Artist: The Prickly Pair
Hometown: Santa Monica, California (Mason Summit), Berwyn, Pennsylvania (Irene Greene). Now Nashville, Tennessee
Latest Album: The Prickly Pair (EP)
Personal Nicknames (or rejected band names): Sharktooth Necklace
What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?
Last year, we were honored to take part in a tribute to one of our songwriting heroes, Gene Clark, produced by Carla Olson at McCabe’s Guitar Shop, where Mason used to work. It was thrilling to perform alongside Gene’s family and collaborators.
What other art forms – literature, film, dance, painting, etc. – inform your music?
We watch a lot of movies together – foreign films, ’40s and ’50s film noir, and horror. Often, we’ll be watching a movie and when a phrase or line of dialogue stands out to us, we turn to each other at the same time and say, “Write that down!”
We’ve also written songs based on true stories and real people. Our song “Wilderness” was partially inspired by Chris McCandless (Into the Wild) and our latest single, “Swamp Angel,” is about Helen Spence, also known as the Daughter of the White River.
Genre is dead (long live genre!), but how would you describe the genres and styles your music inhabits?
We like to call ourselves an “Angsty Americana” duo – twangy music with a dose of melancholy and fatalism. We also love the recently-popularized term “Y’allternative,” as Mason’s production on our records tends to have some lo-fi and psychedelic elements alongside more traditional country instrumentation. Gram Parsons conceptualized “Cosmic American Music” and that phrase resonates with us as well.
What is a genre, album, artist, musician, or song that you adore that would surprise people?
We love Amyl & the Sniffers and saw them put on a phenomenal show at Marathon Music Works in Nashville earlier this year.
What would a perfect day as an artist and creator look like to you?
It’s a great feeling to finish a song and perform it the very same night.
Photo Credit: Bridey Caramagno