Our cab pulls up to the address of drinking establishment #2 around 1:30am, and we damn near just kept driving — the building looked like an abandoned home, the sort of place you see on an episode of ‘Cops’. But there were a few people milling about out front and we had some liquid courage pumping through our systems, so we timidly walked up and checked it out. After navigating multiple buildings, a yard party complete with a grill and cornhole, and descending some beer-sticky steps into a basement, we discovered the aptly named Nashville Underground, and Wild Cub was in the middle of their set.
They killed. The lead, Keegan Dewitt, has charisma for days, and the energy in the room was tangible. After having listened to Broadway honkey tonk and amateur rockers all weekend, it was clear we’d stumbled upon something special. Knowing I’d drank too much to remember the name of the band the next day, I borrowed a pen from the bartender and scrawled ‘Wild Cub’ barely legibly on my hand, downloaded their album the next day, and they’ve been a staple in my playlists ever since. (Side note: we did stay for the bouncer’s closing act. For a minute. It wasn’t pretty.)
Thunder Clatter is upbeat and fun and [insert other descriptive adjectives about track here], but the real reason I love it is the writing. It’s a story – the structure keeps you in limbo early, the lyrics lead you to believe something’s coming but keeps you waiting. You spend the first four minutes wondering if it’s going to happen, and it closes so strong and happy and exactly what you hoped for that you can’t help but bounce your head along with them.
As fans of Survivor, when we hear the theme song come over the TV, of course we get excited…
2) What happens to you when you hear the Survivor theme song now after back to back seasons?
For the past year I’ve usually been at viewing parties when that song starts coming out the TV speakers, in social settings with large groups of people. But much like Derek Zoolander, I’ve become conditioned to act a certain way when that god-forsaken tune starts playing. I start hording beer and finger food. I become suspicious of every conversation around me. I dig in trashcans for idols. I collect all the wooden furniture and stack it in a safe, dry place. I take off my shirt. I poop behind potted plants and use said plant’s leaves to wipe. It’s at this point I’m usually asked to leave the party.
Survivor ruins lives.
3) Tell us about music in your house growing up?
I was born in Texas and raised in Georgia, and 90% of what I was exposed to was country. I never got to control the car radio or the house stereo – Mom was in charge, and Mom needed her Garth Brooks fix. To this day I still slip into phases where I’ll get nostalgic and throw the local country station on the radio and listen to nothing else for a week or two.
That being said, I have a few rebellious bones in my body, and the first CD I ever bought was Blink 182 ‘Enemy of the State’. I’d been expressly forbidden from owning such garbage by the parental units, so I could only listen to it at night on my headphones. And while I’d like to claim it was an expression of independent musical preference on my part, the fact is I was a pubescent boy when that came out, and there was a half-naked nurse on the cover…
“Photo by ©Diana Ragland”
Malcolm maintains his own blog called "Whiskey and Ninja Turtles" and it's worth checking out at www.whiskeyandninjaturtles.com