You Won’t Opens for Lucius at The High Watt

Nashville – You Won’t caught our attention in 2012 with the release of Skeptic Goodbye. It’s an album built from punchy, idiosyncratic percussion and equally as punchy, audacious lyricism. It was an album that Josh Arnoudse and Raky Sastri made together before they were officially a band, before they’d booked shows or built a fan base or checked off any of the boxes that bands usually do before they cut a record. But why should artists confine themselves to a formula? You Won’t have cut their own path, and it’s led them to an opening slot with Lucius on a month long tour. The High Watt in Nashville was their second stop.

Arnoudse came on stage slinging something around and around above his head. Nothing like a little danger to get the crowd’s attention. The supposed weapon turned out to be a child’s play instrument, something officially called a Sound Hose. The audience looked like bobble-heads trying to see the other strange instruments that You Won’t brought along. Smartphones were lit up as much to take pictures as to Google search the strange box making melodies (a harmonium) and the wobbly sound made with a violin bow (a musical saw).

Raky Sastri is something of a one-man band with his menagerie of instruments. In addition to harmonium and musical saw, he plays drums, harmonica, glockenspiel, and more, oftentimes all at once. The variety of whirs and thumps suits Sastri and Arnoudse’s personalities and songs. They have a serious message, but they say it with a dose of humor.

Close to the end of the set, they brought their “brother” and “cousin” on stage to sing a Broadway-style song with lyrics that went something like, “F*** TV. F*** TV!” Wind chimes and grandiose harmonies made the situation even funnier and more bizarre.

Sans their “brother/cousin,” You Won’t closed their set on a more serious note with “Three Car Garage” off Skeptic Goodbye. The last line of the song is, “Tell me, are you not the same as me? Did you pay your dues in Little League? Did you wash your hands of blood and greed and stumble back in time of need? You are clever imitation mined from photographs and DVDs. You are subtle repetition tied to thirty-two inch plasma screens. It’s a delusion, babe.”

Ouch? Perhaps the crowd should have felt offended at the set’s close. Hopefully everyone was more impressed with the rhythm of Arnoudse’s words than their accusatory cynicism. He has a flair for harnessing the intrinsic beat of words. His talent dovetails with Sastri’s percussive skills, and this is what sets You Won’t apart amongst myriad up-and-coming indie bands.

They have a new album in the works from which they played a small sampling at their show. The songs sounded promising. This band won’t be kept a secret if the new album is as good as their last.

They’ve come a long way since they nonchalantly recorded Skeptic Goodbye. Since that release, they’ve had auspicious showings at SXSW and CMJ. Now they’re selling out smaller venues across America. Of course, touring with Lucius doesn’t hurt ticket sales.

Lucius’s set that followed You Won’t was more mind-blowing than any hyperbole can describe. It’s no wonder that Lucius’s Wildewoman won BestNewBand.com’s Album of the Year. The fact that You Won’t is touring with such talent is a testament to their upward mobility. If you’re lucky enough to catch the pair’s show, you can count on an evening of intimacy, weirdness, laughs, and awe. You’ll leave with the sort of delightful hum in your body that comes from music or art that stretches beyond ordinary.

Photo by Graham Zinger – Thumbnail By Grace Donnelly

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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!