The Head and The Heart with Bryan John Appleby perform this Friday at The Depot.
Jonathan Russell (vocals, guitar, percussion) of The Head and The Heart, as well as opening act Bryan John Appleby, both left the places where they were born and raised to came to Seattle with dreams of success. In a Tribune interview, Russell said spending $700 to drive away from Virginia was the right decision. "Richmond didn’t really have a music scene," he said. He expected the scene to be full of bands such as Modest Mouse and The Shins, but Seattle proved to be a bustling breeding ground for alt-country songs like his, and in 2009 the quintet was created. After selling more than 10,000 copies of its self-released debut, the band signed with respected label Sup Pop as it developed a reputation as a strong live band. The band is playing new songs, though because all of the musicians are writers, the new songs might not appear officially. "Who knows if these new songs will be on the new record," he said. "We can’t play the same 10 songs over and over." Appleby grew up in the bucolic hamlet of Santa Cruze, Calif., but left to go with his band to Seattle. That band quickly dissolved, and Appleby found himself relishing the chance to write his own material. "I had only been 20 percent of the writing process," he said in a Tribune interview about his defunct band. "I wondered if I would be able to make 100 percent of the decisions."
When • Friday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m.
Where • The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City
Tickets • $20 at SmithsTix
