Nashville band Alanna Royale play Bonnaroo and Nashville Pride this summer. (publicity photo provided)
Alanna Royale
ELLEN ANGELICO, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
I stood on the porch of a beautiful, quintessentially East Nashville home and fidgeted with my phone as I waited for someone to come to the door. “Just a second!” yelled Alanna QuinnBroadus and I hear a rowdy dog beat her to the door. A few moments later, Alanna answered the door and took me to her studio where her fiancé and bandmate Jared Colby were wrapping up a session and getting ready for band practice. Alanna Royale members Braxton Nicholas, Matt Snow, and Gabriel
Golden filed in eventually. During our interview, Alanna and her merry men dropped twentyeight f-bombs. The aforementioned rowdy dog gnawed on Alanna’s arm throughout, and a full two minutes of the recording I made was of us laughing. These guys are one heck of a good time, even before you put them on stage. “For us, it’s sort of a combination of things. Our songs are good, and we’re good performers, but we’re grateful for the things we have.” One thing they have is a ton of people. They have a horn section. Not a lot of bands in Nashville with horn sections, I noted.
The Granny Whites The Granny Whites are back at Nashville Pride with songs from their long-awaited self-titled album. (publicity photo provided)
ELLEN ANGELICO, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
According to The Granny Whites website, they’re an all-female band that “brings the hot summers of Tennessee to your ears.” At last year’s Pride Festival in Nashville, they didn’t have to work too hard to do just that. “It was really hot,” said guitarist Daphne. “We got access to the cool Gibson tour bus, which was awesome,” chimed in multi-instrumentalist JK. “It was
very air conditioned and helped with the sweatiness. The breeze off the water was nice too. I wanted to take a running jump into the river.” The Granny Whites will be back again at this year’s Pride festival. Daphne explained the group feels a strong connection to Pride. “About half our band members are gay, roughly,” she said. “Half?” asked JK incredulously. “Okay, I’d say about 4/5. Most
“And they all have the same horn section,” Alanna said. “Our horn section plays for everybody. Saturday they played six sets in one day.” We mused for a little while about what it is about horn sections people are so drawn to. Matt, inarguably the loudest member of the band said simply, “They’re loud!” and let out a hearty laugh. “They’re loud and it’s different.” “So different,” Alanna agreed. “Also there’s something about the sheer amount of people you see on stage. You cannot help but be fascinated as to what the hell they’re going to do with eleven people on stage. So much sound.” Alanna Royale definitely has a big sound. But more importantly, they exude energy. Even when they’re sitting around getting ready for rehearsal, the room is vibrating. On stage they’re electric. Their sold-out EP release show at the Basement “was like a rumor that spread the week after,” Alanna laughed. “It was like, ‘Oh, I heard about what happened at the Basement,’ like it was a tragedy.” It’s clear these seven people (six beards, three horns, and one lady, according to their Facebook) are on to something special. “It’s been overwhelming, in a good way,” Jared said. They were Lightning 100’s Artist
of the Month in February. They’ve played East Nashville Underground, Music City Roots, and are headed to Bonnaroo this summer and Austin City Limits Music Festival this fall. And they’re just getting started. “We’re touring on the weekends this summer,” Alanna said excitedly. “We’re working with a bunch of promoters that are really excited about us and want to help us grow.” Former president of Nashville Pride Jack Davis is among those who want to see Alanna Royale succeed. Alanna explained, “Jack booked us after we had been a band for barely any time and kind of overnight we became a Nashville buzz band. And it’s good on him, because he took a chance on someone who wanted to be a part of Pride.” Pride, tour dates, and music festivals aren’t the only things Alanna and the gang has cooking. “We are also releasing a four-on-the-floor, gay club-banger remix of our single,” she elucidated and a devious smile spread across her lips. “Do you want to hear it?” she asked slowly. Of course I heard it but you’re going to have to catch them at Nashville Pride to get a taste of the phenomenal track.
of them, but not all of them,” Daphne conceded with a laugh. “I think it’s good to tap into that part of the community, even though a lot of bands are afraid to get labeled as just a gay band. There is still a lot of hatred out there.” The Granny Whites are way more than just a gay band. As a group, they’re committed to great causes and often play shows for local charities. “If someone is going to ask us to do something and it’s for a charity, we’re probably 200 percent more likely to say yes than if it’s just like, ‘do you want to play in this bar?’” Daphne explained. “I think it’s really important to give back, especially if it’s for a good cause. We spent our entire Christmas this last year for Second Harvest Food Bank. We got like 23 other bands to join us and we called it the Granny White Food Drive. We did six or seven shows.” “It was a Very Granny Christmas,” said JK. All the members of The Granny Whites are gainfully employed in areas other than music so the band provides an outlet for their charity. “The day jobs
don’t really lend themselves necessarily to giving,” said JK. “This is a great way for us to be able to give to charity while having a good time.” Somewhere in between the day jobs, Pride, and the shows for charity, The Granny Whites recorded a fulllength album at the Sound Emporium and released it in February. It’s now available on iTunes and Spotify. They’re in the process of writing songs for their next album and they are working on a music video as well. Word is starting to spread about The Granny Whites. They’re playing with the Nashville Rollergirls at the Municipal Auditorium on July 27 and at the Wilson County Fair later in the summer. They’ve even secured billing for Louisville Pride next year. “We wouldn’t mind playing Atlanta too,” JK laughed. You can catch The Granny Whites at Nashville’s Pride Festival on June 15. They’ll rock your face off, but according to their website, they’ll reattach it with superglue because they care about you.
JUNE 2013
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