The Ettes
4:40pm, BMI stage
Since their 2006 debut, Shake the Dust, the Ettes have gone from fully teased girl group to full-force rock & roll machine. Touring nonstop the last couple years might have something to do with the polish. Between opening for the Dead Weather this year and recording a fourth album in London recently, the Nashville quartet’s had little downtime. So let’s add a side project, too.
<The Parting Gifts teams Ettes singer/guitarist Lindsay "Coco" Hames with Greg Cartwright of Reigning Sound and the Raconteurs' Patrick Keeler on drums, as well as Ettes drummer Maria "Poni" Silver. Their November debut, Strychnine Dandelion, makes for another inspired pairing on L.A. indie In the Red.
“I worship Greg, obviously,” says Hames. “Everything from the Oblivians and [Compulsive] Gamblers to Reigning Sound and the stuff he did for Mary Weiss and his solo stuff. To me he’s the greatest living American songwriter, unless Carl Perkins is still alive, though I know Roy Orbison isn’t!
“Luckily he likes me back and has always been supportive and collaborative. We were just going to do this 45 together – one of his songs, one of mine – but then he’s like, ‘Well, write two just in case, and I’ll write two.’ Then, just before he came to Nashville, he’s like, ‘Fuck it, I’ve got four.’ So I was like, ‘Shit! I’ll write two more then, jeez!'”
As for the upcoming Ettes album, Hames is equally enthusiastic.
“It’s full-on Joe Meek early heavy metal beat-punk barn dance. It’s really tight but really heavy, with a lot going on.”
This article appears in October 8 • 2010.