Tell Me About That Track: Vaudeville Etiquette’s “Let’s Spike the Eggnog”
By Gwendolyn Elliott December 5, 2016
In our new column Tell Me About That Track, Seattle country folk band Vaudeville Etiquette talk about a new holiday single, and a show tomorrow night at Neumos.
Name of Band: Vaudeville Etiquette
Name of Track: “Let’s Spike The Eggnog”
In three sentences or more, tell us the story of the band: Vaudeville Etiquette is a team of Aurora Avenue nomads. The entire history of the band has always included that stretch of road. VE started as a duo after Bradley Laina and I [vocalist Tayler Lynn] met in music school at Shoreline College (off Aurora), our first practice space and recording spot was directly under the Aurora bridge near the Fremont Troll—that’s where we first met pedal steel player Matt Teske and drummer Bryce Gourley. And now our headquarters are based in an old haunted motel on the same road. It’s influenced us as a band. Highway 99 is wayward stretch of debauchery while also being a functional thoroughfare. VE is like that, we take our music seriously but we enjoy breaking the rules when we can. Aurora is one of the last gasps of authentic old Seattle; for better or worse, we want to keep that vibe and authenticity.
In three sentences or more, tell us the story of the track: When we set out write a Christmas song, we discovered that half of us didn’t like Christmas music at all. I was not one of the Scrooges, I’ve been known to stay up until midnight every Thanksgiving so I can queue up as soon as the clock strikes Christmas season. “Let’s Spike The Eggnog” is an homage to the classics for the holiday freaks like me, but slick enough to be enjoyed by the humbug crowd as well. Aaron Walters’ bassline on this track is one of the greatest in the history of our band.
It’s a song about how overwhelmingly stressful the holidays can become and how, when it all gets too much, just pour a drink, get nuts with your friends, and remember that the holidays are mostly about blowing off the steam of the year with the people you love. We’ll be drinking A LOT of eggnog this year in the current political climate. That’s why 60% of all proceeds will be donated to the ACLU. We need to protect the basic human rights of everyone, of eggnog drinkers of all kinds, even the vegan noggers.
What’s next? We’re heading to Europe! VE begins our first European tour in February 2017. We’ll be playing a round of shows before we leave opening for Wild Child at Neumos on December 7th, at Barboza on January 28th and then the Crocodile with Ayron Jones on February 11.
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