photo by Dailey Toliver

Capturing love in song is one of the more elemental things about the continuum of music through the ages. It can be divine or personal but all forms of the love song offer something relatable. It helps the songwriter connect to their audience through the ups and downs and plateaus that are so becoming of all romantic partnerships. For Austin transplant Molly Burch, her debut is a window into the past few years of heartbreak and rekindling.

Taking elements of vintage pop and soul, the album in question, Please Be Mine also marks Burch’s first opportunity to take her wistful love songs on tour, supporting Tim Darcy and Sallie Ford on two separate legs in March and April respectively. Before making her debut tonight at Boot and Saddle (and visiting our city again on April 13th at Johnny Brenda’s), I had the chance to speak to Burch about her debut, what inspired it, as well as how her own songwriting has offered closure and renewal.

“When I wrote the album and recorded it I wasn’t signed yet,” she says on eventually getting signed to her label Captured Tracks. “But I started writing it in 2013 when I moved to Austin. I had just moved from North Carolina and moved by myself on a whim. That’s when I started writing the album and then we recorded about a year ago. We just sent [Captured Tracks] a cold demo submission and they signed me and wanted to put out the record basically as is.

“I had just sent it to friends and anyone who I felt who would give me good advice on the album,” Burch continues. “I had planned on sending it to labels and I didn’t know too much about that process.”

Thanks to her friend Jared, a member of the Austin-based psych-rock quartet the Zoltars, that process was simplified, giving her the advice to send the demo out to Captured Tracks. “They got back to me in a day,” she says. “It was very early on and I didn’t really send it to too many places. It was very fast.”

With two separate tours booked so far in 2017, things are on track to move even faster. Owing to that pace is Burch’s own tenacity and resilience. “I’ve always been a singer, songwriting came later,” she explains. “So for this whole record, I mean…I’m always learning and growing and of course everyone is, but there wasn’t much experimenting probably since I moved here. I write for my voice.”

That voice gifts her debut with an undeniable authenticity. She writes and sings from experience, developing the vocals that feel both natural and nuanced. “When I was younger my voice sort of leaned towards more pop music,” she says, recalling how she found her voice in the most literal sense. “I listened to a lot of Christina Aguilera and I grew up with American Idol. I feel I was too much like that. Then when I was in college I was studying jazz and it was almost like too much in that spectrum so I feel like I’ve sort of fused the two in a way where I feel like it has both of those elements. A jazz sound but with a pop mentality.”

This mentality trickles down into the doo-wop textures of Please Be Mine, some of the improvisational nature of which is utilized in her track “Please Forgive Me.” “It was one of the first songs I wrote for the album,” she says. “I think it was the second song. I wrote it on a ukulele, it was a very simple progression. I definitely wanted it to have a sort-of doo-wop vibe. That’s one’s about having such a young love and finding somebody else but then realizing you made a mistake and wanting that person back.”

Love and want are central to Burch’s recent songwriting. Healing heartbreak through her own music has inlaid a sweet if maudlin vibe that digs deep into relatable aspects of any long-term relationship. “The act of singing has always been a very therapeutic thing for me,” she explains, on writing to heal. “It just always makes me feel better. Specifically referring to the album, I went through a breakup right before I moved here. It was my first real time writing songs basically. I was dealing with breaking up and I wrote a lot of the songs like the title track when I moved here. That felt very cathartic.”

But the singer rejects the identity of her debut as a “breakup album.” After all such labels are reductive. “Since moving here, the guy I broke up with, we got back together,” she says referencing her bandmate Dailey Toliver. “A lot of the songs are inspired by reuniting with him. I feel like that in itself is very therapeutic for both of us in a way and learning how to work together.”

I, of course, couldn’t help but admit the inherent awkwardness that might arise from being partly the subject of an album while at the same time playing together on tour. “There’s never awkwardness,” she admits with a laugh. “He’s extremely supportive. We didn’t play with each other when we lived in Asheville. I feel like that was something we had to work up to.”

Molly Burch will open for Tim Darcy at the Boot and Saddle tonight, in addition to opening for Sallie Ford at Johnny Brenda’s on April 13th. Check out the video for her single “Downhearted” below.

Fact: The average weekend festival-goer at Pickathon 2013 will generate less than 1.5 gallons of garbage.

Fact: Over 60% of all waste created at Pickathon 2013 will be recoverable, this includes compost and all recycling.

Fact: All garbage generated at Pickathon 2013 will fit within one 40 cubic-yard dumpster.

Fact: Pickathon continues to be the only music festival in the U.S. that is 100% plastic and single-use free.

Pickathon, which happens August 2-4 at Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, OR, is consistently on top of the list for being the best weekend of the year for music lovers.  Think of it as a somewhat modern day version of Woodstock.  With over 45 artists, seven gorgeous and unique stages, and three days to get in order, it’s no wonder why we’re excited.

From the Mountain View Stage to the Fir Meadows Stage to the Woods Stage, this almost sounds like something that stepped out of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, no other music fest celebrates Mother Nature better.  Pickathon is the first American music festival to be completely plastic free.  The relationship between the event’s creator’s and the attendees will also share in the celebration that sets this festival apart from the rest.  From the removal of all plastic bottles and cups only to replaced by 100% stainless steel to the ambitious development of a unique onsite dish washing & distribution system, which was setup to replace all single-use dishware & utensils used by food vendors, a happy venue means a happy music lover.

When we go to a music festival, especially one that is happening with several locations in the woods, we don’t want to step all over waste and garbage anyway.  We want to feel the grass beneath our feet.  We are miles away from all of the smog and pollution of the city, we want to breathe in the fresh air.  We want to bring our passion for music and our love of this planet together and find the harmony to share with others so that protecting our planet doesn’t just happen once a year.

Experience for yourself and witness firsthand the many unique aspects that help set Pickathon apart from its contemporaries.   Plan your trip to Happy Valley today and join us at the 15^th annual Pickathon at Pendarvis Farm – 2013’s must-attend event of the summer.

PURCHASE SINGLE DAY TICKETS & WEEKEND PASSES HERE or check out the photographic press kit/tour of Pickathon here.

PICKATHON 2013 SCHEDULE (DOWNLOADABLE PDF)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2

Mountain View Stage

1:50PM – Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole

4:10PM – Yellowbirds

6:30PM – Sallie Ford and The Sound Outside

8:50PM – The Devil Makes Three

10:20PM – Pickathon Squaredance with Foghorn Stringband and Caroline Oakley

Fir Meadows Stage

12:50PM – Pure Bathing Culture

3:00PM – Leo Rondeau

5:20PM – White Fence

7:40PM – Lightning Dust

Galaxy Barn

3:00PM – Ginny Hawker & Tracy Schwarz

4:40PM – Pure Bathing Culture

6:20PM – Old Light

8:00PM – Wayne Hancock

9:40PM – The Relatives

11:20PM – King Tuff

1:00AM – JD McPherson

Woods Stage

1:00PM – The Cactus Blossoms

2:40PM – Jessica Pratt

4:20PM – Sturgill Simpson

6:00PM – Lake Street Dive

7:40PM – Vieux Farka Touré

9:20PM – Andrew Bird

Starlight Stage

11:30PM – Breathe Owl Breathe

1:00AM – Marco Benevento

Workshop Barn

7:30AM – Yoga

9:30AM – Music Together (kids)

11:00AM – Yoga

2:00PM – Cat Doorman (Kids)

3:30PM – Kids Showcase with Annalisa Tornfelt

5:00PM – Shakey Graves

6:30PM – Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms

Pickathon Café

3:40PM – I Draw Slow

5:10PM – Ginny Hawker & Tracy Schwarz

SATURDAY, AUGUST 3

 Mountain View Stage

12:20PM – The Relatives

2:40PM – King Tuff

5:00PM – LADY

7:20PM – Andrew Bird

9:50PM – Divine Fits

Fir Meadows Stage

11:10AM – Bradford Lee Folk & The Bluegrass Playboys

1:30PM – Wayne Hancock

3:50PM – The Lone Bellow

6:10PM – JD McPherson

8:40PM – Vieux Farka Touré

Galaxy Barn

10:00AM – Family Squaredance with Caroline Oakley (Kids)

11:40AM – Yellowbirds

1:20PM – Tift Merritt

3:00PM – Dale Watson

4:40PM – White Fence

6:20PM – Foxygen

8:00PM – Shabazz Palaces

9:40PM – Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole

11:20PM – Shinyribs

1:00AM – Parquet Courts

The Woods Stage

11:20AM – Cardboard Songsters (Kids)

1:00PM – Breathe Owl Breathe

2:40PM – Howe Gelb

4:20PM – Sharon Van Etten

6:00PM – Ty Segall

7:40PM – Feist

9:20PM – The Devil Makes Three

Starlight Stage

11:00PM – Kurt Vile & The Violators

12:30AM – The Felice Brothers

Workshop Barn

7:00PM – Yoga

9:00PM – Music Together (Kids)

10:30PM – Yoga

12:30PM – Diane Ferlatte (Kids)

2:00PM – Malcolm Holcombe

3:30PM – Jessica Pratt

5:00PM – Ginny Hawker & Tracy Schwarz

6:30PM – I Draw Slow

Pickathon Café

2:00PM – The Cactus Blossoms

3:40PM – Pharris and Jason Romero

5:10PM – Shakey Graves

SUNDAY, AUGUST 4

 Mountain View Stage

11:20AM – Shinyribs

1:40PM – Tift Merritt

4:00PM – Sharon Van Etten

6:20PM – Kurt Vile & The Violators

8:50PM – Feist

Fir Meadows Stage

12:30PM – Old Light

2:50PM – Foxygen

5:10PM – The Felice Brothers

7:40PM – Parquet Courts

Galaxy Barn

10:00AM – Cat Doorman (Kids)

11:40AM – Malcolm Holcombe

1:20PM – Leo Rondeau

3:00PM – Bradford Lee Folk & The Bluegrass Playboys

4:40PM – Sallie Ford and The Sound Outside

6:20PM – Lake Street Dive

8:00PM – Caleb Klauder Country Band

9:40PM – Ty Segall

11:20PM – LADY

1:00AM – Divine Fits

Woods Stage

11:20AM – Diane Ferlatte (Kids)

1:00PM – Pharis & Jason Romero

2:40PM – The Lone Bellow

4:20PM – Dale Watson

6:00PM – Lightning Dust

7:40PM – Shabazz Palaces

9:20PM – Marco Benevento

Starlight Stage

10:00PM – Shakey Graves

11:30PM – Howe Gelb

1:00AM – I Draw Slow

Workshop Barn

7:30AM – Yoga

9:30PM – Music Together (Kids)

11:00AM – Yoga

12:30PM – Howe Gelb

2:00PM – The Cactus Blossoms

3:30PM – Yellowbirds

5:00PM – Tift Merritt

6:30PM – Bradford Lee Folk & The Bluegrass Playboys

Pickathon Café

2:00PM – Lake Street

3:40PM – Foghorn Stringband

5:10PM – Person, Place, or Thing (Breathe Owl Breathe)

As I was leaving the first night of NonComm at World Cafe Live last week, Sallie Ford and her band The Sound Outside were warming up. A few people were at the bar, a few sitting to the side of the stage. This was the perfect time to fill World Cafe’s upstairs lounge with Ford’s strong, stop-in-your-tracks voice. The rest of the crowd, downstairs checking out the final songs from Phoenix, were going to be treated to a great show when it became Ford’s turn to entertain them. I snapped a couple pictures, listened to a few lyrics and then silently cursed the Septa train for not running late enough for me to hear Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside.

From a previous review That Mag did of Sallie Ford’s most recent and electrifying show in Philadelphia, it was necessary to have a chance to speak with her. So a few days earlier, I was able to ask Ford a few questions. NonComm is an industry-only gathering of people involved in the music business. Lots of artists play short sets, enough to grab your attention and feel the need to find out more.

“We’ll be playing a lot of our new album but it doesn’t make a huge difference to me whether it’s industry people or not. We just rock out,” says Ford of her plans for the show.

And rock she certainly does. Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside is a rock-based band from Portland, Oregon. The group has been described as rockabilly and raw with the capability of channeling vintage- a 1950s rock-and-roll sound. Ford hails from a very talented family with a puppeteer Hobey Ford as her father and her musical mother who performs and teaches. Ford has two sisters, one who has a love for musical theatre and another who loves to tap dance. As a child, Ford studied violin- a bit of a stretch from what the rest of her family are into.

“Two of our family friends’ kids were learning Suzuki method [violin] and that’s what interested me.  I really like the Suzuki method because it teaches music by ear,” explains Ford. “I like the intuitive nature of it over the theory nature in classical training.  I don’t really play violin anymore but enjoy playing the electric guitar and playing around with the pedals and effects.”

With the violin respectfully pushed aside, Ford worked as a waitress in Portland for a bit and eventually met a trio of Alaskan fishermen- Tyler Tornfelt, Ford Tennis and Jeff Munger. With her guitar and vocal cords, a few guys with instruments and some local clubs, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside was formed. Ford herself has been compared to the voices of Ella Fitzgerald, Tom Waits and Billie Holiday. Even Snoop Dogg (I mean, Snoop Lion) has been mentioned when describing Ford’s vocals. The entire band has a wide range of musical tastes which help shape their sound.

“One time, our producer said the band sounded like the Modern Lovers.  I think that we have a unique sound because everyone likes different kinds of music.  Jeff loves The Band.  Tyler gets into some hip hop and Ford frequently blasts Aphex Twin in his headphones,” says Ford.

Right now, Ford and her band are gearing up for an exciting summer. They’ll be doing another music video shortly and looking forward to performing at some festivals in North America. Ford mentions Pickathon Indie Roots Music Festival in Oregon and Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival in Seattle, both this August. There’s also the Americana Music and Art Festival where the band is headlining and Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival just to name a few.

Though some gals might groan at the idea of touring exclusively with a group of guys all summer long, Ford doesn’t mind the company of men in this case. “I grew up with two sisters so it’s kind of refreshing to be around guys all the time,” says Ford. “In general, I get along better with guys.  I enjoy jokes that might be in bad taste.”

And speaking of another type of taste, Ford is looking forward to the band’s tour of Europe which kicks off today at a festival in Saint Brieuc. “I plan to eat a lot of cheese.  My favorites are Roquefort, Saint-Marcelin and Chevre. And red wine is always a must with cheese.  White wine with mussels.  I’ve got a lot of friends in Paris and can’t wait to hang out with them.  Most of the tour downtime will be surrounding food.  Looking forward to the tapas in Spain.”

After her food induced coma subsides and all the Europe shows are played, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside will be back in the States for all of those festival gigs. The closest she’ll get to us this time around is New York City. It’s worth the drive and a short one, too, considering we’re talking about a girl who is headed all the way to Europe for some wine and cheese. Maybe bring her a bottle when you see her, she definitely deserves one.

Portland-based indie Rock and Roll quartet Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside brought unadulterated passion and electricity to Philly’s Underground Arts Saturday March 23rd.  They’re currently on tour with with the lovely and mesmerizing Thao & the Get Down Stay Down.

The space was decorated with eccentric lamp-lighting over the bar, a couple couches in the corner and dingy cement floors that gave it a vibe a bit like the Bronze from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but a touch more rustic.  Sallie Ford delivered high energy right off the bat with an instrumental rock and roll tune that gained the attention of the sizable crowd.  A bumping bass line and percussion supported her simple but dynamic melodic work on the electric guitar.

Having reeled in the room with some head-nod action, the group immediately slowed it down a bit with the song “Shivers”, which showcased Ford’s quite commanding voice, a voice of power and defiance.  This seems to be the theme of her latest record, Untamed Beast, which came out in February.  It’s a record that challenges the concepts of genre and gender norms, instilling the idea that a gal can have just as strong of a voice in the world of rock and roll as a guy can.  And does Ford have a powerful voice!  It’s a voice akin to other vigorous female voices in the world of indie rock- Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes or Carey Ann Hearst of Shovels and Rope, to name a couple.

They continued with more dance-invoking jams from the new record, including “Devil” and “Bad Boys”.  I felt like I was at a bar in yesteryear with the electric and very vintage-sounding riffs, lines and licks that came from the root of rock and roll.  The audience, dancing a bit, seemed to have felt the same way.   

The band did not hold back in unleashing their instrumental fury, and neither did Ford.  She was wearing a fairly modest green dress and dorkily hip eyeglasses, fairly endearing juxtaposition with her deliciously raunchy guitar-playing.  Tyler Tornfelt busted out a double bass for “Lip Boy”, in which things really got heated- the lights were going wild, and Ford was spitting out some high-end “wooing” to precede a very fervent and agitated vocal performance about guys unjustifiably talking back to women.  Arm-swaying and dancing accompanied.  

Throughout the tightly-delivered set, some songs really resonated and some seemed just to pass by.  Memorable crowd-pleasers included “They Told Me”, “Addicted” and “Devil” with its incendiary guitar work.  Nonetheless, Ford’s rebellious and entrancing voice is certainly something to behold.  She commands attention with her guitar chops, dancing, and creatively bizarre use of vocals (as in the upper-register “oos” and “ohs”.)  She says just as much, if not more, through her impassioned style of singing as the lyrics she sings.  Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside are definitely a group to stay tuned to in the months to come.