The Key

The Nashville sextet Kopecky Family Band managed to give their new LP Kids Raising Kids the rises and falls of a masterful mixtape.  The band – this month’s WXPN Artist to Watch – doesn’t write songs, it evokes emotion.  It captures the weightlessness of new love and the enveloping lows of loss with the same poignancy.  Kopecky Family Band have been touring pretty intensely for the better part of the last five years, and recently, with the release of their LP, are opening a lot more eyes and ears to their enlightened music and celebratory live show. We caught up with Guitarist and Singer Gabe Simon on their way back from a quick jaunt in Canada to talk about writing on the road, the future of Star Wars, and why coming home is like nothing else.

The Key: Do you have any favorite cities to play on tour?

Gabe Simon: I really like playing Chicago; it is sort of like our second home.  We also just played Phoenix, and it was a lot of fun, I love playing Phoenix, and I would love to keep playing Phoenix even though it is kind of far away. It is a great place to play.  Really cool music people and Arizona is absolutely beautiful.  There is also this place outside of San Francisco that is probably my favorite place I have every played. I like Philadelphia too, I am not trying to hate.

TK: We are looking forward to you coming back.

GS: We are really looking forward to it too.  The people are really cool and open and accepting.  We have had a really good experience there, being taken in by the city, so we really appreciate that.

TK: Do you write music on the road? 

GS: This trip we’ve been doing a lot of writing.  We have been really enjoying the Northwestern influences.  This is kind of the part of the country that you tend to write a lot of sad songs for.  We don’t usually do a huge amout [of writing] on the road, but this trip we’ve been doing a bunch of writing and it has been really fun.

TK: Do you have a certain place in the country where it is easier to write?

GS: You know, I am actually more of a weather guy.  It depends more on what is going on vibe wise.  Cause the weather changes the way your body feels and affects the way you write a song.  You write based on how you are feeling.  I feel cold, so I am writing what I think cold feels like, or rain, or what heat feels like. Continue reading →