Culture & Entertainment Notebook: Jamestown Revival sets sail for Shipyard Fest

Jamestown Revival, a Texas-born, "back porch" duo, is headlining Saturday's seven-band Shipyard Music Festival at Ivers Square.

Longtime friends Zach Chance and Jonathan Clay make up the duo. Chance said it formed when he and Clay moved to California from Austin, Texas.

Clay and Chance spearhead the duo, but depending on where their next venue takes them, there are other band members who also perform with them, Chance said.

"It's a duo at its core; we've just added pieces and family members along the way," he said.

Chance said he is ready for the Shipyard Festival.

"Any time you can put us near some water in a cool setting, we'll be there," he said.

Chance said every festival has a different vibe, "but the more intimate festivals tend to have a little more heart to them."

He feels drawn to Saturday's festival because "it feels a little more communal."

Chance said music festivals are becoming more popular because they allow music lovers to feel like they're part of something bigger.

"It's definitely a communal-type thing, as opposed to just staring at our phones or our screens all day," he said.

Shipyard will offer a chance to step away from distractions and breathe some outdoor air, eat some food, have some drinks and share in that experience, he said.

Jamestown Revival's set list for the show will include songs from their first two records, he said.

Chance said they plan out a set list the day of a concert, not beforehand, and just "go with what we're feelin'."

Both Chance and Clay typically write most of the songs, Chance said, as he described their sound as more of a "folk rock, 'Southern and Garfunkle.'"

They're also both fans of country, rock, and are "big fans of harmonies," from artists such as the Everly Brothers.

"I think at its core, a lot of the stuff we do is acoustic. A lot of times, if Jon and I are writing, it's just with an acoustic guitar," Chance said. "We'll blow it out when we need to or want to and make it more electric."

"And to be honest, we were pretty heavy into Credence (Clearwater Revival) at the time, so we just borrowed a part of their name," he said.

Chance said the majority of this year has been spent writing and recording a new record in Colorado. The band's first album was recorded in Utah in a cabin, Chance said.

They hope to release their newest album during the early part of next year, he said.

"Jon and I have since then moved back to Austin," he said. "We did the last one in a little farmhouse in Austin, and we found this cabin in Colorado that we just recorded in, so we're in the process of finishing that."

With each album, Chance said they always try to take a different approach, so the newest one will have "a lot of the same vibe" the first record had, but with the addition of "more textures."

Chance said when the band released "Utah," its first record, the song "California" really started to get some traction, around 2013.

He said that was the first time the band could start touring the country "and people would show up." Before that, he said, it was "like begging different bars to let us play."

Chance said, "It's a weird feeling, because you're like, 'Wait, they're here for us?'"

For Saturday's show, Chance said they will sprinkle in a few songs from other artists they're fans of, some of their own and "maybe a couple new ones."

It's fun to play other people's songs because it allows you to appreciate what good art other people have made, Chance said.

"This is our first time in Cape Girardeau, so I am excited to see that part of the world. That's another fun thing with music, " he said. "You end up going to these places, and you get to get a sample of how people live all over the country and different parts of the world."

Additional information and tickets can be found at shipyardfest.com.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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