St Patrick's Party With Chamomile & Whiskey and The Currys

Chamomile and Whiskey came about like all good, simple things--by making two things into one.  In the case of this group, Marie Borgman and Koda Kerl--native musicians of Nelson County, Virginia--combined chamomile tea with Evan Williams whiskey one evening.  They decided that what they had made tasted like their sound.

     Although the group has evolved since forming in 2011, it, like the subtle mixture of herbal tea and whiskey, has matured and found its own sly, subtle voice.  If a band has feet, then Chamomile and Whiskey has both on them firmly on the ground.  But if a band is a living thing like a plant--which the best bands are--Chamomile and Whiskey has grown from roots set deep in Americana,  blues, Celtic, old-time and the singer-songwriter tradition of the south.  

     The group has developed a more electric sound with Drew Kimball on guitar and enhanced the foundational fiddle and guitar sound with drummer Stuart Gunter. Their last studio album was recorded in 2019 in Nashville by Ken Coomer of Wilco and Uncle Tupelo. It sounds like music that is lived in and lived through.  Their sound tastes like Chamomile and Whiskey.
 

The Currys have been staking their claim within the indie music scene since 2013, when vocalist/guitarist Tommy Curry quit his teaching job and moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, to join the harmony-based folk-rock outfit newly formed by brother Jimmy Curry (vocals, guitar) and cousin Galen Curry (vocals, bass). The band have since written and released several full-length albums, including: their debut Follow (2014), called “eye-opening, but warmly familiar” by Earmilk, and whose title track is “one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard” (Todd Moe of NCPR); sophomore effort West of Here (2016), with its “tight-as-a-rubber-band” harmonies and “infectious” songwriting (PopMatters); and the expansive, self-produced This Side of the Glass (2019). 

During the pandemic, The Currys took the opportunity to explore different avenues of creativity. In 2020 the trio launched a podcast, This Side of the Mic, to showcase songs and share some laughs and insights. The band leveraged their down-time into writing and demoing dozens of new tracks, polishing their production chops and collaborating with fellow creators to expand their sound. The singles they released through 2021, such as pop/R&B track “Man On the Side” and Graceland-inspired “Last Night,” pushed the boundaries of their previous catalog.

In the spring of 2023 the three Currys were joined by Sebastian Green (drums), Sam Whedon (guitar), and Alex Rees (keys) to begin production on their fourth studio album. Keepers, released in October 2023, represents another step in the band’s evolution, pairing the lush, three-part harmony that marks any Currys project with a more guitar-driven, indie pop aesthetic. The album pays homage to the band’s many influences, with tracks evoking Sgt. Pepper’s, coffee house open mics, the lush production of Fleet Foxes, and a dash of dreamy shoegaze. Keepers is an honest next step for a group with an appetite for exploration.

In 2024, The Currys began to offer international music tours, with an eye toward helping fans explore new destinations and enjoy intimate performances along the way. To date, the trio has led several trips to Cuba, Guatemala, and the Galapagos. The Currys also released a holiday album in November 2024 entitled Christmas with The Currys, featuring both original music and old classics. The band is currently writing and recording their fifth full-length studio album.