The upcoming Sound Of Our Town music festival is designed to showcase and reflect our city’s current music scene. But one artist performing with us September 24 at the Lawn On D in South Boston is taking the current crop of homegrown musicians and celebrating several decades of sounds that have emerged from our region: Mikey Holland’s American Denim.
In addition to the multi-instrumentalist Holland, formerly of Mean Creek and current ringleader of the Dazies (who have a new song out this week, posted below), American Denim is rounded out by Marc Valois of Blinders and Nkls Ward of Hallelujah The Hills. At Sound Of Our Town, they’ll be joined by an impressive array of guests, including Ryan Walsh of Hallelujah The Hills, Laura Ganci of American Echoes, Evan Kenney of Dirty Bangs, Brian E. King of Parks, Tom Quartulli of Barrence Whitfield & the Savages, and featured Sound Of Our Town performers Will Dailey and Ruby Rose Fox.
And they’ll all be playing classic Boston songs throughout the night.
“These are all folks I’ve either wanted to play with or have played with before,” Holland tells Vanyaland. “But more importantly I was really excited to place different voices with the songs selections that are all Boston-based artists. I’m really excited about a few that I can give away: Ryan Walsh coming up and belting out Mission Of Burma’s excellent “This Is Not A Photograph” will be awesome — and more than likely melt a few faces! Also taking Ruby Rose Fox out of her comfort zone and throwing her into a Breeders song that I’m sure she will slay is going to be really fun.”
Selections from the American Denim set stretch back to the ’60s, and will touch on Boston bands that have made an impact on the city and the country. “Like the Remains, who have some completely awesome, and still ahead of their time, tunes,” Holland adds. “They were also hand-picked by The Beatles to open their final tour. It’s been really fun to curate a set and really dive into the history of some of these great bands from our city. We’ve got some excellent history!”
Meanwhile, Holland’s other band, the Dazies, have a new garage rocking track out this week called “Do The Snake.” It was inspired by listening to CreaturoS through the thin walls and floors between his bedroom and home basement studio, Somerville’s Cast Castle. “Not only are they just excellent folks,” Holland says of CreaturoS, “but they write some killer tunes and as a band, you’d be hard pressed to find a group of more talented and tighter musicians. That all said, I wrote it on my acoustic — it’s a very non-acoustic song– and the only thought I had was “Do the snake”. I’m not sure why but I feel the forces of CreaturoS compelled me!”
Check it out below, catch the Dazies at ZuZu on September 21, then join us for the massive Sound Of Our Town party September 24 at the Lawn On D. It’s free, all-ages, and starts at 5 p.m. All are welcome. Full info on everything in the flyers below.
