Back at C2C: Country to Country last year, the Kentucky duo of Brent Rupard and Anthony Olympia wowed the UK audience and gave them their first introduction to Everette. Later in the summer they returned to be the most talked about act at The Long Festival, shortly before the release of their latest EP “Kings of the Dairy Queen Parking Lot: Side B”. Brent and Anthony recently came back across the pond in May, where they made their first trip to Germany for dates with Stephen Wilson Jr. and Austin Jenckes in Munich, Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin before a show at Òran Mór in Glasgow and headlining this year’s Buckle & Boots Festival in Manchester where we took the opportunity to have a great catch up with the guys.
Well, here we go again. This is time number three for the pair of you putting up with me, after we first spoke on Zoom just before C2C last year and then we were in the garden of a big old country house where Jess Moskaluke came and gate-crashed our chat at Long Road but now, we are here at this lovely farm up at Buckle. This event has a really nice vibe and now you have seen three UK festivals, so what are your impressions of what Karl and Gary have put together for Buckle & Boots? “I love the vibe here. I love seeing all the families and their kids, there’s a lot of love and it’s really beautiful out here.” (A) “It’s a big spot but it feels really intimate in the way they have the stage set up, so there were a lot of people at the show last night, but it feels really intimate.” (B)
Talking about last night, the show was different to the last two times that you have played here because it was the first time that we have got to see you with a band and that was really cool to see. You guys make a big sound when it’s just the two of you playing guitars but it’s nice to see the way the songs open up even more. Did you bring any of your own players over or was it all hired guns that jumped up with you guys? “Yeah, luckily the festival provided us Eddy Smith & The 507. They were fantastic and great to work with, we emailed and tried to get everything setup before we got here but we really had no rehearsal. We had a quick little run through to talk about a few things, but you just get up there and have no idea what is going to happen, but those guys were so great, they were so prepared, they were rolling with it and I couldn’t be happier with how it went.” (A)
So, we’re doing something right over here and in Europe for you both to keep coming back, have you seen a big growth in streaming numbers here after each visit? “I hate to say it but honestly I don’t really look at that side of it.” (A) “The thing we do look at is the growth in fanbase when we come back over here and play shows. Last year at The Long Road was just such a shock for us, we ended the whole festival with just us playing acoustic to a couple of thousand people who were screaming and having a great time. That is very important to us, for the music to travel to where people come and experience us live because I promise that we probably enjoy it more than the audience due to the energy that’s exchanged. That’s why we keep coming back because people keep showing up.” (B) “We leave the other numbers and all that to the people in suits.” (A)
Just after we last met, you dropped the second part of the wonderfully titled “Kings of the Dairy Queen Parking Lot” which was side B in October. Are we done at B? Are we looking at a third and fourth instalment? “We should just keep going.” (A) “Then retire after Z.” (B)
Or you could just go back around and do AA? “Yeah, A1, A2 and A3” (B)
Where are we in terms of the next project whatever it might be called? “Brent and I are always writing, like all the time. We record stuff too which a lot of the time are just demos, then we get in the studio here and there, so we have a mountain of songs that we are raring and ready to record. We’ve just got to figure out who we’re going to record with, where we’re going to record it and all of the logistics of it but as far as getting into the studio to put it onto tape, we’re ready!” (A) “We have so many ideas right now and how to cut the next thing. We’ve even talked about recording a record that lends itself more to the acoustic thing that people seem to love hearing us in that way as just us two with acoustic guitars and making more out of that sound just to do something different. So, who knows? We haven’t quite nailed down anything yet but this year we will definitely go back to the studio and hopefully have new music by the fall.” (B)
Coming back to this trip, you’ve just come from Europe playing some shows with Austin (Jenckes) and Stephen Wilson Jr, how’s it been on the road with those guys? “We hate those guys! Ha ha not really.” (B) “I guess Sunday to early Friday morning, we were with them almost every hour of every day and I’ve got to be honest that on Friday when we were in Glasgow, which was an amazing show with amazing people, but it was sad because we didn’t have our buddies with us. They are so wonderful and getting to see them play every night, I mean Stephen Wilson Jr is a hurricane of music and Austin is terrible ha ha. No, Austin makes me want to be a better singer and a better human, he is such a beautiful person.” (A) “He is, and we’ve know them for a while before this trip. I think we were the first to get booked for that Germany tour and then we were excited when we saw that Austin was added to it and then Stephen Wilson so I couldn’t have picked a better crew of people to be on the road with.” (B)
At the minute, we can’t seem to get rid of Stephen right now because he is spending so much time over here this year. He did the Americana showcases in January, then Royal Albert Hall with Kip Moore the other week and he’s back over with Drake (White) in June, where he is playing Black Deer too, which I think is the only one of the main festivals here that you need to tick off now. “We’ve heard a lot about it, people keep telling us about that one.” (B) You guys would love that too and would be a great fit. Like here, it has a great vibe, and it is in a beautiful part of the country so that’s definitely one to have on your radar. The team that you guys have here are great and you just keep winning more fans on each trip which partly is whenever we see you both you always look so damn cool. “Ha ha, that’s kind of you to say.” (B)
The other thing for me is there is so much likability about what you do because of how much chemistry you have together when you make such a big but real sound. There aren’t very many acts that I have come across that actually manage to make a contemporary sound that is really traditional at the same time. So many people are trying to achieve that balance but why I think people here really dig what you do is that you guys really do make it authentic which they don’t hear other people do and especially not from people that looks as cool as you do when they do it. “That’s such a great compliment, that’s amazing to hear.” (A) “I love hearing that because sometimes I feel like some people that try to do more traditional things can come off a little gimmicky or something, I mean each to their own and I respect all artists that are doing their thing, but it’s really cool to hear you say that and that it feels authentic to you.” (B) “We’re just trying to do what feels good to us. That sounds so silly and simple, but that’s it! We write a song and go does that one feel cool to play live and if it’s I’m not sure, we’re like ok, next!” (A)
This afternoon you are playing a couple of songs in a round and you sort of got to play in a round the first time you played here at C2C, where I remember you starting off counting down to your first chord in the UK. “We did the same thing in Germany this week as it was our first time playing there.” (B) “I had to count funf, vier, drei, zwei, eins so that was funny too.” (A)
Do you find that playing in rounds like this afternoon, where you only have a couple of songs and it is more stripped back, that you think more about playing brand new songs to try out? “We definitely have a few that lend themselves more to an acoustic situation in terms of the new stuff for sure and we might play a couple of the regulars as well.” (A) “The songs are a little bit more naked in those settings so it is a good time to try out new stuff because you can really hear the lyrics and the above.” (B)
Last time we spoke, Brent was going on about how impressed you were with the eggs over here and how fresh they are, so seeing as we are on a farm, have you been making the most of wonderful breakfasts over here with the baked beans and the full works? “Where are the chickens? Ha ha. Oh yeah man, I was telling my wife before we came over here how she’s going to love the eggs and she was like what? Out of all the things I could brag on, but they are so fresh, the colour of the yolk is so vibrant and sometimes in the States, they look like they are from a sick chicken or something so, I appreciate the attention to detail for health around here.” (B) “Sick Chicken sounds like a good song title!” (A) “Or a good punk band name?” (B)
As always gents, it’s great to catch up with you both and the more you come over, you are seeing it how more people are coming out to see you. It’s great that you got to experience Germany for the first time and if you haven’t managed to get to Scandinavia yet, those fans are awesome too and that would be the next market to hit. Until next time, enjoy some more of the warm beer and I remember Anthony saying about Long Road was fun because you could get a beer, walk around with it and walk off the beer perfectly in time for the next one. “I’ve walked off a lot of beer this week, and whiskey too!” (A) “I’ve noticed that if I have three beers back in the States, I can tell when I wake up in the morning but there is something different in the beer here, that I can have three and I wake up feeling great. It’s almost like it’s more natural or something.” (B)
Our standard beers if we’re talking about lager are stronger here than your light beers that a lot of people drink over there but we don’t tend to drink the nicer and stronger stuff like your Boston lagers or Yuengling really. Hopefully Anthony’s coffee that was too hot has cooled down a bit by now and we’ll hang out again soon.
The latest “Kings of the Dairy Queen Parking Lot: Side B” EP from Everette is available HERE whilst you can keep up to date with Brent and Anthony through their WEBSITEINSTAGRAMTIKTOKTWITTERFACEBOOK or YOUTUBE. Buckle & Boots Country Festival will return to Whitebottom Farm, near Manchester in 2024, starting on Thursday 23rd May and concluding on Sunday 26th May. Early bird weekend tickets are on sale now and available HERE and you can learn more about the festival by visiting the WEBSITE or checking out their socials (INSTAGRAMTWITTER & FACEBOOK)