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Band Gets Peaceful, 'Uneasy' Feeling

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By CURTIS ROSS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 11, 2008

Updated: 09/12/2008 12:53 pm

TAMPA - The calm surface of Wild Sweet Orange's chamber folk-pop music is belied by its lyrics.

That juxtaposition works as a metaphor for the subjects explored by singer-lyricist Preston Lovinggood, who turns his eye to the manicured lawns and outward orderliness of upper-middle-class suburbia.

Lovinggood grew up in Homewood, a tony suburb of Birmingham, Ala., so he knows of which he writes.

"It's really a beautiful place to grow up," Lovinggood says by telephone from a tour stop in Baltimore. "The weirdest thing is people pushing their own wants but using the old 'God wants you to ...' approach. It makes things interesting."

Lovinggood and the other members of Wild Sweet Orange - bassist Garret Kelly, drummer Chip Kilpatrick and guitarist Taylor Shaw - met, in fact, at church choir practice.

Religion, its pervasiveness and influence on the people he knew growing up, is one source of Lovinggood's lyrics.

His lyrics often "deal with all that stuff: believing and not believing, the whole deal."

He's more reticent about his and his band mates' spirituality.

"We are just trying to make good music and be normal human beings," Lovinggood says. "A lot of time, religion can get in the way of humanity, and that's as far as we talk about it."

Lovinggood is more open when writing and singing. On the band's full-length debut, "We Have Cause To Be Uneasy," released in July, he dissects relationships with the ruthless skill of a surgeon. But even when the imagery is harsh, the band's music is sweet and gentle, the sound of sun filtered through autumn leafs.

"Yeah, that's kind of the goal, without knowing we were doing that," Lovinggood says. "I love those artists like Tom Waits who can sing about vulgar things but with the prettiest melodies."

Pop music, Lovinggood says, lets him say things he might not be able to otherwise.

"It's the idea of writing a letter to your hometown or to your parents or to yourself," Lovinggood says. "It's sometimes hard to deal with yourself, coming to an age where you deal with things from the past.

"We're talking to our hometown and our parents," Lovinggood says, "but we're doing it through songs. Pop music is like the Trojan horse."

Wild Sweet Orange is part of the lineup for WMNF's 29th Birthday Bash. Tampa's listener-supported radio station (88.5 FM) celebrates Saturday with an array of bands and musical styles on three stages at the Cuban Club.

The Birthday Bash coincides with the International Earthdance/Prayer for Peace, in which participants will listen to a recording of the prayer simultaneously at events around the world. WMNF's commemoration begins with a drum circle at 5:30 p.m.

CONCERT EVENT

WMNF's 29th

Birthday Bash

WITH: Wild Sweet Orange, The Explorers Club, Toubab Krewe, Carolyn Wonderland, Suenalo, The Dedringers, Bird Street Players, Christie Lenee's Funkgrass Groove, Tribal Style, Raiford Starke, Hybrid Groove and the Go-Go Nads

WHEN: 6 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Cuban Club, 2010 Avenida Republica de Cuba, Ybor City, Tampa; (813) 248-2954

COST: $23 in advance, $28 day of show

Curtis Ross can be reached at (813) 259-7568 or cross@tampatrib.com.

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