretense for any sort of direction or
anything other than just creating. I was just
happy at the time making music in my room
on my four-track and working at my job. That
was completely satisfying."
The free flow of musical ideas was undoubt
edly key in those early jams. It allowed the
group to experiment and find its own sound.
"There were no rules. There was no leader
of the band. You could do whatever you
wanted, and it didn't matter what kind of song
we wrote*" says Quirk. "It was super fun and
we didn't take ourselves too seriously. We had
• already been in bands that took themselves
too seriously or were frustrating at times. But
this was just really easy, and it continued to
be so and continued to evolve into something
that felt worthwhile, productive and satisfying
for us as musicians."
The same vibe sticks with the band, even
as they've become a seasoned group riding a
respectable wave of buzz from the first three
outputs.
"It's still always loose, and things material
ize when-we really get into writing it," says
/ Quirk. "At that point, you have to fov js and
make the idea as clear as you want. We're get
ting better at that, as well as at arranging
things so that our ideas, whatever they are,
are the best we can make them."
The idea of being a full-time musician is
one at which Quirk still marvels. He's admit
tedly unsure of how he, or The Cave Singers
as a whole, got to this point. Something-
something genuine yet largely inexplicable—
has clicked for this group in a way it simply
didn't in past musical incarnations.
"It really is like a family with us, and it's
amazing how it's become part of my existence
to write music with these guys," he says. "It's
part of what I do now—this permanent, cre
ative thing. That's an amazing feeling."
14 FLAGPOLE.COM MAY 30,2012