This past Wednesday, Brackety-Ack had an exciting opportunity to have a special preshow interview with the ragtag indie-folk performers themselves, Bandits on the Run! Consistenting of Adrian Blake Enscoe, Sydney Shepard, and Regina Strayhorn, these incredibly talented musicians have embarked on a tour in commemoration of their most recent album: Rough Magic. In fact, their most recent upcoming performance is right here in the Star City of Roanoke, The Spot on Kirk at 22 Kirk Avenue Southwest, Roanoke, VA 24011. Be sure to get your tickets on their website by clicking this link! Here’s what the band had to say in response to our questions regarding their origins, passion for music, and inspiration for their latest album:
Q1: Where did the name “Bandits on the Run” come from?
Enscoe: When we started out, we were out busking by the subway, being a bunch of flippant theatre kids. That’s when I said, “we should all start having characters and do traincar holdups on the subway in New York!” We liked it because it was a way of making mischief and inviting a sense of magic in a space that most people trudge through on their daily commute. We got to make it into a magical place for a second. That’s also kind of where our title for the album – Rough Magic – came from. Just trying to find the magic in these little, everyday moments and transform everyday actions into something really meaningful.
Q2: How did you all fall in love with folk music, and what made you realize you wanted to create your own?
Shepard: We all come from different musical backgrounds, upbringings and explorations. I think for me, I was really into musicals growing up. What I liked about them was storytelling, and from there I sort of started to get into folk and indie music as a teenager. The honesty in folk music coupled with the storytelling with musical theatre really helped me dive in and take a big interest in folk music as a whole.
Strayhorn: The directness of folk music allows you to connect with people. With that being the mission of folk music, it’s really inspiring to me. When we started our band, we were really tapped into that while we were busking because it was super immediate with strangers. We met them, they became fans, friends, and then that would spiral into more and more shows. Those themes of being together, telling the truth, and connecting with each other was always incredible to me.
Q3: What did the creative process look like when creating Rough Magic?
Strayhorn: Well, the process was sort of seasonal, kind of. We did it in three sort of major chunks, moving from the house in the Catskill mountains to Thumb Studio in Greenpoint for a little bit, then back to the Catskills. During that time, we were working on other shows, touring, and wrote a handful of songs for the album. We were really, you know, in the sort of details and spirit of Rough Magic; writing songs and then playing them out over and over and over again, rehearsing the heck out of them and knowing them intimately inside and out. For this album, we were really crafting the songs in the studio in a more fresh sense as we were writing them. That was a different artistic process for us that was very exciting.
Q4: What is your favorite part about being on-stage together?
Strayhorn: I love getting the best seat in the house to see how talented Sydney and Adrian are. I really do feel like that. No, it’s true. Sometimes, I feel like I float out of my body and it just feels really good to, you know, harmonize and play together in the way that we do.
Enscoe: I love – when this does happen – when you play the song 10 million times, it feels like something different happens and something is unlocked and you’re like,”Wow, I never knew that the song could be like that!” Those surprises really do happen. Or like, you know, we’ll have a certain way of introducing a song that we’re accustomed to with each other’s rhythms while introducing something. And then someone will say something that they’ve truly never said before. And you’re like, “What? Really?” So there’s always surprises. It’s such a privilege.
Shepard: This is our little road family and we, you know, we just get to be a family band and kind of see what happens everywhere we go!
Q5: What do you hope to see, do, or accomplish at your upcoming performance in Roanoke?
Strayhorn: We just want to meet you! Honestly, you know, I think I’m excited to be in Roanoke and feel the vibe of the town. We’ve never played at this venue before, and so we’ve never played in Roanoke either.
Enscoe: I remember being at Floyd Fest a couple years ago, and we drove past the freight yards, so my experience at Roanoke is just the train stations mainly. There are cool coffee shops here, there’s post-industrial stuff that’s going on, and it feels really artistic. I’m really, really excited to come back and say hi to everybody!
Their newest album Rough Magic as well as the rest of their music are available on all streaming sites such as Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and more. Be sure to catch Bandits on the Run in their upcoming performance in downtown Roanoke September 12th, this Saturday, 8:00PM on The Spot on Kirk!
Zachary Bayers
Editor-in-Chief
