issue feature The Hot List


It’s 5 p.m. on a Tuesday night in May.
Most people are leaving work, headed home after putting in eight hours at the office. But for Birminghambased rock band Wild Sweet Orange, the work day is just beginning.

Or you could argue that yesterday’s work never really ended. After opening for Augustana in Raleigh, N.C., the night before, Wild Sweet Orange drove through the night to arrive in Nashville, Tenn., for a noon performance at a record store. They took a few hours to rest between that show and their arrival at tonight’s venue. At 5 p.m., the fun begins. “This is what we do every day,” front man Preston Lovinggood says as the band’s van and equipment trailer parks on a busy Nashville street. Lovinggood and his band mates—drummer Chip Kilpatrick, lead guitar player Taylor Shaw and bass player Garret Kelly—snap into action, unloading the trailer in three minutes.

It’s an efficiency that should be expected from a group that has known each other since childhood. The band members met at a Southern Baptist church in Birmingham and have been playing together since adolescence. But it’s only in the past year or so that things have really taken off. They’ve toured with Counting Crows, and this year’s tour with Augustana carried them across the country to famed venues, including House of Blues locations and New York’s Bowery Ballroom. In May, they were looking forward to a June appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, and a CD release concert at WorkPlay on July 12 before the release of their first fulllength album on July 15.

That album, We Have Cause to Be Uneasy, has been a long time in the making. The band began recording more than two years ago. In 2006 Wild Sweet Orange started to garner interest from record labels, and in late 2007 they signed with Canvasback Music, an imprint of Columbia Records. That’s given them the perks of a major label, but with an indie feel—a comfort to the band. “Thank God we don’t feel stifled,” Lovinggood says.

The guys seem free to be themselves as they prepare for tonight’s show. The first band is finished by 8:30 p.m., leaving Wild Sweet Orange 20 minutes before taking the stage. Lovinggood paces the hallway, quietly snapping and singing along with his iPod, before joining Kilpatrick and Kelly for a quick warm up.

The trio sings “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”—a funny contrast to their indie rock personas. Shaw joins his band mates in the hallway before they take the stage, ready to play for those they sing about. “I’m writing these songs about normal people,” Lovinggood explains. “It’s an emotional reaction to my environment, and my environment is the streets of Birmingham.”

The Nashville set list combines songs from the full-length album with favorites from 2007’s The Whale EP. They open with “Ten Dead Dogs,” a dark folk-rock tune.

Cameras are out and people are pressed against the stage. Never mind that most of them came to hear Augustana—they’re into it. Whether they recognize the eight songs or not, concert goers are attentive, particularly as the band concludes with “Aretha’s Gold.” I bet Wild Sweet Orange will receive more than a few MySpace friend requests tonight. They’re off stage by 9:30, but the night is far from over. When they’re playing shows close to home, friends abound and the energy is high.

They’ll meet fans and sign CDs at the merchandise table, and after the headliner closes the show Wild Sweet Orange will usually grab a drink with friends. Bedtime is typically 2 or 3 a.m., and they’ll be up by 9 or 10 a.m., on the road to begin the entire experience again.

“After shows it’s like either the best or the worst time of the day,” Lovinggood says. And today? “Today is good.” —CJW

 
Free the Hops

The hops haven’t been set free—yet—but during this year’s legislative session, they came several steps closer.

A gourmet beer bill would have increased Alabama’s alcohol by volume limit in beer from 6 percent to 13.9 percent, making beer’s limits comparable to the 14.9 percent limit imposed on table wines. Another bill would have altered home brewing restrictions. The gourmet beer bill was passed by the House of Representatives, and needed approval from the Senate before going before Gov. Bob Riley, who could sign it into law. The regular session ended on May 19, with this bill and others that had yet to be voted upon dying in the Senate.

Although he understands frustration and disappointment, Free the Hops President Stuart Carter says the failure wasn’t on the part of the nonprofit organization and its supporters.

The bill has made progress since it was originally introduced in 2006, and Carter looks forward to building on this year’s momentum in 2009.

That work continues outside of session, as the group educates not only legislators but their constituents on the availability of and differences in gourmet beer, which typically has a higher alcohol by volume. In Alabama you can legally purchase about 300 beers—which sounds pretty good, until Carter tells you there’s more than 180 beer styles and more than 20,000 known beers in the world.

Those limits haven’t stopped beer enthusiasts from swarming Sloss Furnaces during the Magic City Brewfest. This year’s festival drew thousands, building on enthusiasm from 2007’s inaugural event, and exposed people to more than 200 beers. Carter continues educating people about beer with monthly courses, hosted at the J. Clyde on the first Monday of each month. And Free the Hops chapters in Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery, Mobile and Tuscaloosa continue the work in each of their cities.

The group will still have to start over during the 2009 legislative session— but they’ll build on the progress they made in 2008, Carter says. In the meantime, they may host smaller fundraisers in other parts of Alabama as they continue to educate the masses about the wide range of beers.

And Free the Hops’ members and friends will continue talking. “The legislators need to know the people of Alabama have a memory,” Carter says. Continued message board conversations and blog posts will ensure the issue doesn’t disappear. “I guess the thing I’m saying is, beware of the geeks. Beware of the geeks, for we have blogs.” —CJW

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January Birmingham, Alabama

  

 
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