An Interview with Humble Tripe

Humble Tripe is a Durham-based band made up variously of Shawn Luby, Stud Green, Melissa York, Kadji Amin, and Jess Shell.  Shawn Luby, lead singer and guitarist, lets us in on some band details, talks favorite lyrics with bandmate Stud Green, and reveals a second album in the works.  And by the way, Shawn, you had me at Gillian Welch.

UPDATE and Special Note:  I was very excited to have the opportunity to talk with HT band member Melissa York, formerly (and currently) with several of the giants of feminist music  Team Dresch, The Butchies, and the Amy Ray band. She was unable to participate  in this interview, however, due to very important new parenting duties. Congratulations, Melissa,   now go get some sleep!

BB:  Your band has great breadth of talent among the 5 of you. I always love to hear
band formation stories. How did you all find each other, and what’s up with your band name? Did you sort through your sound fairly quickly or how has it evolved since you started playing together?

HT: First, we all want to extend big thanks to you for taking the time to talk with the band!

It might sound strange, but, I had no idea that I was going to suddenly become a singer/
songwriter at the age of 30.  I had played classical guitar competitively for almost 20
years, and the retired from that world in my early 20’s.  I had never sung before, never
written before..so when this all started happening I just asked my best friends for help. 
Some of have tons of musical background, and others were plain forced to be in the
band regardless of expertise—its always been pretty easy when we get together, b/c we
have all been friends for years and years—the hard part is that almost everyone lives in
a different city now—but that’s also a great thing, b/c we have little home bases all over
the country.

As far as the band name—it came from a little stream of consciousness exercise led
by our resident HT Phd, Kadji Amin.  The humble, describing how it feels to have this
unexpected and amazing opportunity, and the tripe, referring to the music being from my
heart/core/guts so to speak.    
   
BB:  North Carolina seems to have a very dynamic music scene. Is it the conflux of college intellectualism and country/Southern poetry, or what exactly is up with Durham at the moment? What is your favorite place to play in Durham?

HT: Durham is just a great place to be when it comes to music.  There is so much going on,
and at the same time, the community is so supportive.  When we first started, I had no idea how to use a microphone, how to plug in a guitar, how to book a show, how to record—and folks in this town were patient and helped me through all of this.  One thing I love about Durham, is that you can make music spaces most anywhere.  From porches to back yards, to barns, we love playing non-traditional performance spaces where folks
can gather and listen and have a good time, no matter where we end up.

BB:  For fans of my town’s favorite live music venue Eddie’s Attic, I see that you
participated in a shoot-out there recently, which folks should know is a very big honor.  I also note that you will be back in town this weekend at WonderRoot to perform live.  How do you find the Atlanta audience/scene compared to North Carolina?     

HT: We love Atlanta!! Actually, our first Humble Tripe show ever was at Mondo Homo
2009 under a tree in a park.  We’ve been really lucky here to have great support from the
queer community, and have been enjoying the growing support from the folk/Americana
scene too! Actually, the cross over between the two communities is one of things we love
the most about our Atlanta shows!

Being chosen to play the shootout at Eddie’s Attic was an honor!  We drank an entire
mini bottle of rescue remedy that day to calm our nerves, and in the end, it was so great
to meet other songwriters in the southeast region, and to develop relationships with other
music makers in Atlanta! Read the rest of this entry »