Andrew Callaway from England In 1819

For me, Thomas, West Virginia—population about 400. I love playing in the smaller towns. There’s an intimacy that’s really hard to achieve in big cities and venues. It seemed like the whole town was excited to have us. On the way there, we were thinking, “What are we getting ourselves in to?” We weren’t sure how it was going to go over. It was awesome, and those pleasant surprises are part of what makes touring so exciting.

There really isn’t too much down time at all! I really regret not getting to fully enjoy some of the places before having to leave. We book and manage ourselves, so we’re doing a lot of the side work when we aren’t playing. We don’t get to bed until late, which means waking up late, and by the time we get to the next town and get something to eat, it’s about time to start unpacking, setting up, sound checking and doing it all again.

I suppose it gets glorified in a way—from the time you start a band, you’re aware that it’s a big stepping stone in the path to success. The best thing about it, for me, is that the music truly becomes my life. I love that my whole day revolves around playing music.

Too many! Some of the funniest things don’t seem funny when they’re happening, but now we look back and laugh at some of our misfortunes—tires blowing out, bass amps catching on fire mid set. There’s a guy in Gainesville who we’ve played for twice now who dances non-stop through our entire set—he is awesome! We had a guy in Boston draw pictures of us while we played, and he gave them to us.

They were really cool!

Most recent gigs in: Mobile, Chapel Hill, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Cincinnati, Lexington, New York City, Boston.

Online: englandin1819.com