Photograph by Kevin A. Roberts
Ask most bands how they feel about their most recent releases, and you’re likely to hear stories of satisfaction and happiness. That’s true of Cave States. Ask most bands how quickly they want to get going on the next project, and they’ll say, “Immediately.” That, too, is true of Cave States.
The band’s songs often originate individually, through one of the group’s primary songwriters and guitarists, Chris Grabau and Danny Kathriner. Those tracks are then workshopped by keyboardist Todd Schnitzer and pedal steel player John Higgins. In time, other contributors—including bassist Eric Hensley, drummer Joey Dresslaer, and singer/songwriter Stephanie Stewart—add more layers through their own instrumental touches.
Speaking of the group’s most recent work, True Life, Grabau says that it’s another step in “building a body of work we’ve been making separately and together for a few decades now.”
Though not a straight-line effort, the band was born, somewhat, from the groups Half Knots and Magnolia Summer, bands in which Cave States’ songwriters took part. Though the “Americana” tag is typically hung on the group, the band name-checks such unexpected acts as The Vulgar Boatmen and The Feelies, cult bands that put a premium on clever songcraft.
Despite the group’s reasonably expansive seven-member lineup (which can vary, depending on the show), theirs isn’t a “busy” sound.
“We are very conscious of having a lot of space,” Kathriner says. “The irony is that we have seven people, but it’s like with Stephanie: She doesn’t bring an instrument, and she doesn’t sing on everything—but when she does, it adds so much.”
The band has been thinking for awhile about what comes next.
“There’s been some talk of doing stuff as a full band, this iteration or variant of what we’re doing,” Grabau says. “We’ll see how the new songs go from the start.”
With four of the band’s seven members being teachers, this summer affords them more free time—before their schedules ramp up again this fall.
“We wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t an important thing for us,” Grabau says. “No one comes to practice moseying on in. After making music for 20-plus years, you do have to think this is important.”
Hear cuts from the new record, and keep up on Cave States’ concert dates, at cavestatesmusic.com.
Pick Three
A glance at the group’s membership hints at the deep catalog of cuts and recordings in which they’ve been involved:
John Higgins: The band’s pedal steel player has been active since the 1970s, including time with Homegrown Harvest Band, River City Rhythm, The Evening Whirl, The Flying Mules, and The Missouri Rounders. He’s also taken part in two educational programs for The Sheldon, “Folk Music in the Melting Pot” and “Lewis and Clark.”
Todd Schnitzer: The group’s keyboardist was a multi-instrumentalist in the group Nadine, a band that toured all over the U.S. and also had a fanbase in Europe.
Eric Hensley: The bassist’s other bands include Fly Everywhere, Billy & the Jets, and Autumn Clock, one of the key groups to come out of the fertile Alton rock scene of the ’90s.
