Friday’s fired up: Channeling ’60s soul and ’70s disco funk, Erin & the Wildfire tackles everything from female solidarity to pizza. That quirky range is backed by the solid grooves of Matt Wood on bass, Ryan Lipps on guitar, and Nick Quillen on drums, a rhythmic soundscape bolstered by Erin Lunsford’s powerful, soaring vocals. Spudnik opens the Fridays After Five show.
Friday 7/16, Free, 5:30pm. Ting Pavilion, 700 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. tingpavilion.com.
Thanks, I’m out. Powder-dry turkey leftovers, crusty chunks of stuffing, gelatinous gravy, and pie that’s been hacked at all angles by a variety of utensils and fingers. This is the reality of the day after Thanksgiving. Get outta there before there’s another load of dishes to dry, and shake off the tryptophan at the Hangover Ball featuring Lord Nelson, Erin & The Wildfire, and Will Overman, three Virginia acts rooted in Americana and infectious songwriting.
Virginia grooving : Erin & The Wildfire has built a massive following in central Virginia since its formation in 2012. The charming, upbeat act has grown beyond club sets to performing regularly at music festivals such as Lockn’, Rooster Walk, and FloydFest. Led by Erin Lunsford’s strong and steady vocals, the group combines pop, rock, and funk to get its audience grooving to the beat. On the recent single “Yours Anymore,” Lunsford belts out an oldies melody while making room for funky saxophone
and instrumental jams.
It’s time to wrap up the year with a little glamour in honor of local ladies who pushed the boundaries on music. Year of the Woman is a concert featuring two stand-out performers from 2018: Erin Lunsford leads Erin & The Wildfire with bold, rock-soul blends from the album Thirst, and ADAR is led by power-house vocalist Adar Seligman-McComas, who guides her band through original jazz fusions.
While playing a 30-minute set at Lockn’ in 2014, Erin & The Wildfire guitarist Ryan Lipps broke a string on every guitar he brought, so to cover the lag in the “squeeze-in-as-much-you-can-set,” drummer Nick Quillen told a long, drawn-out joke.
“It wasn’t exactly the best thing we’ve ever done, but it was certainly memorable,” Quillen says about the bandmates always having each other’s backs.
There have been many on-stage jokes in the five years the Charlottesville-based band has been performing. Quillen, Lipps, bassist Matt Wood and powerhouse vocalist Erin Lunsford met at UVA. Recent additions include Garen Dorsey on saxophone and keys and Austin Patterson on trumpet, who Lunsford says helped the group transition from folksy Americana to funk and soul.
On Thirst, the band’s debut, Lunsford draws on her bandmates’ support to tell stories of heartbreak, angst and unrequited love. “Great Love” recounts lessons learned from a painful breakup.
“I’ve had all these misses and I’ve realized what I need and want, and it’s a great love. It’s a release, a surrender of sorts,” Lunsford says. “I feel like I need the support of my friends to say things like that.”
The album takes listeners on a sensory journey, as space, textures and grooves waft from track to track. “Thirsty for Your Love” opens with sounds reminiscent of stalactites dripping in caverns, seeping into jazzy horns, guitar and drum riffs, while Lunsford croons, “Ache in my temple / there’s a throb in my chest. / Just one little sip / and I’m obsessed.”
The track “Hot Slice,” the album’s artwork and a recent photo shoot of the band members all reference a shared passion for pizza. Quillen says a running joke when they’re on the road is finding the nearest Sheetz and ordering tons of food.
“The guys in The Wildfire are some of the most fun-loving, easygoing and positive people you’ll ever meet,” Lunsford says. Even when bandmates caught the flu and Lunsford couldn’t sing due to a head cold, she says recording was a “jolly” experience.
“I don’t know of any other thing I could be doing with the same people for 12 hours a day, and not be in a bad mood at the end of the day,” says Quillen.
Quillen is most proud of the album’s bookends, “Every Single Song On My CD Is Gonna Be A Hit, Pt. I” and “Every Single Song On My CD is Gonna Be A Hit, Pt. II,” calling them a nod to funk forefathers and the band’s inspirations, which include Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5 and Vulfpeck.
“Pt. I” features Rodell Tolliver, a friend of the band, who explains the differences between gold-, platinum- and diamond- certified records. “Pt. II” acts as a reprieve—ending with a charming decade-old voicemail of Lunsford’s father singing “I Just Called to Say I Love You.”
Known for her range and powerful vocals, Lunsford’s talent is refined on this album. “I keep thinking ‘less is more,’ over and over again, with my singing, playing and writing,” she says. “The band has grown so much. I would say we’re the best we’ve ever been at this point.”
Doesn’t ad up Fun-loving funk rockers Erin & The Wildfire were not amused when Facebook denied an advertising request for the group’s new album, Thirst. A post on the band’s page begins: “Well, apparently one skin-tone colored lady nipple in a piece of art is just too much for Facebook in 2017… seems like our money and thousands of years of artistic precedent aren’t quite enough to overcome gender inequality even in these seemingly modern times.”
When Erin Lunsford is on the road with her band, Erin & the Wildfire, she’s often overlooked. Because she’s a woman, Lunsford says, many assume she’s a groupie—even though she’s the band’s lead vocalist and it’s her name on the bill.
Though it’s initially difficult for her to pick just one, Lunsford recalls a particularly irritating moment when someone ignored her before a show—she says it happens all the time. At an unnamed venue, Lunsford says, the band received a complimentary meal. The waitress took the male bandmates’ orders, and skipped Lunsford after assuming she wasn’t part of the band.
“She didn’t even take my order. She just walked away,” Lunsford says. “It wasn’t her fault. It’s just systemic, patriarchal oppression.”
As a Charlottesville artist, Lunsford has been asking herself how music can be intersectional. To Michael Allenby, director of The Festy Experience, one answer to that question is a festival lineup that balances female and male talent. The eighth Festy Experience takes place October 5-8 at Infinity Downs in Arrington, and features an equal number of male and female performing artists.
“I’m so grateful to Festy for setting this example and don’t want to diminish how wonderful it is,” says Lunsford, who performs a solo set at the festival and emcees its main stage. “But at the same time, it’s like, ‘Duh.’”
“Most people who create festivals are trying to sell tickets, and what they think people want to buy tickets for—and by-and-large it’s true—are bands [fans] want to see, so [organizers] turn to the music industry,” Allenby says. “The music industry has its ego, misogynistic tendencies and some nasty people. If you’re going to go to that to get your artists, you’ll get male artists.”
By separating his event from the mainstream music industry and its commoditization of artists, Allenby says he can create an inclusive, family-friendly experience for his audience. He can focus on community, supporting artists and their careers—regardless of gender.
“We have to pull each other up,” Lunsford says. “Not that everybody needs to be an activist, but it would be great if everybody was an activist.”