Music flows like water in Mississippi, traveling through cities and towns, carrying local bands out into the world for all to see. This year at 20th annual Double Decker Arts Festival, one local band is flowing back to their roots right here in Oxford.
The Water Liars are kicking off Double Decker at 6 p.m. tomorrow live on the Oxford Square. Band member Andrew Bryant said he is excited to take part in a festival he grew up with.
“Being from these parts, I’ve known about DD for years. I’ve been to a couple. I saw Deer Tick and Felice Brothers when they were here,” said Bryant. “I’m really excited to play for the first time.”
Bryant, who grew up just 30 miles outside of Oxford, began playing music at about age 13. Before long, he started making his own records from his bedroom and touring when and where he could in the early 2000’s, before Oxford had developed its independent music scene.
“Most of my early exposure came from church music, but as a teen I got into punk and started playing in bands involved in primarily the Memphis punk/DIY scene,” Bryant said.
In the mid-2000’s Bryant met up with bandmate Justin Kinkel-Schuster for the first time and, just a few years later, the Water Liars were born.
“I met Justin in about 2005 when I was playing a show in St Louis,” Bryant said. “We became friends, and later got together in 2011 when we made the first Water Liars record, Phantom Limb. We were both a little bummed with what we were doing at the time and that’s how this band started.”
Water Liars has a rare sound – a real jewel of the South. Whatever miracle united the Water Liars continues to inspire them to produce that music that isn’t just “good southern music” but truly great. Their voices and melodies flow effortlessly together, their lyrics are honest and soulful. Think Mumford and Sons, but with a purer sound.
“I don’t really know how to describe our sound. I’d say just rock and roll, I guess,” said Bryant. “We’re all about ‘the song’. When we perform we like to put on a good show. We really like to let loose and get loud.”
“Loose” may not be the right way to describe what it’s like listen to the Water Liars perform, however. “Liberating” might be more fitting because that is how nearly every song the Water Liars have produced feels. Their newest self-titled LP, released in February of this year, does a fantastic job of capturing a snapshot of the Water Liars’ soul. Besides having several just plain catchy tacks, songs like “Let it Breathe” and “I Want Blood” possess a certain element of honesty just isn’t found in every Southern-Rock band. Water Liars is the kind of record you listen to over and over in the car on road trips; friendly, familiar and exactly what you want to hear.
“We’re really proud of our self-titled album,” Bryant said. “We feel like it reflects where we’ve been and where we’re going. I think it most nearly represents our live sound as well.”
The boys are grateful to be back in town for the festival, Bryant said.
“We’re looking forward to seeing all our friends and family and hopefully eating at Big Bad Breakfast.”
