Local band The Anatomy of Frank will release their first studio album, “North America,” with a rousing hometown concert this Friday night. Accompanied by Greensboro’s Lowland Hum and Charlottesville’s The Hill and Wood, the night will be a celebration of grassroots musicianship all around.
The album is the first in a series of seven hopeful releases, marking the first step in frontman Kyle Woolard’s dream of recording an album on each of the seven continents. Arts & Entertainment sat down with Woolard to discuss the band’s history, hard work and vision for the future.
Arts & Entertainment: This album release has been a long time coming for The Anatomy of Frank. What year was the band founded?
Kyle Woolard: The band was founded in 2010, though we took six months to play our first gig. There was lots of secretive practicing late at night in New Cabell Hall and the Chemistry Building.
A&E: Many people don’t have an idea of what bands do before they release albums and tour in support of them. You all have toured places like Iceland of course, but what else do you do to promote the band? Does your daily life revolve around The Anatomy of Frank and your music?
KW: We do quite a bit of standard and guerrilla promotion. But the best promotion technique we know of is touring. There is nothing, save for maybe the random viral video, that rivals being on tour. We've discovered that when we're on tour, things happen. When we're not on tour, they don't. Milestones like getting a manager, booking agent and fans wouldn't have happened sitting at home on my computer.
As I go along, I try to find some balance between the band and my life. It consumes me in waves, but a lot of other things bring me pure, childlike joy. I enjoy mountain biking, writing, being around people I love and I'm also building a tiny house up in Vermont. So I really want to keep my heart filled to the brim with other forms of happiness. I'm glad to put the past month behind me and start performing again, because it's been too many long days of typing and emailing.
A&E: What makes this album North America-esque? Did you focus on styles of music popular across the continent or the values present in the culture, or other things to inspire the album?
KW: Stylistically, we're not paying tribute to anything. I don't like emulating other styles because it's not really what I'm in the game for. But there is so much that inspires me about this continent — its bounty of wonderful people, its incredible sprawl from the tropics to the high arctic, its bustling cities and its great swaths of emptiness. Add to that the memories and relationships I've had here, and it begins to seem impossible that I could ever stop writing songs about it.
A&E: How does Charlottesville fit into your idea of North America? Where do we sit in the grand scheme of things here — so to speak. How much has the atmosphere and vibe of Charlottesville influenced this album?
KW: It's funny to try to think about that, because I'm sure it has influenced me more than I know. I have toured a great deal, which gives me ample perspective on Charlottesville, but at the same time I have been viewing the outside world through the lens of being here. Luckily, that lens has energized me and given me the confidence to go elsewhere.
A&E: At the show this week, you're sending one lucky audience member to Alaska, correct? Why?
KW: Yes, one person at the show will be selected and flown round-trip to Alaska. We want someone who is celebrating North America with us to win a trip to its farthest reaches. I wanted to send them somewhere extreme — not Sunset Boulevard or Disneyworld. I feel that, in being so far from home and in such an unforgiving climate, one really starts to see our continent in a unique way.
A&E: Any idea when fans can expect the other six albums from The Anatomy of Frank?
KW: They're going to be coming a lot faster than this one did — that's for sure. We had a lot of growing up to do before this album came out, and I think we're in a place now where we can express ourselves sincerely.
Woolard and The Anatomy of Frank will perform Friday at Meade Hall.
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