The Highway Stops By For Interview

The Highway (L-R: Jason Adams, Dominick Cole, Vince Brown, Jon Potter)

The Highway is one of my favorite local bands performing around the Indianapolis area. I had a chance to catch them during a short break before their next gig at Lizard's (Madison and Thompson Avenues) on October 25th. The band's lead guitarist, Vince Brown, sat down with me to talk about their music, live performances, and what they see in their future.

Q. First off, tell me about the guys in the band and how you got together.

A. There's Jason, who sings and plays guitar, Dominick, the bassist, and Jon is the drummer. Jason, Dominick and I have known each other since grade school. Dominick actually lived next door to me growing up in Whiteland. Jon, we've only know for a couple of years, but we've become great friends and now we share a house, which makes it a lot easier to write songs and practice together.

Q. Who are some of your influences?

A. Oh, god, I listen to everything from acoustic to rap. I'd probably say early influences would be The Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, among others.

Q. What about favorite guitarists?

A.  Well, there's a lot of them, of course.  Lately, I've been listening to Minus The Bear's guitarist, Dave Knudson, who has an interesting neck tapping method which sounds cool. I also have been into Incubus for awhile and I think Michael Einzinger is very talented. I can listen to a lot of different styles and appreciate their talent.  Even with older guitarists like Brian May of Queen (he) uses some amazing harmonic effects when playing.

Q. So, what is the music of The Highway like?

A. Oh, we mix in a little of everything from acoustic to heavy rock. We have several songs that go from a softer acoustic sound to a rocker part and back and forth like that. We like to change it up and try different things. Our sound just keeps evolving.

Q. What are your favorite places to perform live?

A. We seem to get a great reception everywhere we go. We had some terrific concerts at Birdy's and U of I this year. We recently played Lizard's and Whit's Inn and had great crowds there. We try to have something for everyone in our setlists by including songs with different styles and tempos. We're always adding our new songs and trying them out live, plus we also play a lot of covers for people to dance to. 

Q. Besides the live shows, what else will you guys be up to this year?

A. Record another CD soon, maybe at Upper Room Studios. We have the one (self titled CD) out and we've been getting a lot of response to it. We're hoping to get some more equipment next year and add in some new sounds on the next one.

Q. Where do you see yourself and the band in five years?

A. Well, I would hope to be playing more places outside of Indy. Also, I expect we will be signed with a label by then and have a bigger distribution chain for our CD's. Musically, we will always be changing and experimenting with new ideas, as long as we keep our music accessible for everyone, but not in a totally crappy commerical way. You know what I mean?

Unfortunately, yes, I do. Thanks to Vince for the interview. Their self titled CD The Highway is available at Luna Music in Broad Ripple.

You can listen to their new CD and other songs on their web site. Here's a couple of songs to download:

Where Will You Run To?

Sunday Driving

Enjoy, GB