Hot off recording a Daytrotter session, Columbus’s own The Floorwalkers, a slice of Americana rock and soul, are staged to hit Athens Saturday night.
“Daytrotter has that street cred,” lead singer Jonathan Elliott said. “It’s a sign that we are moving on up.”
Daytrotter is a website that finds emerging artists and records a few songs in its studio in Illinois. The site has been a vital tool for local Ohio artists, including Athens-own The Ridges.
Elliott described the Daytrotter studio in Rock Island, Ill. as an old, warehouse-like building outfitted with ’70s vintage audio equipment. After lugging equipment up three flights of stairs, the band spent the day recording with an employee who mixed and recorded everything on the spot.
The Floorwalkers played “For The Better” and “Love the Sun Away,” two songs off their new album The Natural Road. They also gave fans a taste of something new with “Some Love” and “Up The Vine,” two songs that have yet to be released.
Elliot said some fans were asking why the band didn’t play their most well known song “Three Wishes,” the first single off The Natural Road.
“It was a game-time call,” Elliott said. “It’s one of the hardest songs to sing and we like playing new material. It keeps things interesting.”
The Floorwalkers have been successful regionally with their rock Americana sound and are taking new initiatives such as the Daytrotter sessions to keep fresh and expand nationally.
The band is attempting to get as much content out now while it still has time to produce in between touring, said Elliott. They plan on hitting the West Coast for the first time this year and even a European tour in 2013.
“It will be out first stay at the hotel California,” said Theo Perry, guitarist for the band.
The members have been playing together for 10 years and collaboratively write all the material, starting with a catchy hook or riff and building off that, said Perry.
Elliott said that, the band’s music has been requested by fans to be used at weddings and even funerals, even if some of the lyrics seem inappropriate for the occasions.
“It’s good to see the fans rally behind anything you put up,” Perry said.
wh092010@ohiou.edu
