Fun comes first for Kendall Street Company. That’s not to say, though, that the quintet isn’t serious about musicianship. The lineup, Louis Smith (rhythm guitar/lead vox), Brian Roy (bass), Ryan Wood (drums), Ben Laderberg (lead guitar), and Jake Vanaman (sax/keys), is stacked with talent (the group covers the Grateful Dead, The Beatles, Alanis Morrisette, DEVO, and Souja Boy), and draws comparisons to another five-piece act with a three-letter acronym, also formed in Charlottesville.
For the second year in a row, KSC is taking its genre-fluid epic jams and stage humor across the commonwealth on the Kendall Street Is For Lovers Tour with 20 shows in 28 days. The hometown boys play The Southern Café & Music Hall each Thursday in February. Before hitting the stage, Vanaman answered our questions about the tour’s theme, and established that Virginia truly is for lovers.
C-VILLE: How do Virginia fans differ from those in other states?
JV: Charlottesville being our hometown, we have been playing these cities for many years now. These frequent appearances, often associated with themed tours such as February’s Kendall Street is for Lovers, have allowed for more personal connections with fans. We’ll be playing anywhere in Virginia and be greeted by the smiling faces of friends.
What’s your favorite Virginia landmark?
The Shanti the Dolphin statue on 67th Street in Virginia Beach.
You are playing several venues around the state. Which one has the best backstage scene?
We do love a good backstage scene at the Southern in Charlottesville. The hospitality is superb. Seeing all the signatures of previous acts who have performed there (and sometimes also the Jefferson) is inspiring.
What’s the strangest thing that’s happened at a Virginia show?
We played the Starry Nights series at Veritas Vineyards a year or two ago, and had an absolute blast. It was a two-set event, so the first set ended just as the sun was setting. Wow, did things change when the big light in the sky went down and the stage lights came up. In addition to the crowd going from a picnic-wine-hangout culture to a front-row headbanger, the wonderful Virginia wildlife came out to play. Mostly in the form of bugs.
So we are the brightest thing around for miles with the stage acting as a huge bug zapper. Giants of the forest were upon us. Mayflies bigger than hot dogs were crawling in and through my piano keys, landing on my face as I attempted to play sax, and flying just straight down Louis’ throat as he sang. We were woefully underprepared and ended up begging the audience to toss us some bug spray. Between almost every song we had to douse ourselves in spray but it barely repelled.
For weeks after this we found beetle carcasses in and amongst our gear. So maybe not the strangest, as we all know bugs exist, but the extent of their presence was shocking to say the least. Gonna wear a sealed body suit if that happens again.
Do you have a song about Virginia or one that you must play at Virginia shows?
Because of the sheer quantity of shows in one month, we focus on creating unique song collections for each night in each market. This way the residency-style performances stay fresh for us as well as the crowd. Because we are in the live / jam world as well, we also record and release our shows on our website, nugs.net, furthering the creative constraint to make each show special. That being said, we have worked up a number of love-themed covers and pop-adjacent tracks to spice up this tour. I don’t wanna spoil the surprise but there will be a party. And it will be in the U.S.A. And it certainly won’t be anything like a Nashville party (we would know).
Do you have any friends named Virginia? How many?
After racking my memory and those of my bandmates, we established a recollection of no fewer than four, but no more than 10 Virginias. Special shout-out to Virginia Gillock.
Is Virginia for lovers?
Duh! Especially when KSC is in town!
What is the most Virginia thing you can think of?
Louis: peanuts
Ryan: Shenandoah National Park
Ben: oysters
Brian: tobacco
Jake: lovers
Sam (tour manager): the Lombardy Kroger
