One of the great things about the local music scene is discovering new talent right here in our backyard.  And when that talent starts getting accolades and recognition, we can brag about how we saw them before everyone else got on board the sound.  One such band that is making waves on the local scene is Eastbound Jesus.  Coming from the musically appropriate street called Fiddlers Elbow Road in Greenwich in Washington County, and barely a year old, Eastbound Jesus is creating a “buzz” wherever they play.  In June of last year, EBJ stole the show at SPAC’s Battle of the Bands, amazing those in attendance with their self described “Northern Rock.”  A blend of Americana, Bluegrass and Rock and Roll, EBJ’s sound is familiar yet original.  I saw them back in December at 70 Main in Greenwich, an intimate post and beam “barn” playing before hometown friends and family.  The boys played their hearts out, the affection and love flowed into the audience and returned back to them.  This was local music at its best!  Before the show I had an opportunity to chat with brothers Luke and Carl Anderson about the band and how it all got started:

EL: How long has Eastbound Jesus been together as a band?
Carl:  Going on just over a year, we began in September of 2010.  Everyone in the band had played with other bands, which all had dissolved in one way or another, I (Carl) got together with our lead singer and decided we should get something going again, so we made a few phone calls and we got together the band we have now.

EL:  Being brothers, have you two ever played together in a band?
Luke: The lap steel guitarist, and the bass player and I were in a bluegrass band called the Upchuck Ramblers, and Carl and the lap steel player jumped around in a number of other projects.
Carl:  We all kind of came together into this “Super Group” concept that we like to call it. 
Luke: We all do different stuff.  Some of us were in a jam band, and others like me playing more of a bluegrass style, so we’ve all been doing a totally different music

EL: How would you describe your sound, since you’ve got elements of different styles coming together?
Carl:  I think we’re country-bluegrass-rock.
Luke:  Newgrass is what some people have been saying
Carl:  We like to call it Northern Rock.  It’s like southern rock, but it’s colder up here so it’s northern version of that kind of sound.  It’s what Lynryd Skynryd would have sound like if they lived up here!

EL:  Are you guys going to incorporate the jam groove element into your performances?
Carl:  We like to have a fun live, we’ll let each other take a lead and go back and forth.

EL: Is all your stuff original or do you do covers?
Luke: We do all originals.  We did one traditional song on our first album – Nine Pound Hammer, a lot of bluegrass bands play it.  Sometimes we’ll do a cover in a live show, like we did Maggie’s Farm at a show at Saratoga Winery.
Carl:  We like the challenge of spending the time coming up with different parts, the harmonies, rather than mimic what someone else has done writing our own songs, matching the rhythm to

EL:  Do you have certain themes to the lyrics, like the classic country songs that feature pickup trucks, girls and dogs?
Luke:  Oh yeah, it’s all in there. 
Carl:  We do songs about what every country guy feels – heartache, and drinking.
Luke:  We try to touch on a lot of stuff that personal touches us, especially the stuff that Adam writes.  But we write about fictional stuff, y’know, just telling stories.

EL: How did you come up with the name :”Eastbound Jesus”?
Carl:  It was kind of a joke at first!  Someone was describing where we were from, and the reply was “we’re out in the middle of nowhere, over in East Jesus,” or something like that.  And then we were going to our first show, and we came up with ten other stupid names and were we just like, let’s just being Eastbound Jesus, and everyone seemed to like it.  
Luke:  There are no religious connotations.  It’s a name that everyone remembers, and the concept of Eastbound Jesus gets you thinking a little bit.  We have a song called the ballad of Eastbound Jesus which kind of describes where we were going with the concept.

EL:  So where are you going from here?  Is this band a keeper?
Luke:  Everyone is excited about the band, and our songwriting gets better every time.  We just recorded our second album, and we’re trying to raise some money to have it mixed and mastered.  We recorded it at Edie Road Studios with Chris Robeson – he’s right up the road from here.  It’s an awesome studio.

EL:  What was the result of your win at the SPAC Battle of the Bands?
Carl:  We got three songs done this summer as a result, we got T-shirts and Bumper stickers, and we got airtime on WEQX. 

EL:  Are you planning a tour to promote your new album?
Carl:  We still want to get some more name recognition locally.  There’s a lot of competition and great local music, so we are still working on establishing ourselves.
Luke: We all have jobs, so it’s hard to do much traveling.  We’ll be pretty local for awhile. Go to our website at eastboundjesus.com to where we'll be playing next.  C’mon out and see us!



Eastbound Jesus plays for the hometown crowd at Seventy Main in Greenwich, NY