Local Natives And LEAGUES Join Up To Delight Nashville

Small, intimate venues can kiss Local Natives goodbye. They’re ready for amphitheater settings, as they recently proved at Live on the Green, a weekly series of free, outdoor concerts hosted by the city of Nashville and its favorite independent radio station, Lightning 100. Local Natives commanded a huge stage and all the bodies that could cram into Public Square Park where the concert was held, a reported record-breaking 15,000. Illustrious harmonies and the percussive glory of double drum kits rang over thousands of heads bobbing in unison. All present were thrilled to be hearing the beloved group for free.

Local Natives were the main event, but plenty of people were there for LEAGUES, an indie pop rock outfit making music in the same vein as Local Natives. Their catchy song “Spotlight” has had commercial success on indie radio airwaves. Their show wonderfully dovetailed into Local Natives’ set. Even though they’ve been a band for less than a year, LEAGUES played with all of the high-energy confidence and dynamic tightness of a band such as Local Natives that has been playing together for many years.

We spoke with LEAGUES’ drummer, Jeremy Lutito, and lead guitarist, Tyler Burkum, before the show. They told us that despite touring hard, they still love playing their songs. “Magic” might be the band’s favorite, but they also told us why they aren’t tired of their songs: “We made our record so fast that the songs are new for us too. We enjoy it with a similar perspective as the people who are hearing it for the first time. We like playing and seeing people’s reactions who haven’t heard us before.”

The audience members who hadn’t heard LEAGUES were in for a treat. Most of their set included songs off their debut album released last spring. Lead singer Thad Cockrell’s bright tenor voice hit all of the many high notes with precision. “Spotlight” along with “Walking Backwards” and “Haunted” lifted the crowd’s mood and energy to a level befitting the lovely summer evening.

As night settled over the Nashville skyline visible from Public Square Park, the band appropriately played a groovy, electric guitar-soaked version of “Lay Lady Lay” (from Bob Dylan’s record Nashville Skyline). LEAGUES told BestNewBands.com that, “The support Nashville has given us is why we’re still a band,” so perhaps this song was sung in homage to their hometown.

They also expressed an appreciation for Local Natives: “We discovered Local Natives because their record released the same day as ours. I heard about it, and went out and bought it,” Burkum told us. “We’ve been listening to it on the road while touring since then. That makes it cool to be playing with them right now. I’m excited to finish playing our set so that I can hear Local Natives play.”

Burkum’s eagerness to both play and listen was all to appropriate, as his own band is climbing to the same point of prestige at which Local Natives stand.

LEAGUES and Local Natives are continuing on their own separate tours. There’s no word on if they’ll reconnect, but judging by their Live on the Green show, it isn’t a far-fetched wish.

Photo: Amber Davis

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Caroline McDonald

My first memory is of singing Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” quietly to myself during preschool naptime. Perhaps it’s because I’m from Nashville where an instrument lives in every home, but music has gripped me for as long as I can remember.

After dabbling in many parts of the music industry—recording studios, PR, management, labels, publishing—I’m expanding into music journalism because I’m yet to find anything more rewarding that finding and sharing new music.

A longtime sucker for girls with guitars, my musical taste unabashedly follows the songwriting lineage of Dolly Parton and includes Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch, and Neko Case. But not to pigeonhole myself, my music love is big love that stretches from R.L. Burnside to Animal Collective to Lord Huron.

I’ve recently moved home to Nashville after living in Boston and Big Sur for several years. I’d forgotten how music pours onto the streets ten hours a day, seven days a week. I’m honored to share the creative explosion happening here. If your band is in the area or of the area, please reach out!