SXSW Preview:
Count This Penny

I’ve got another Shitty Barn story for y’all. This one is about how I met the lovely and talented Count This Penny, an Americana folk band that moved to Madison from their home state of Tennessee a few years ago. Let me tell you folks, you should be glad they made that move. They’ve grown here and have become a staple of the local music scene. This talented singer-songwriter trio has appeared on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, Wisconsin Public Radio, and Wisconsin Public Television’s 30-Minute Music Hour. Playing with the likes of Joe Pug and Kelly Hogan, Count This Penny has made Madison proud time and time again.

Back to the Shitty Barn… It was mid-June, a hot night, foreshadowing what the rest of the summer would bring. Count This Penny brought a whole crowd of people out to the Barn, making it a sold-out show. We all packed in and watched the trio made of Amanda and Allen Rigell and John Ray give us a preview of what was to come on their October 2012 release of Pitchman. Believe me, it showed us we were in for a treat.

In a twist of fate (and probably under the influence of one too many Furthermore Propers) the person holding my car keys (who shall remain unnamed) managed to misplace them. Soon enough it was just me, Martha and Chris Staples (the Barn owners), and Amanda and Allen. It turned out to be a good accident. After a few minutes of small talk, Amanda and Allen quickly became some of my favorite people. They’re genuinely wonderful, making great music and whole-heartedly supporting their fellow local musicians. You can’t really ask for anything else.

My point is if you (somehow) haven’t been to one of Count This Penny’s shows, you’re doing it wrong. These well-deserving folks have been asked to take part in the SXSW showcase presented by the Majestic / First Avenue. Before we all head down to Austin, I was able to catch up with the band at Amanda and Allen’s during their pre-band practice chili dinner.

The band gave me some insight about how they were feeling about the whole experience of going down to Austin for the first time together.

AMANDA: “We didn’t even think we were going to go to SX, so when the Majestic guys asked us to do this we just felt like we couldn’t say no… it was just a great chance to be part of the lineup which is killer and we’re just really grateful that they hooked us up with the opportunity. We’re totally psyched to play one showcase that we’re really, really excited about and not feel like we’re hustling the whole time we’re down there. We can just go and experience it and be friends. John and Katie (John Ray’s wife) know people there so we’ll be able to see them, and see great music together as a band. Honestly, I’m pretty stoked to see PHOX play a ton of showcases and get super famous… that’s kind of awesome for us to be able to witness it in action because we wouldn’t been hearing about it if we were here, but to actually see it is going to be great.

“I’m really conflicted because part of me just wants to go see people we know, but we could see them here. I’d love to see Kelly Hogan. She’s been really hilarious talking about it on Facebook. She’s gonna glue herself back together and play his Austin City Limits showcase. She’s doing their Bloody Mary Morning thing on Thursday.

“I feel like a lot of people are disillusioned with SXSW, and we’ve been able to avoid that feeling by not going, so to us it’s still totally awesome. For us it’s just a huge adventure. We never dreamed of doing it, and having this opportunity fall into our laps. Like, whatttt? This is amazing.”

ALLEN: “I’m stoked about seeing the Madison bands. Looking forward to supporting Whitney (Mann), Brandon (Beebe), and PHOX. I think that’s going to be really cool for this town to be represented down there. It’s going to be a really quick weekend for us, but John and Katie have friends and connections in Austin; hopefully we’ll sort of have a backstage pass to that city since Amanda and I haven’t spent much time there.

“It’s awesome that the Majestic guys decided to partner with First Ave. I think they put together an outstanding showcase. It’s really cool to be a part of it.” 

Amanda filled me in about some new material and goals that this trio has up their sleeve for 2013.

AMANDA: “We’re trying to get John to record some stuff that he’s written because John is kick-ass songwriter, but he’s very modest. So we’re trying to put the heat on him. Hopefully we’ll be able to convince him to do an EP or something this apring.

“Allen and I have been talking about putting together a live recording. We have a friend who’s got a wizard ability to build sound equipment and he really wants to do some love recording. We’ve been talking about the three of us experimenting with that this spring at some point. John has 6-8 recordable songs, and Allen and I are working on a bunch of new stuff, but it’s all half-finished.

“Our biggest goal for this year is to start playing shows regionally. We really want to go to Chicago more and Iowa City, Minneapolis, Eau Claire, Milwaukee, and Duluth. We’re supposed to play at Luther College this spring. We’ve just had so much support in town and really great friends who always come out. We want to expand and meet other bands in those towns. We’re just starting to do that now. We love Kalispell; we’d really like to play a show with him. He’s just mindblowingly good. We Are the Willows, we were talking with. Right now, it’s just been so hit or miss and we haven’t been able to put anything together with our dates and it’s been really frustrating. So hopefully this year, this will be time when we can make that all happen.” 

With new material on the way and goals on of expanding their fan base, this band is surely going to make the rest of the Midwest area fall in love with them just as Madison has. There is no doubt that if you haven’t seen Count this Penny play, there is no better time than the present.