For today's Artist Spotlight, we had the opportunity to interview The Stone Foxes, a San Francisco based band who's music straddles Southern influenced alt-rock and blues. Overall, we'd describe them as music you can raise a little hell to. With guitar solos aplenty in their music and harmonica playing that wails like a banshee, The Stone Foxes' music is just downright fun. Having already supported bands like The Black Keys and Cage the Elephant, they are definitely a band on the rise. The members of the band are Shannon Koehler - Vocals/Harmonica/Drums, Vince Dewald - Vocals/Bass/Guitar, Ben Andrews - Guitar/Violin/Vocals, Brian Bakalian - Drums/Bass/Guitar/Vocals, Elliott Peltzman - Keys/Vocals, Spence Koehler - Guitar/Vocals. With that being said, let's get some insight into this fantastic group from the group themselves!
The Stone Foxes began with brothers Spencer and Shannon Koehler who started playing music together when they were 14 and 12 respectively. They then started playing with friends in college in San Francisco, sometimes in venues that were small, other times in places with microphones that would shock you when you sang into them. Nevertheless, The Stone Foxes have come a long way and are currently on tour across the West Coast and Southern United States.
Regarding their songwriting process, the band noted that music comes typically when their mind is at rest, in the shower or on the train. The ideas start small and build as they involve more members of the band until they play it with the entire outfit and see how well it works. The process is completely collaborative in nature.
The band noted that some of their influences include: Bob Dylan and The Band for lyrics, Dr. Dre for sounds, and if they are looking for an inspiration for live music, they use Jim James from My Morning Jacket.
The Stone Foxes want the public to know that their "Music hits hard, it grooves, it takes you for a ride, and it's all about love, peace, and social justice". The Stone Foxes just released a new single called "City on the Water", for which they collaborated with the Oakland School of the Arts Choir, Oona Garthwaite, Kelly McFarling, and Anna Jack. The song is about how complicated their relationship with their home town San Francisco, particularly because many residents are pushed out due to the cost of housing. A trend that the band says is happening across the country (we agree). The Stone Foxes are a band that brings the heat both on the music front and when it comes to important political and social issues. They are band you definitely need to give a shot, you won't be disappointed.
FMI check out their site: http://www.thestonefoxes.com/
Songs we'd recommend are: "I'm King Bee", "Young Man", and "City on the Water".