After rocking the Nelsonville Music Festival two weekends ago, Angela Perley and the Howlin’ Moons will now bring their unique country rock style to Athens.
“We definitely have country honky-tonk roots in it, but then it gets a little bit of rock n’ roll and blues mixed in,” said Angela Perley, lead singer for the band. “Anything that doesn’t sound completely country is labeled as Americana, so we’ve been called Americana, even if we don’t know what it is.”
Perley and her Howlin’ Moons will bring that honky-tonk style to Casa Nueva, 4 W. State St., Thursday at 10 p.m.
The Columbus-based group has played at Casa before, but after its performance in Nelsonville two weeks ago Perley said they are hoping to garner more attention here in Athens.
“I definitely think festivals are a great opportunity to promote exposure,” she said. “There are more people at a festival than a bar and the people are all into country rock.”
The band is trying to branch out to other parts of the country and has expanded the number of days they tour per week to include more Thursday dates. In the meanwhile, though, Perley and her band mates are toting their equipment across the state in two cars. Soon, Perley said, they hope to purchase a trailer.
One piece of equipment making the trek with the band is the guitar of Chris Connor, lead guitarist for the group. He said he puts a lot of thought into how he can manipulate the sound of his guitar, using a Telecaster because, traditionally, that style of guitar works better for country music.
However, Connor said he can manipulate it to do much more.
“I used to use a Gibson 335 but the sound was too thick for the sound we wanted,” he said. “I think the Telecaster is one of the most versatile instruments because it’s not just country. … It crosses genres.”
Connor added that he gets an adrenaline rush when he begins a solo and tries to get the audience involved emotionally.
Lyrics are another way of getting the audience involved, and Perley said that her soft-talking voice tricks the sound mixer into turning up the mic at shows.
“I have a punch at times, but I can also be very quiet,” she said. “The band is so rocking, so I have a high pitch that travels farther and louder.”
wh092010@ohiou.edu
