Sleepy Brother is the peaceful yet memorable name of a two-piece indie folk band based in Richmond, VA. The duo features the singer/songwriter stylings of Heather Wiederholt and Nathan Burns, and their latest track Boys is definitely one to watch out for. Here’s why..
Boys is beautiful song, instantly warm and calming, the pure acoustic gentleness of a piece of music that wraps it’s arms around you and soothes your worries. It opens with the line “The boy with the big eyes..” and then “The boy with the big heart.. Made me feel special, made me feel like everything was better than it was” – it’s an introduction that makes you feel suddenly very calm and at peace. Almost like your listening to someone tell you a story to help you forget your worries and remember the important things.
It’s a simple song, just the quiet picking of a guitar, some subtle piano chords, a gorgeous almost whispering female vocal and some stunning harmonies just lighting up the quieter edges of the music.
The melody is strong, subtle, but powerful; the words and the rhyme and the notes are immediately memorable. The concept as well is something admirable and optimistic, a respectable collection of lines that you would happily play to your daughter, or infact anyone you care about –
“Boys they love you and boys they leave you, but.. always remember you are beautiful”.
The piano and the vocal strength pick up just slightly towards the end, as the stylish flick of a solo guitar arrives, and it adds that important but not too intense build up of emotion – a simple and wonderful effect.
This is the kind of song you can easily imagine hearing on some striking short film or video, a non-intrusive advertisement, maybe – but only if it would enhance, rather than take away from, the existing brightness of the song. It’s a track that works on a number of levels, but perhaps most importantly, you can just listen at home, and it sounds fantastic. Really lovely, really well played and written with thought and feeling. I look forward to hearing more from Sleepy Brother.
By Rebecca Cullen
Travelling musician and writer from Manchester, UK.
Exclusive Interview:
Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?
Heather: Twitter. Hooray for social media!
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Nathan: I grew up in Northern Virginia; the suburbs of Washington, DC. I started to really connect with music in my early teenage years and eventually decided to learn an instrument. Even though I played in a few admittedly terrible high school bands, I still developed a strong passion for writing music and collaborating. I’ve been trying to fine-tune that ever since.
Heather: I grew up in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia and have always loved to sing and perform. I was very active in children’s theatre in my community and went to a high school for performing arts. Coming out of the realm of musical theatre and into the singer-songwriter arena wasn’t much of a stretch. Entertaining and connecting with people through music has always inspired me.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Heather: I think a band’s name should be shrouded in mystery. If nothing else it makes us seem more interesting than we actually are. But I will tell you this. It involves a very long road trip and a roll of duct tape.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Nathan: Online music sharing is the nature of the beast at this point. Apart from the resurgence of vinyl, people have moved on from having music in a physical form, so for accessibility and exposure, it’s important that we have our music on platforms like SoundCloud, Spotify and Apple Music.
Heather: Though not as lucrative for artists, I do like the accessibility that the world of online music sharing has brought for the independent artist. It’s pretty amazing that people all over the world can listen to our music as small and local as we are. We have given some of our music away for free when trying to increase our exposure and audience.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Nathan: Um. I guess I would say just make the music you want to make. Don’t compromise your sound because it’s something you think people want to hear. I think authenticity and gratitude go a long way.
Heather: Just keep at it. Don’t change your style or inspiration for music just because the local venues don’t book bands like you. Make good music, music that you love, and you will find a fit.
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
Nathan: They definitely happen from time to time. Once mid-song, one of our PA speakers slid off of a ledge. It made a huge crashing sound and took a wine glass down with it. We played through it. That’s all you can do.
Heather: Of course I make mistakes! Who doesn’t? Usually it’s that I will randomly forget a word or line of lyrics. I just tell myself they are my lyrics. Nobody really knows if I’m changing things up on purpose or not. I try to have a sense of humor about it.
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
Heather: We haven’t really done a tour. The closest we’ve come is playing a circuit of wineries. Those are fun though! They are mostly in the Shenandoah Valley so the view is always gorgeous. Who wouldn’t want to sing into a beautiful sunset at a vineyard?
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Heather: Our inspiration comes from everyday life experiences. We usually pan out our songs entirely through email attachments. Nathan writes all of the music and I write the lyrics. We just make adjustments and send it back and forth until it’s to a good place. The process sometimes goes very quickly or very slowly.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Nathan: Our default site is our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sleepybrotherband/ Our music is available onSoundCloud, Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Amazon and several other online spaces.
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
Nathan: I’m not embarrassed about any of the music I carry around with me. Unless you count U2’s newest album, but Apple made me.
Heather: I have no shame about all of the music on my ancient iPod. Although, Nathan would be embarrassed for me about some of it.
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Nathan: I would immediately invest at least half of it, then travel for a few months. Putting together a tour would be fun. Staying productive might be a challenge.
Heather: I would spend a ton of time with my family. That might sound lame, but I am a new mom and would love to soak up all of that time with my daughter. It doesn’t mean we have to stay home though. We would travel and do a tour. I would just bring the baby with me.
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
Nathan: For our latest album, we mostly recorded it at home using Avalon and Focusrite preamps with Blue and Neuman mics. To upgrade this time around, we’ve talked about recording it all in-studio to get the whole experience and utilize a pro’s expertise.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Heather: We utilize social media a lot . We both have a background in video so we try to produce video content a fair amount.
Nathan: Packaging our music with some sort of content seems to work well. Instead of just a text post, we’ve had success pairing new info with a video or picture.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
Nathan: Hmm…I’m going to choose Dr. Dog because they are all incredible musicians and their live show blows me away every single time. As for where, I’ll exercise my option to select a dead venue: Alley Katz/Kingdom in Richmond, VA. It’s got a unique setup and is big enough to have a decent sized crowd while still being an intimate space.
Heather: Angela Lansbury. The woman is a goddess. She’s a seasoned performer on stage and screen and really is such a talent. The where is less important, though I think the venue should be intimate.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Heather: We released our first full length album this past summer and so have been working at promoting it while also working on new material. I think we are forever working on new material. Inspiration is always knocking.
Nathan: We’re changing our approach this time around so hopefully that will be recognizable in the music. It would be nice to collaborate with some local musicians as well.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Nathan: Stand-up comedy.
Heather: Musical theatre and improv comedy.
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
Nathan: I actually don’t remember the first album I bought with my own money. The first albums I owned were Alanis Morrisette – Jagged Little Pill, No Doubt – Tragic Kingdom, and (sadly) one of the Spice Girls’ albums. I was in 5th grade I think. But you can still judge me. Wow. Just realized that is all female-powered music. The first album I remember asking for was Puff Daddy & The Family – No Way Out. My Aunt was a little sketched out by the parental advisory warning but she got it for me anyway. Cool Aunt.
Heather: The first album I actually remember buying for myself was Jewel’s Spirit. I loved that album.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Nathan: Lately, I’ve been trying not to put any pressure on it. Instead of forcing myself to work on music for or between a certain time, I’m approaching things when I really want to. I think it will be a more organic process that way.
Heather: I just try to take things slowly. Nothing good comes of me trying to rush myself.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Nathan: We’re talking about releasing a few old b-sides. Other than that, we’d like to put out some music videos and hopefully finish up an EP later this year.
