"They just don't make music like they used to."
We've all heard it from parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, etc. The notion that younger audiences don't value quality music is one that has been passed down from generation to generation.
While it's true that more Gen Z-ers are seeking out throwbacks in conjunction to new artists, "they" certainly are making music like they used to.
GrandVille, a four piece hailing from Athens, Georgia, is just one of the groups inspired to reignite the love for rock and roll.
This is what members James and Jackson Tennyson had to say about their musical influences, how the group got started, and what it's been like to release their self-titled debut album.
This is your first studio album! How are you guys feeling?
James: Pretty good! We're celebrating here at the beach over Memorial Day weekend.
Jackson: Excited, I'm really happy to get the project behind us so we can move on to other stuff.
Growing up, was music always the goal for you guys?
James: Music was always kind of a thing that we liked to mess around with in middle school and high school. Then in high school, when we formed the band, that's when we started playing a lot more.
Jackson: We were a lot busier than we expected to be. We were playing on the weekends, sometimes during the week after school. So, it was kind of odd in itself to be walking the halls with our buddies and cracking jokes with them about shows - maybe they would catch one.
We were playing for college crowds when we were sophomores in high school. It was a bit of a shocking experience, but I think I kind of made us realize that this could be something we could do for a while.
GrandVille has a very classic rock and roll sound with maybe a bit of blues or country thrown in there. Is that a musical influence that you grew up with, or was there a later inspiration that pushed you in that direction?
James: I think it's kind of a mixture of influences.
Jackson: It's a mixture of us liking the past and wanting to bring that back.
We were raised on, I'd say, classic rock. It goes back much deeper than that. My dad always had it on the 70s radio, so we grew up listening to a bunch of Eagles and a bunch of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.
James: The Band -
Jackson: Yeah, The Band is one of our favorites. We just fell in love with it.
We've been down here at the beach for the past week playing.
Every night we end the night by all getting together and playing, [and] a lot of stuff that we haven't heard in years comes out. You realize that you love this stuff so much because it's subliminally getting pounded into your mind over the years of childhood. But yeah, it's a mixture of both.
You guys recorded the album at the Blackbird Studio in Nashville. What was that experience like?
James: Blackbird is awesome.
It was almost overwhelming when we first got there because, before that, we were recording in a studio in Watkinsville, Georgia - which is about 10 to 15 minutes outside of Athens. It was just one big room with a control room. Then you get to Blackbird, and they've got Studio A,B,C,D.
Jackson: It's a maze of madness.
James: We were in Studio A, which is multiple rooms and then a huge control room with an old neve board that, actually, they bought from [...] Donald Fagen.
Jackson: I think being put in the element, it honestly, it can be a bit overwhelming.
But, you know what they say, when you're uncomfortable. You tend to produce better when you're uncomfortable.
That was a bonus, and then we kept coming back and getting more comfortable.
I think it's a process of getting used to being in a big studio like that.
James: Plus they always have a stocked fridge, which is nice.
Do you have a favorite song on the album or a favorite song to play live?
James: My favorite's probably Gets Me So High.
Jackson: I'd have to say my favorite one on the album is Take Me By The Hand. Gets Me So High is probably one of my favorites to play live. It definitely turned out to be one of my favorite recordings.
I think, when you end up with stuff on the recording that [...] wasn't premeditated initially, it's pretty exciting. That's, I guess, what we're working toward, chemistry as they call it.
James: Take Me By The Hand is probably my second favorite just because it's a lot different from all of the other stuff on the album. It's kind of a curveball.
Jackson: One reason you find stuff like When We Were Young on there - and other tunes that don't necessarily fit the box of what you get for the first half of the record- is because as much as I can switch it up, I want to.
I enjoy trying to sound a little different on the track. Of course, it kind of goes back to the thing that you can be inspired by someone, but you're still going to sound like yourself.
James: It's nice to have a variety.
People are already asking for a second album. What can they look forward to from you guys in the second half of 2023?
Jackson: I would love nothing more than to have album two out in late October of this year.
Everything is done, pretty much, on the record. Now it's just up in the air of what new songs we want to plug in - and critiquing and fine tuning.
There's this special feeling you get [...] when you can press play and the song ends and it's perfect - in your mind, at least.
So, I work towards that.
James: We've kind of set up base camp for most of the summer at our lake house down near our hometown of Albany, Georgia just to get out of Athens for the summer and get a change of scenery. We're still coming up with new material to, maybe, develop if we want to put it on the second album.
Jackson: I've decided on the ten for months now for album two, and we just continue to surprise ourselves. A new song will reveal itself, so we kind of buckle down on that one and try to finish it. It can't be a weak link though, that's the thing.
How can [fans] find you guys?
Jackson: If you go to our website GrandVillemusic.com, you can find all of our upcoming shows. A lot of them are ticketed coming forward. We're having to stick around Athens for the time being[...], but once that is passed, I'd like to be playing an amphitheater in Switzerland.
So, go to the website, and you may be surprised with a date.
While you're at it, you can check out the full interview with James and Jackson as they talk more about the recording process, the other members of the band, and what it's like to balance the band while also studying at the University of Georgia.
With a sound that is nostalgic yet completely fresh, GrandVille is producing music that can appeal to listeners of various genres. Their debut album GrandVille has audiences of all ages hooked and eager for more.
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