Dylan Sams
Staff Writer | ds834910@ohiou.edu
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A rising star in the Columbus music scene will descend upon Athens on Saturday night.
Columbus folk rock band Saintseneca will play Central Venue, 29 E. Carpenter St., this Saturday, with two local acts: punk band Ghost Stories and singer-songwriter Kelly Latimore.
For Saintseneca, led by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Zac Little, this show in Athens is a way of coming home. Little and his band mates lived in the Southeastern part of Ohio before moving to Columbus.
The band, Little said, is influenced by that time in Appalachian Ohio, where Little played in bands during high school and then went to Columbus, where the band solidified in 2008.
“We had a drummer and things like that and we kind of shed that component of the band, (it became) a real sort of folk setup” Little said about the band’s beginnings.
The band evolved again while finishing a new album, due out in the spring of 2014, Little added.
“When we started to work on this record, it had opened up like before,” Little said. “Then I started writing songs on bass ... we started incorporating different aesthetics.”
After the album was finished, they submitted it to ANTI- Records, which features a roster of artists including Dr. Dog, Tom Waits and Neko Case. ANTI- picked it up, and Saintseneca took a trip to Omaha to further refine the material they had just recorded.
“The final product became a hybrid, we actually had the opportunity to work with Mike Mogis, who has worked with Bright Eyes,” Little said. “It was like finishing a project, and then we had the time to develop the perspective of adding things in. It was kind of exciting because we got to push (our music) even farther.”
Matt Moore, who booked the show for Central Venue, said he has been looking forward to this show for years.
“I’ve loved that band since my junior year in college,” Moore said. “I knew it would be a perfect fit for Athens, because they’re punky, and they’re folky.”
Moore said the band is a bit of a different breed compared to what one might expect from a folk band.
“Saintseneca is kind of a crossover band where people are loving their folky revivalist vibe,” Moore said. “They’re not like Mumford & Sons, and The Lumineers. They’re totally a punk band, which tours like a punk band.”
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