The Hush Sound and Mae play Mr. Small's
Last Thursday at Mr. Small’s Theater, New Atlantic, Sherwood, The Hush Sound, and Mae graced the stage for a spectacular performance.
New Atlantic was the first band to play. The band, which hails from New Jersey, claims to “give a shit” on their website, and will have a new album called The Streets, The Sounds, and The Love out on April 10. They also happen to be talented, as a visit to their music-infused website will show you.
The next band to play was Sherwood, a quartet of socially conscious guys with a lot of hair and even more heart. The lead singer, Nate Henry, also plays the bass — a pleasant oddity in the world of musicians. Mike Leibovich, the keyboardist and tambourine man, danced while playing like he had nothing to lose, and was as entertaining to watch as the band’s set in its entirety. On the merch table, the band placed a collection jar and encouraged all attendees to donate money to dig wells in Africa.
Next up was The Hush Sound. Band members Bob Morris and Greta Salpeter have shared the duties of lyric-writing since the band’s first album, 2005’s So Sudden. Morris, age 21, also plays guitar for the The Hush Sound.
“I think the shows go a lot better when we don’t think about them at all,” Morris said during a phone interview. “I know, for me, I tend to forget lyrics a lot. I really get nervous sometimes and that turns out to be the worst shows.” Well, Morris didn’t seem nervous on Thursday. The Hush Sound opened with the song “We Intertwined,” the first track off the band’s most recent album, Like Vines.
The Hush Sound recently returned from Austin’s South by Southwest festival, and its members are excited for the coming months. “We’re hoping to record [the new album] in August or September,” Morris said. “We’ve been working on it since before we finished the last album. [Recording’s] going awesome.”
Morris described some of the things that influence The Hush Sound’s music:
The band’s upbringing: “[Bassist] Chris’s parents put headphones on his mom’s belly and played prog rock. We’re still trying to knock that out of his head.”
Current events: “Most people know that I’m pretty terrified of the world ending because I write about it all the time. I think that global warming is a pretty scary thing.”
Other bands: “Listening to Saves the Day ... I would definitely say that that had to affect me somehow.”
The Hush Sound also hopes to have an effect on its fans. “Hopefully some of these kids will have an interest sparked by what I’m saying ... and try and make a difference,” Morris said.
The band has a phenomenally close connection with its fan base, and even personally answers questions on its website, thehushsound.com. “You get more of an insight of who people are,” Morris said. “If a band I admired answered a question I asked, I’d feel really special and I’d really pay attention ... to what they had to say.”
The band finished its set with “Like Vines,” the song everyone in the audience seemed to know. Before Mae’s set, the audience, composed primarily of hipper-than-thou teens, sang along to middle-school throwback Matchbox 20 when one of its songs came over the speakers.
Mae took the stage amid cheers and applause, and the band succeeded in satisfying a room full of waiting fans. The band played crowd favorites, and the aforementioned crowd returned the favor by rocking out.