By SAMANTHA HEARN
Before heading to San Francisco to tour with Cold War Kids, one of this year’s breakout bands, The Strumbellas, stopped in Franklin to play at The Pilgrimage Music and Cultural Festival on Saturday.
Having just released a music video for their new single, “We Don’t Know,” The Strumbellas’ new album “Hope” debuted at number three on Billboard’s Folk Albums Chart, number nine on the Alternative Albums Chart and number 12 on the Rock Albums Chart this past April.
As part of their fall festival tour, The Strumbellas played at Pilgrimage showcasing their six-piece band. They are made up of Simon Ward on vocals and acoustic guitar; David Ritter on piano, percussion and vocals; Jeremy Drury on drums and percussion; Izzy Ritchie on violin and vocals; Jon Hembrey on electric guitar; and Darryl James on bass.
“What I love about when we play festivals is that we get to introduce our music to new fans,” Ritchie said. “When we do shows with just our fans, that’s great, too, but to be able to reach new listeners is a really awesome opportunity for us.”
The band started in Toronto eight years ago. Ritchie and Ward originally met through a Craigslist ad that started it all.
“We originally were a nine, 10 person folky, groovy band,” Ritchie said. “Dave and I are the only ones left from that, and the rest of the guys all came from the same small town. Even though they didn’t really know each other growing up, there’s still that hometown click that makes for a great dynamic.”
In January of this year The Strumbellas signed with Glassnote Records. They recorded their album in Toronto with Los Angeles producer and engineer Dave Schiffman, who has worked with the likes of Johnny Cash, Haim and Weezer.
“I don’t think any of us really expected to be famous except for Dave,” Ritchie said. “Once ‘Spirits’ really hit things just started to blow up.”
The single ‘Spirits’ hit the airwaves in January, reaching number one on the Alternative Radio Chart and the Billboard Alternative Songs Chart, in addition to reaching number one in Italy and going double platinum. It hit number one in Canada and went platinum there not long after.
“I think it’s kind of crazy sometimes to look at where we started and to see where we are now,” Ritchie said. “My advice to other bands and performers is to play as much as you can, because you never know who could be in the room. When we met our manager there were only six people in the room we were playing for.”
The Strumbellas have a busy fall lined up, with shows scheduled in Las Vegas, Austin, Seattle, Portland, New York and more as they tour with Cold War Kids.
You can listen to their music on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and Googly Play, and they can be found online at www.thestrumbellas.ca or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
There are still tickets available to the Pilgrimage Music and Cultural Festival. They can be purchased at www.pilgrimagefestival.com or at the entry gate. The festival is located at the Park at Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin.
Samantha Hearn reports for Home Page Media Group. She can be reached via email at [email protected] or on Twitter @samanthahearn.
