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Scene report: Jypsi
Bluesy (mostly) girl band Jypsi pulled in a toe-tapping crowd at the BMI stage Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Despite the mud on their legs and in their hair, fans started smiling and swaying to the tunes when the versatile bluegrass rock band’s bow hit the fiddle strings.
The band, comprised of sisters — fiddle player Amber Dawn, lead vocalist Lillie Mae and mandolin player Scarlett Rische — along with their guitar playing brother Frank Rische, played hit singles from the past, including “Love is a Drug” and “I Don’t Love You Like That,” along with their newly released single “Mister Officer.”
“This crowd was super responsive,” said Amber-Dawn, at 27, the eldest of the Rische clan. “We definitely want to come back to Austin. What’s not to like about the place?”
The band is a veteran of SXSW and Bonnaroo, but it was their first ACL festival. The siblings were born in northwestern Illinois and started singing as toddlers, when their father decided to start a family band. The family moved to the Carolinas and eventually to Nashville. They played trailer parks in the Grand Canyon area — and just about any gig they could get as kids, building up a growing legion of fans throughout the South.
Still young, aged 17 to 27, the band tempts new fans into thinking of them as an overnight success. That’s a misconception.
“We’ve been doing this since we were born almost,” Amber-Dawn said. “It’s been a long, long road.”
Belting out lyrics like “Anything boys can do, girls can do better,” the foursome attracted a good number of young women to their audience mix. But full-bodied voices, killer blues song leads and rock-solid instrumentation pulled in a balance of testosterone.
The band slowed down a bit mid-set for a version of the Beatles “I Will” that would have given the Fab Four a run for their money. They followed the tune with crowd-pleasing, wild-paced trademark bluegrass songs. It was a bit like watching the Dixie Chicks with a dude on board.
Only fresher.
Four siblings in a band together for life — that seems like a sure prescription for altercation, but Scarlett said the band has worked out a way to blend their creative perspectives.
“We are individuals,” she said. “We always start with four different opinions. But, in the end, we compromise. When we put out a song, it’s something we are all happy with.”
Jypsi has a newly released video of “Mister Officer” out and is recording a new album with producer Nathan Chapman. The band will be touring the Northeast through mid-November, when they will begin a tour of the South with Darius Rucker, lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish.
Roy Mata photo
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By Rocco
October 13, 2009 9:49 AM | Link to this
Memo to Nathan, Please find them some killer tunes.