A Conversation With...Junior League

I had a chance to sit down with Junior League backstage before their February 1st show at the Black Cat. I was greeted in the bar with a big hug from Lissy and brought backstage where I met Martin, Eli, Will, Alex, and Dale. They were a laid-back bunch and ready to talk about their roots, their music, and what they see in their future — and they were extremely patient with this first-time interviewer as well.

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Huevos Rancheros: Thanks for taking the time to sit down with me. You have pretty extensive biographies on your website, but I want to talk about your roots in [the Washington D.C. neighborhood] Columbia Heights.

Eli: Well, I met Lissy and Dale through jam sessions at Martin’s house—oh, that reminds me, it’s the first of the month!

Martin: Uh huh.

Eli: Yeah, Martin owns the house, rents the rooms out, and would throw huge jam sessions. They were mostly acoustic, and people would come over with fiddles, guitars and mandolins.

Martin: Except you, right?

Eli: Yeah, I would bring out the electric bass. And Lissy and Dale came over and I heard about this band they were in and I spent a month asking "Can I be in your band? Can I be in your band?" So one day they told me I had to learn 12 songs and head up to New York to play with them and they haven’t gotten rid of me yet.

Alex: We all play old time bluegrass music, so there is a common body of tunes and styles and it doesn’t matter if you haven’t played with anyone before, you just do it. It’s great community building.

Huevos Rancheros: There was an article in the Washington Post that described you as a revival of D.C.’s bluegrass scene. Would you agree with that? Does D.C. have a bluegrass scene?

Alex: I would be reluctant to describe our music as bluegrass.

Will: Well, we have a fiddle, banjo, mandolin—the aesthetic is more bluegrass so I understand, but with the songwriting you can define it however you want.

Lissy: Well, Dale and I met first, and we’re still the two lingering from the beginning, and Martin. We started on old fiddle tunes, so the foundation really was bluegrass at the beginning. Dale was teaching me how to play their songs, and like what Alex was saying, you can just get together and call out a key. You really don’t need to know each other to make good music. So when we get a review and it refers to a "bluegrass revival," I go Whooo! And I get it, but most bluegrass players would be offended by that. So we don’t think we’re a bluegrass band. We definitely love the music, but we play banjos, fiddles, and mandolins through amps. Ultimately I think that it lends itself to the fact that there isn’t that much bluegrass in D.C. when you bring a mandolin or a banjo to the Black Cat and the reaction is "Whoa, it’s bluegrass at the Black Cat!"

Huevos Rancheros: I really don’t like labels in music, so of course I am going to ask you to describe yourselves with a concise label to our readers in Texas who have probably not heard of you.

Lissy: I would say pop-bluegrass. That’s where I’ve settled at in the last four months. I was saying indie roots for awhile, but people associate roots with more reggae.

Martin: Old-ternative.

Eli: Bluegrass-inspired dance rock.

Dale: Sonic fusion bluegrass thrasher punk...

Huevos Rancheros: You have begun to find a following here in D.C. and gotten the support of local papers and blogs like Brightest Young Things. Where do you see yourselves in, let's say, 5 years?

Eli: Well, no one can really know. But we’ve done touring up and down the East Coast and just got back from a tour on the West Coast. We’re also doing a lot of festivals this summer. We’re into being in a band and touring. It’s an awesome experience. I mean, we’ve all been in bands before, but it’s really new and exciting playing this many gigs and being out on tour. We’re just going to see where it goes, I guess.

Lissy: As the leader of this band, I’ve been looking at the ways in which other bands sustain themselves and in what capacity and what kind of music they’re creating. As I’ve been moving us along, I look to bands like The Be Good Tanyas. They’re a great example of what we are shooting for. They tour, have made 6 albums, and have made a living out of it but aren’t in People magazine. I don’t think omyself, or anyone in here is really looking for that kind of success right now.

Huevos Rancheros: But sometimes it’s thrust upon you and you can’t do anything about it.

Lissy: I think for us, ideally, it wouldn’t be that sensationalized. I have a great time getting dressed up for this and I enjoy the entertainment of it all. I just want to stay focused on the music, write good songs and stay together. Hopefully we can all get on a major indie label though.

Huevos Rancheros: So I have one last question for you guys. What music are you listening to now? What music still inspires you?

Martin: I’m obsessed with the Flaming Lips right now. I listen to them a lot.

Dale: A lot of bluegrass. David Grisman to Doc Watson. A lot of alternative country, but not Nashville country.

Eli: I listen to all kinds of stuff right now. Lissy and I saw Doc Watson last week and it was amazing. But I’ve also been on a hip-hop kick lately listening to a lot of Outkast and beyond that, Wilco. I really like their newest album.

Will: The new Wilco and Feist albums I can’t get out of my player. A lot of soul too like D’Angelo.

Alex: I’m also really into Feist and Wilco too, but I like her last album more.

Lissy: Hmm, what’s been on repeat to the point of annoying everyone? Well, Rilo Kiley’s new record.

Dale: You and Rilo Kiley (condescendingly)

Lissy: The Would Be Goods, John Vanderslice, Foghorn String Band out of Portland, and the Everybody Fields. They (Everyday Fields) are going to be playing a few festivals we are playing too. I’m a big fan of theirs. And since we saw Doc Watson last week, he’s back in the rotation. And of course the new Alison Krauss/Robert Plant album. Anything she does I buy or download. I adore her so much, ever since I was little.

Alex: Have you heard of Vampire Weekend? They are really blowing up. They just opened for the Shins.

Lissy: And of course we are fans of Shortstack. Even though it was short notice when they called us [to perform tonight], we of course said yeah.


Junior League will be touring through the end of May, and they've also got a few festivals lined up this summer. To see tour dates and learn more about the band, you can visit their official website or check out their MySpace page.

-Huevos Rancheros