Welcome readers, next stop Fancy Gap.
For the past 15 years, music fans have gotten to know Raleigh, North Carolina-based singer/songwriter Stuart McLamb and his distinctive lyrical style through his indie rock band The Love Language. The band has released four albums – 2009’s The Love Language, 2010’s Libraries, 2013’s Ruby Red, and 2018’s Baby Grand. While working on potential new material for that band’s next album in early 2020, he found some songs that didn’t quite fit that band’s sound and vision.
He ultimately decided to take these demos to songwriter/producer Charles Crossingham, whom he had known for almost a decade but had grown closer with after moving back to Raleigh in March 2020. During the pandemic, the two hunkered down at Crossingham’s mountain cabin in Fancy Gap, Virginia, and started working on the songs. The project started as typical songwriter/producer collaboration but grew into an equal co-writing project. It went so well that they formed a new band, Fancy Gap.
Today the band is releasing its self-title debut via their own Ghost Choir Records. The country and pop-tinged album was mixed by Grammy-award-winning engineer Craig Alvin and features the single “Strawberry Moon,” which features vocals by Sharon Van Etten.
Scummy Water Tower recently caught up with McLamb by email about how the project came together, how it compares to his longtime band, and why Fancy Gap is a special place and name.
The band formed after you shared some earlier demos while working on material for The Love Language’s fifth album. Why did you decide to put those song ideas aside to share?
A few of them remained, and the others will likely be revisited at some point, but in their state at the time, they just weren’t quite there. I wasn’t in the clearest headspace while writing that first batch, and the real magic happened during our time writing together.
Can you describe how the project morphed from an artist-producer project to an actual band?
Yes, it was very organic and natural. The first phase was Charles leaving me be to write and record my ideas alone with zero input from him. I really respected this approach, and he was a big fan of my first Love Language album (Self-Titled), where I recorded it mostly alone. During that time, he would help me hone in on what was working and wasn’t afraid to let me know when it wasn’t working. There was a period where I hit a wall, and then he mentioned some ideas and riffs he had that we could use as diving boards for some new songs. Once we really opened up to the collaboration, the songs started to write themselves. It took a few months to navigate if this was a Love Language album with a co-writer or a whole new thing altogether, and it felt more honest and real to do the latter.
How is this band most unique/similar to The Love Language as far as sonically/lyrically?
It is similar sonically and lyrically in that they are hook-laden pop songs. Lyrically, I think there are many similarities in how my lyrical writing style has remained somewhat consistent over the years. Obviously, Charles brought his own personality and flair into the mix as well. They are unique in that I think this album is a lot more “heartland rock/country/folk” leaning than much of the previous LL albums. I also think there is much more of an influence from nature in these songs that was undoubtedly caused by our surroundings.
What were the biggest themes you wanted to convey on the album?
This question gets asked a lot, and on one hand, I get it, but on the other, I don’t really like answering it, or at least I can’t answer it in a genuine way. I don’t think music always needs to have this explanation like someone who is writing a novel. To me, music is more about feeling than it is about themes or definitions. We didn’t set out to convey any sort of message. We were just following our muses wherever they led us and trying to make music that stirred up our own emotions. That being said, in hindsight, I do think there are some themes that weren’t premeditated, mostly being death and rebirth, the processing of grief, and the belief in a future that was better than the past.
The two of you worked in Charles’ cabin in Fancy Gap. Can you describe what those sessions are like? What’s the cabin and Fancy Gap area like? Why did Fancy Gap seem like a fitting band name?
Yes, a lot of times it was us strumming on the porch or the living room, recording ideas on our iPhones to revisit later. Then the more proper sessions were pretty much the same thing but with some better microphones and preamps involved. Many of the final recordings you hear that made their way onto the album were us discovering the songs in real-time. I can’t say for every song, but for the majority of them, the lead vocal is probably the first or second time I ever sang them, so they are all very in the moment. The sessions were very loose in the best way. We would go on hikes or cascade down the creek that ran down the side of the mountain, get wet, get dirty, do some landscaping, clear debris off the waterfall, get some burn barrels going. Ha, just country stuff, and then in the evening we’d sit down and write and record. We got into a great rhythm where the work and play during the day helped to feed the songs in the night. Fancy Gap was always the obvious name. It just has a very memorable ring to it. It just took us a while to really embrace it. We were trying to think of “cooler, hipper” sounding names, but none seemed to really stick as well as it did.
What were some of your inspirations and favorite experience writing and recording the album?
We were both really inspired by the solitude on the mountain as well as the friendship that we were forming while honing in on the sound of the record. We spent so much time alone that it was really beautiful when we came “back to reality” and it seemed like we were embraced by some real heroes of ours to help us drive this thing home. We were honored that Craig Alvin wanted to mix the record. Rami Jaffee joining the crew was an absolute game changer for our team as well as the size of the album’s landscape. Jon Graboff on pedal steel equally brought an incredible sound to the table.
What are your future plans post-release? Any exciting tour plans?
We’ve been starting on the next album and planning regional shows around NC. We’re playing our record release show at Local 506 on Saturday July 27th with She Returns From War and Old Heavy Hands We’re playing Hopscotch Music Festival in September and are working on a few fall runs that we will announce soon.
You can follow Fancy Gap on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and check out the band’s music at their Bandcamp page.
Joshua is co-founder of Scummy Water Tower. He’s freelanced for a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including: Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Guitar World, MTV News, Grammy.com, Chicago Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, MKE Lifestyle, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, A.V. Club, SPIN, Alternative Press, Under the Radar, Paste, PopMatters, American Songwriter, and Relix. You can email him at josh@scummywatertower.com.
