The Interview: Among The Oak & Ash

A couple of nights ago, fellow blogger Liz and I went along to The Lexington in North London to see some live music. Being that we’re all about the spontaneous at The Ruckus, I ended up doing an impromptu interview on a fire exit with American band Among The Oak & Ash.

Headed by Josh Joplin and Garrison Starr, the band grabbed our attention as soon as we saw them playing. They mixed a beautiful amount of raw upbeat folk with a touch of blues and rock n’ roll. There was a certain Johnny Cash-and-June Carter-type connection between the duo as they performed their upbeat harmonies, often watching each other intently while singing. Aided by Josh’s enthusiastic and extremely well-played acoustic guitar solos, Garrison’s strong Mississippi drawl made me feel like I was in a small bar in the Deep South of the United States. Of course, as we exited onto a freezing cold fire escape to have a chat, I was quickly transported back to the ever-rainy London cityscape.

So tell me the history of Among The Oak & Ash.
Josh: Well, Garrison and I were playing together and I had this idea to do this thing for a long time.
Garrison: He then asked me to be a part of it.
Josh: She said yes, after coming down to Nashville and playing some songs together and we thought it was a good idea. We’re now both based in New York City.

Can you tell me some of your musical influences?
Josh: We have various influences. Garrison and I come from different backgrounds; my influences are probably some folk singers like Phil Ochs and, of course, Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie. I also love The Clash, Elvis Costello and a lot of the Manchester bands.
Garrison: For me, I kind of grew up listening to The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Indigo Girls and Tom Petty.

So why are you here in London?
Josh: We were asked to come here to play, for one, and we love being here. It is Garrison’s first time to London.

Did you do all the touristy stuff?
Garrison: We did some touristy stuff today. We walked around and I saw Westminster Abbey and The National Gallery.
Josh: There’s nothing really like London in the States.

I went to Washington, D.C. last year and I loved it. It was a little similar. It’s possibly my favourite city in the U.S.
Josh: D.C. is a good town – musically, too. They have a good scene there.

(Here we get a little sidetracked talking about East End cabbies, Ronald Reagan, Prince Harry’s lineage and Royalists.)

What’s New York like for you guys, musically?
Garrison: It’s got a really good music scene there right now; there are a lot of good, talented singer song writers in New York.

A lot of the London Folk or Indie acts have been swapping over to New York and vice-versa.
Josh: We’re big Mumford & Sons fans. We have a CD of theirs.

We love Mumford too. I really like our organic Folk scene in London and you know it’s taking off in smaller venues like this and we get to spread the word through our blog and share our passion with our readers.
Josh: That’s amazing! Not to interview you but would you like to have more over here as well as over in the States?
Lizzie: Well we’re fairly busy at the moment! We have gigs Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We love what we do, though.
Liz: Well Friday is Lady GaGa so that’s not really working.
Lizzie: Yeah, I’m not going to GaGa.
Josh: You gotta go to GaGa, she’s awesome!

If you could play any venue, where would it be?
Josh: Here in London, it would be the Royal Albert Hall. Back in New York, Carnegie Hall.
Garrison: I would say, just a nice 3,000 seat theatre. Any theatre, anywhere that people are listening and are totally into the music.

If you could do any cover of any song what would it be?
Josh: Arthur Russell, “I Couldn’t Say It To Your Face”.
Garrison: A Cut Copy song, “In Ghost Colours”.

For more on this talented and very lovely duo, see their website or catch Among the Oak & Ash on iTunes.

Photo credit: Henry Leutwyler