It's True! Whoop-Di-Doo

Last Sunday I had the chance to stop by the Barley Street Tavern for It's True!'s Big Whoop-Di-Doo. This party was put together by the boys in It's True!, along with The Reader, as a way to celebrate before heading down to Austin for SXSW. It was meant to be a listening party for the new album before it was actually released. Also, John P. Campbell showed some of his work-in-progress footage for the It's True! documentary he's been working on. Finally, the night concluded with a performance by the band. Tickets for the event were $15 (a lot for most of the shows in Benson, BST especially), but that price included the documentary viewing, a preview of the new album, a live performance, and an advanced copy of the new album once it's completed, delivered to a place of your choosing.

Let me just say, the price was well worth it. If all went according to plan, they only sold about 65 tickets to the event. When I arrived around 8:30, the place was already pretty full. People mingled while the new album played in the background. The back room of the Barley was arranged so people could sit and listen and chat and take in the music. Though I thought the album sounded great, I can't wait to get a copy so I can listen to it at home.

Next came John Campbell's documentary. He reminded us that he still had a few kinks to be worked out (since he didn't have the proper video editing software) and that it wasn't really a trailer for the documentary as much as it was a few things he'd cut together to give folks a good idea about what he'd been shooting with the band. Even though what Campbell showed was unfinished I was happy with what I saw. The 'film' included intimate footage of the band on tour; in the van and on the road, inside homes performing after hours shows, in the studio and on stage. Also included were some great interviews from the boys from It's True! - Adam, Kyle, Andrew, Karl, and Matt. There was also some great stuff from the band The Haunted Windchimes, who will be playing at the It's True! CD release next month.


(video by Beck Lowri)

Finally, there was the performance. The band was great, as usual. That being said, I think Kyle said it best when he said that it felt like they were playing a corporate event. Even though the boys put on a great show, the energy in the crowd seemed low. It could have been the fact that it was a Sunday night show, or that they'd already played the entire album, or that the band was preoccupied with the looming prospect of the road and their upcoming SXSW performances, but something seemed a bit off. I'm hoping that once the boys have Austin behind them, and everything has been finished with the album pressing, things should be back to full energy level in time for the CD release at the Waiting Room on April 30th.



If you haven't seen The Haunted Windchimes, I'd say they're reason enough to go out to the show that night. They're a great band with a unique sound. I saw them play Brad Hoshaw's CD release last year and they nearly stole the show.

All in all, it was a great night of music with great friends and a great band. The It's True! boys are headed down to Austin today for a few shows and should be back early next week. If you'd like to check it out, the band was featured on NPR's Austin 100 Mix (out of over 1,500 bands performing) and they're on the list with some pretty heavy-hitters (Sharon Jones, Raphael Saadiq, Broken Social Scene, Spoon, and She & Him, just to name a few). The stream plays the bands in alphabetical order and what I heard of the rest of the list was pretty solid. You should check it out here if you have a chance. I wish It's True! the best of luck in Austin and hope this trip means great things for them in the future.