Everette Talk New EP, Musical Influences And More

Multi-talented country roots & rock ‘n’ roll duo Everette will release their new EP ‘Keys To Kentucky’ in May 2024. They kindly sat down with JLTT to chat about their new music, influences and more:

Who is in Everette, what do they play and how did you meet?

Everette is a duo comprised of Anthony Olympia and Brent Rupard. Brent is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist, and Anthony sings harmony vocals and plays lead guitar. We met around 17 years ago back home near Louisville, KY, and our relationship was glued by songwriting, jamming, and drinking cold beer.

Your new EP ‘Keys To Kentucky’ is due to be released in May 2024. How did you want to approach the making of the EP?

We may be releasing the whole EP a little later as the project is still in the works. It’ll be worth the wait, we promise!

After many stripped back acoustic duo performances of the past few years, we found ourselves itching to lean into that vibe more than we have in the past. High and Lonesome (written in 2019) and Keys To Kentucky (title track written last year) were the two songs we first knew we had to record, and they just felt like they needed a more organic foundation to let the story come through. With those leading the charge, it felt natural to keep the same sonic ingredients to complete the EP.

Where did you record the EP and who produced it?

We are proud to say we produced this ourselves! We love working with other producers, but this one had been talked through and envisioned so clearly already. We wanted to keep the original ideas and inspiration as pure and close to what was in our heads and hearts.

We recorded this in a few different places. Some of the tracks were recorded at our long time friend Luke DeJayne’s studio in Murfreesboro, TN. The Groove Kitchen. Lots of great music is coming out of there! We also cut a good deal of the tracks on our own at a spot Anthony worked at in downtown Nashville, and at Anthony’s house in Goodlettsville, TN. A lot of down home vibes hopefully come through, because a good bit was captured and worked on in our homes.

You have also released the single ‘High and Lonesome’ from the EP. What was the story/inspiration behind the track?

Like a good deal of our tunes, High and Lonesome began with a guitar riff that Anthony was noodling on. We were hanging with our buddy and fellow Kentuckian, Aaron Raitiere (an amazing singer songwriter with some crazy good music out there you should listen to!). It was maybe the first time writing with him, and this couldn’t have been a better way to scratch the grassy, rootsy itch we were all needing to scratch. Lyrically, we settled on the old bluegrass expression “high and lonesome” for a title. With a little twist on the original meaning, we take you on the road with us getting to know what it feels like to be away from home, away from those you love. In those places you might find yourself high from the applause on stage, and then lonesome in a dusty motel sleeping off last night.

The single is accompanied by an official music video. What was the thought process behind the video and who directed it?

Since some of the lyric of High and Lonesome gives an inside look of the highs and lows of being on the road, we had the idea to gather all of the road footage we had from our phones from the past few years and make that pretty much be the video. Thankfully, we were able to get all of that iPhone footage to a great videographer and video editor named Sean O’Halloran. We loved what he did with it and it’s honestly fun for us to watch because it’s a quick look at all of the wild things we’ve been lucky enough to be apart of over the past few years.

Who are some of your musical influences?

This is always a tricky question for us, because we both adore so many different types of music. The spectrum is anywhere from Tom Petty to Randy Travis, Tom Waits to The Eagles, Kacey Musgraves to Metallica, and a lot in between. We just love music and are inspired by what is moving the soul that particular day.

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?

After we close our set and step out of the stage lights, we truly hope that we’ve left something good behind. If you needed an escape, we hope we took you somewhere new. If you needed a dose of joy, we hope we left you smiling.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?

At the moment, we favor our guitars. Brent plays a beautiful Larivee acoustic guitar, and Anthony rocks a Gretsch resonator. When we can, we keep it pretty simple these days.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

Brent: My Hometown is Shepherdsville Kentucky and I would describe it as Simple, Hardworking folks, with some rough around the edges.

Anthony: I’ll just say Kentucky (I moved around a bit when I was teeny). It was a beautiful, diverse microcosm of middle class America.

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the EP recording sessions?

We recorded most of this as pure and raw as we could. It’s live in the studio with no tricks to hide behind. That being said, You have to be on your game when that record button is pushed. The funny thing is during a lot of the takes there was a pesky fly in the room, and it would land on your hand or right on your microphone or just fly around your head as if he was trying to make you mess up! We all got a lot of laughs out of that. Especially when the engineer walks into the tracking room with a fly killing device. I think it was a broom

Do you have any plans for live shows in Europe/UK in 2024?

We are always planning to try to get back to Europe/UK. We don’t have any thing on the books as of now, but that could change quickly.

Which of your new EP tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

Happiest- Picnic table: It’s a song that’s simple and about hanging with good friends and everybody is getting along. As simple of a message as “Let’s all hang and get along” is, we feel it holds a lot of weight these days.

Angriest- Another Man Down: This song is about the opioid and drug crisis here in America. In this song we sing about friends and family members who have passed due to drug use. The anger comes from how people look at addicts as subhuman sometimes and we wanted to write a song showing that these family members and friends of ours were great and beautiful people who got trapped.

Most reflective- No Vacancy: This song shows the frustrating nature of big business moving in to small towns and taking over what once was. We reflect a lot about what our little town used to look like and be before industry moved in.

Was it a difficult EP to write?

Since some of these songs are a little older and were already written, the writing wasn’t the difficult part. If we were to break down the writing process of each song, we could present multiple challenges. That being said, The difficult part was picking which songs we wanted to record, and wondering would it fit our vision for this EP.

How do you look after your voices?

Lots of Whiskey. Just kidding. Mainly just being aware of your voice and where it sits that day. We’ve sang through sickness, lack of sleep etc. When it’s feeling rough, stay hydrated and stop talking so much!

Who created/designed the EP artwork?

We worked with Caleb Crosby to make this art work. He plays drums in the great rock band Tyler Bryant and the Shake Down, and he’s also a great visual artist and fellow Kentuckian.

What makes Everette happy and what makes you unhappy?

Pardon the hippie dippy talk, but we love love and kindness. Getting and giving it. Every night before going on stage we take a moment to remind each other to “bring the joy”. We hope our music brings you all just much joy and inspiration to soak up the gifts of life as it does for us when we create it and perform for you all.

Feature Image Photo Credit: Sean O’Holloran

Their new single ‘High and Lonesome’ is out now.

It is available on all digital platforms here: https://everette.lnk.to/highandlonesome?fbclid=PAAabpYGDE6iL21VpDhQn-x_DpkfHTffHLNXAcOPaa5JULuewNGGrtl4-Rl5c_aem_AZDoONuroZQ8Nax5DBioVh0mNRbHxAvMA8Y0utYUNKbjmhx6j005mOhHhDIgXt8HtDA 

Their new EP ‘Keys To Kentucky’ is currently due for release in May 2024.

For more information visit their official website: https://weareeverette.com/