Jaze Uries, Aaron Austin, Caitlin Krisko, Tyler Householder, and E’lon-Jordan Dunlap are The Broadcast. Photo by Sandlin Gaither
The 2016 version of The Broadcast boasts a new rhythm section (drummer Jaze Uries and bassist E’Lon Jordan-Dunlap joining percussionist Tyler Householder) as well as a sound that reflects the group’s migration to Asheville from Brooklyn almost five years ago. From the Horizon has a more acoustic, roots-driven feel than the band’s previous blues-rock effort, Dodge the Arrow. The group’s signature, however, remains the bold and sassy voice of lead singer Caitlin Krisko.
Krisko discusses the band’s new album, recorded with noted producer Jim Scott (Wilco, Tedeschi-Trucks Band, Grace Potter) at his PLYRZ Studios in Valencia, California.
Did you intentionally go out of your comfort zone to record From the Horizon?
With Dodge the Arrow, we flew a producer to Asheville for three weeks and recorded at Echo Mountain studio, which was a dream come true. But we just didn’t want to have the same experience. Where you are when you’re recording an album and the things you’re going through while you’re recording it in that short amount of time, really do stick to the tape. And so it was something about the dynamic of From the Horizon, we really wanted to record it in the desert of California.
It has a different, more rootsy sound.
I was very lucky to co-write this record with our guitarist and bandleader Aaron Austin, and I think that more acoustic, rootsy sound is his influence. I was a Detroit girl raised in New York City, and he grew up on a farm on the North Carolina coast. Our upbringing and our influences were very different. So I think where you hear that soulful Americana sound, it’s Aaron’s and my influences mixing together.
Did this whole process teach you anything about singing?
For sure. We wanted to create an album that was accessible to a wide range of listeners, and also at this place in my life I’m not quite as raucous as I was in my mid-20s. I think that you can just hear the growth on From the Horizon. There’s more of a confidence, I think, vocally, where it’s not so much “Let me show you what I can do” all the time, as it is, “Let’s just write great songs.” It doesn’t need to be vocally highlighted all the time.
What’s the best thing about this new edition of the band?
We laugh a lot, like, this is the family. I think that people can see that in our performances onstage — we really care for each other. We’re friends and enjoy the time that we spend together, and that’s a really big gift to being in a band.
The Broadcast performs at Rhythm & Brews in downtown Hendersonville on Thursday, July 21, at 7pm. The Carburetors open the show. See downtownhendersonville.org/rb or thebroadcastmusic.com for more information.
