Kat Myers & The Buzzards Announce New Album, ‘Owe Everybody Money,’ Premiere “So Kind”
Tara Joan
Posted On August 24, 2017
In 2012, Kat Myers had a solid, stable job in New York City, a steady, long-term relationship, a great apartment, and a dog. She thought she might even get engaged before too long. “This is about to be my life,” Myers thought. For many people, checking off these boxes would be enough. But Myers wanted something more. She ultimately ended the relationship, quit her job, packed everything she owned into her parents’ Ford Explorer, drove back to her native Ohio, and from there bought a one-way ticket to Southeast Asia. “I had to figure something else out,” she says of her mindset at the time. “I wasn’t sure what was next, but I knew I wasn’t happy, and that I had to make a major change in my life.”
Music—something Myers had always loved but never pursued professionally—turned out to be the answer. “A friend from high school had told me, ‘If you don’t put music into your life and make it part of your daily ritual, then you’re going to be deeply regretful,’” she recalls. “I just started crying. I was like, ‘That bitch.’ She was right.”
Upon returning from a life-changing six months in Asia, where she “realized that you don’t have to do what your parents think you should do; that there are other paths,” Myers landed in Los Angeles on an extended layover and decided to stick around and start chasing her dream. She was unemployed and uncertain of the future, but she had a notebook full of sincere, quick-witted tunes and started playing solo gigs. In the dive bars of L.A., and on the road in California, Myers assembled an undeniably simpatico collection of musicians to support her—guitarist Elliott Beenk, drummer Johnny Elkins and bassist Jeff McElroy—and Kat and the Buzzards were born, an indie-Americana quartet anchored by Myers’ spirited, bell-clear alto. The Buzzards—named for Myers’ favorite classic-rock station, growing up in Cleveland, WMMS “The Buzzard”—cut their teeth playing a residency at kitschy-but-cool downtown L.A. beer hall, The Escondite, and have since played more than 200 shows.
Now, the quartet is preparing for their forthcoming debut EP, Owe Everybody Money, due November 17th. Produced by Nashville heavyweight Vance Powell (Jack White, Old 97’s, Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson), Owe Everybody Money is a classic, country-tinged Laurel Canyon rock & roll record dripping with anthemic choruses, sun-dappled harmonies & rolling guitar hooks which can be heard right from the get go with opening track “Reluctant Love.” “Under the Rug” is a shuffling, endlessly groovy, psych-tinged West Coast two-step, and “The Things I Love” is a roadhouse rowdy, highway-cruising alt-country anthem that begs you to mash the gas and speed off toward the horizon. Myers’ voice is as expressive as it gets on the latter, howling in impassioned conversation with guitarist Beenk’s wailing, space-echo slide guitar. Owe Everybody Money wraps with “So Kind,” a pedal-steel-dusted, heart-on-sleeve ballad about falling in love with a good-hearted scoundrel where Myers (singing in a voice calling to mind Chrissie Hynde) says,“You’re rough around the edges but you’re so kind to me.”
Kat relays the story behind the song, which you can stream above, “When you’re young, it’s easy to attribute butterflies and heart flutters as feelings of being in love, when half the time it’s actually anxiety and your gut telling you that this is not the person for you. Being kind is unfortunately not the only thing that is necessary for a lasting relationship. As you grow older, you realize that there’s a lot more to a relationship than just a thrill. Someone dark and brooding isn’t as interesting as someone intelligent and emotionally stable. But it’s definitely fun to make those mistakes and it’s important because they form who we become later in life and who we choose to be with. This song is a glimpse into what life would be like to stay with one of those less than savory characters.
One theme on this record is growing up and growing out of things. Whether it be religious beliefs or bad relationships, we all need to try things out to see what works for us. Some people get lucky and get things right the first time, but I think for most of us it takes many years and many mistakes. For me, many of those years and many of those mistakes became songs :).”
