About a month ago I praised the album Turning Point by the band daysahead, which impressed me with their unique sound. In their jazz-not-jazz interview Kim Leachman and Steve Wright from daysahead explain why they hardly use any keys on their debut album, how they’ve met, talk about the turning points in their lives and much more.
By the way, here’s your chance to download a video of Falling Flower (it’s a mov file so you should have Quicktime, Quicktime Alternative, vlc or jetAudio installed). The Soundstage site of tbsstoryline.com also offers videos of other music acts from Atlanta like Anthony David for example.

Q: Please tell me how you’ve met and how you’ve founded daysahead.

Steve Wright: Kim (Baton Rouge, LA) and I (Richmond, VA) were working as backup for Aezra Records recording artist, Crea. I was playing electric guitar and Kim was singing background vocals. Her voice caught my attention and stood out above the other vocalists. I approached her to demo a few songs I’d written. Well, our first session proved that she could write in addition to sing and we instantly knew that we had to start our own band. Kim and I immediately started writing for our debut album. I called on some musician friends and we started recording. We are fortunate to have worked with some great musicians on Turning Point including drummers James Barrett and Joe Lee, and bassists Myron Carroll, Jeff Smith, and Aaron Clay. The current band is Kim and myself with James Barrett (drummer from Baton Rouge, LA who played on 6 tunes on Turning Point) who is versatile with rock solid tempo, and Brandon Gilliard (bassist from Anderson, SC) who is extremely talented and a strong improviser with nice groovability. This rhythm section will make any band sound good!

Q: Is daysahead a duo with two regular additional musicians or do you consider yourself more as a band with four members?

Kim Leachman: Although Steve and I are the band leaders, we consider our musical talents equal to James and Brandon’s. We have a team mentality. daysahead performs as a duo with Steve and myself, a four piece with James and Brandon, and on occasion we’ll add background vocalists and a percussionist.

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