Sonicbids Artist of the Week: Big Tree

Posted by Marya Mclaughlin on Apr 2, 2012 05:00 AM
Marya Mclaughlin
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Once upon a time, five fresh-faced and naive students ventured to Sarah Lawrence College, where each one imagined all of his and her hopes and dreams would come true. As fate would have it, all five enrolled in the jazz program where they learned about tri-tone substitutions and how to hold their whiskey. Each night the music building would stay open until 2am, where they would practice their instruments until security locked up the building and sent them home. Never ready to say good night, the five friends would stay up a few hours more listening to records and sharing ideas in a smoky dorm room where the inspiration never ran dry. Three years, three cross-country tours, two full length albums, one Daytrotter Session, one NYC Deli Magazine Band of the Month title, and over 200 incredible shows later, Big Tree is still growing and expanding with the release of their second full length album This New Year. We recently caught up with vocalist/pianist Kaila McIntyre to discuss favorite gigs, band trivia, and where you can see Big Tree next.

What do you hope listeners will get from your music?

We play music that makes us have a ton of feelings, and we hope that our audience experiences the same dynamic rollercoaster that we do when they're listening. We try to tap into the highs and lows of what it means to be human, whether that means getting people sweaty and dancing or quiet and introspective.

What’s the best gig you ever played?

We recently opened for Budos Band at The Independent in San Francisco for Noise Pop 2012, and it was a blast.  The sound was great, the venue was sold out, and the audience was having an awesome time.  We loved every second of our set.

How has social media affected the way you market/promote your music?

It's pretty cool to be able to reach out to so many people using the internet.  We get to be creative and spread the word with the help of our fans.  If we put up a show poster on Facebook, our listeners share it with their friends, and soon enough it's all over the place.

What’s a creative way that you interact with your fans? Live? Online?

Lately we've been asking our fans trivia questions about the band and rewarding the correct answers with guest list spots for shows in their area.  Its kind of fun!

What’s your next big gig coming up? When/Where?

Big Tree will be opening up for the lovely Anais Mitchell on April 4th at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, CA where we're living.  After that we're going on an awesome mini-tour with one of our favorite bands, Rubblebucket.  We'll be playing with them at Brick & Mortar in San Francisco on 4/5, Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles on 4/6, and the Casbah in San Diego on 4/7.

Check out more on Big Tree here





















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