Pageant

Pageant has the heart of a painter, the mind of a tailor, and the soul of an astronaut tumbling home with a starlit guitar. As Independentclauses.com describes this folk-rock band from Nashville, “Pageant plays songs based in old-school country, ’50s girl-pop, and perky piano indie-pop… A fascinating and engaging amalgam.” Lead singer-songwriter Derek Porter’s rich, contemplative voice and guitar intermingles with his sister Erika’s lilting vocals and guitar to create a lush tapestry of moving and playful music. Additional songwriting and instrumentation from Stephen Allbritten rounds out this collection of curious poets. Pageant works with a technological yet organic approach when creating their music. Working out of a Nashville studio run by Derek and Stephen they employ loop pedals and sample pads in order to build and refract sounds they discover in the moment with their traditional acoustic instruments. Derek Porter explains the origins of the name Pageant: “The word had a broadness to it that felt appropriate for these folky, tragic, epic songs I was writing.” Indeed, Pageant’s songs range from the nostalgic to the incisive. In the upbeat “Take Me Back,” Derek sings, ““Found a bullfrog in the laundry / Found a snake all shriveled up / The crickets were all thick / The pipes began to drip,” painting a picture of a halcyon Midwestern past that hews closely to the Porters’ childhood in central Illinois. In "Figure Eight," an energetic ode to circuitous thinking, Pageant sings, "Everything you said keeps spinning round my head / It keeps me in my place / In a figure eight." Hiding beneath a slick veneer of catchy hooks is the melancholy of inescapable mental states. It's classic Pageant: bright, poppy verve meets thoughtful reflection. According to Derek, if Pageant were a food, it would be potato salad. If Pageant had superpowers, they would be really good high jumpers. If Pageant were animals, they would be a rookery of seals. “We have a good time together, and are a little awkward,” Derek explains. Pageant released their latest album, Royal Blue, in August 2014. Visit pageantband.com for more info. Bio written by C.J. Arellano. "Pageant plays songs based in old-school country, ’50s girl-pop, and perky piano indie-pop...a fascinating and engaging amalgam." independentclauses.com