FOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR
Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers are a true workhorse of a band. They've been on a near-constant tour for years now, and they've put out a handful of solid records while building up a dedicated grass-roots fan base.
The band will perform at the 9:30 Club in Washington on Saturday.
Their most recent record, "The Bear," may be the band's best work so far.
"In six years, we've played a ton of shows, and we started to feel like we know how to do the live show," said Kellogg in a recent phone interview.
"However, because we spend so much time on the road, we'd go into the studio for 10 days and go back out. That didn't give us time to get good at it, and I don't think we were naturally adept at making records. With this record, we tried to take our time and learn and throw away stuff that we didn't think is up to par."
Their hard work paid off, according to Kellogg, who added: "I think it's the most interesting of our records. I've always been OK with the songs on our records, but a lot of times I felt like the recordings didn't quite capture the energy behind our songs."
"The Bear" is more vulnerable than previous albums, which works in the band's favor. Kellogg tackles topics like family and aging while maintaining a youthful sense of urgency.
In the ever-so-catchy single "Shady Esperanto and the Young Hearts," Kellogg repeats the refrain "I never wanna get old" atop hand claps and Springsteen-inflected Americana. The band even filmed a lighthearted and highly entertaining video for the song at their alma mater with the 400-piece University of Massachusetts marching band.
Regarding the lyrics, Kellogg said, "It's an honest record, which I've been more into over the past few years." He continued: "In the beginning, we were like, 'Oh, this will sound cool,' as opposed to, 'This happened to me, and it might be moving to someone else who has had this experience as well.' I'm now at a place where I value realness."
As both a father and a son, Kellogg explores the conflicts inherent in growing up. He explained: "I have two daughters, and yet I still talk to my parents constantly for advice. It's like a really weird place--are you an adult, are you a kid? I play music for a living, so I feel like I'm a kid half the time. I'm out with my buddies cruising around, playing shows, acting goofy and all these things, but there are also mortgages."
However, Kellogg has only so much time to reflect on it all since he's constantly on the road. "I just got home last night from four months straight of touring with a few weeklong breaks. We go back out the day after Christmas and do a bunch, and then we're on tour all of March, April and May. It's really sort of a never-ending tour for right now."
The band has a strong work ethic, but they don't take their success for granted. The touring "definitely wears on me, but I feel this tremendous sense of love and gratitude for having this job," said Kellogg.
"I read the paper about people losing their jobs every day. It's hard work, what I do, but it's really fun, and I feel really lucky to have a job right now. While it's tempting at times to complain, I'm really fortunate to do what I enjoy."
Ryan Little is a freelance writer and musician in Washington. Visit his blog at ryantlittle.com.
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