Knoxville band to perform EP release show at Pilot Light
I was first introduced to The Pinklets my freshman year at West High School. As an aspiring musician myself, I’d heard of them in middle school but had never gotten the chance to see them play until their first album release party in May 2017 at Relix Variety Theatre. Over the course of the next year and a half, I missed only one show, and wish I could have seen even more.
When they announced their final show, at the BLANK-sponsored Second Bell Music Festival in August 2018, I told everyone I knew to get out and see them live while they still could to witness the accumulation of over 10 years of playing together. If you missed that opportunity, however, you’ve been blessed with a second chance: The Pinklets will be taking the stage at The Pilot Light on July 30 to celebrate their new EP. And nobody – including the band members themselves – know if there will be any more music or shows in store.
BLANK recently got the chance to sit down with The Pinklets for a short interview in which we discussed the upcoming show, the new EP and what the future looks like for its members. The South Knoxville band of sisters described the still-untitled, four-song EP as a collection of “bitchy breakup songs,” which is fitting for a band that has been unapologetically bold and creatively driven since its formation in 2008.
Roxie, Lucy and Eliza Abernathy began playing together as kids with the help of their dad, well-known Knoxville musician Kevin Abernathy. Since then, they have been somewhat of an anomaly: They’re an all-girl, hard-rock band that, beginning at an incredibly young age, has defied all gender stereotypes en route to achieving great notoriety. (Eliza was only 12 years old when they played Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in 2016.)
The success they’ve earned is warranted; they all are incredibly talented, accomplished musicians. They write, perform and record all of their own music and blend three-part harmonies in a way that only siblings with the same genetic vocal-chord structure could. Frontwoman Lucy Abernathy arguably possesses some of the strongest pipes in Knoxville and, together with her sisters, puts on one of the most high-energy shows I’ve ever seen. When asked what audiences should expect at The Pilot Light later this month, Lucy said, “A good-ass time. It’ll be a party atmosphere. It’s our first show back from COVID, and we have so much built-up energy from not performing, so it’s time to rage.”
COVID-19 has had a profound effect on everyone, musicians included. “We had a game plan because we had already been working on the EP,” said Eliza. “We just weren’t sure what releasing it would look like – no one knew how long [the pandemic] would last.”
“We were tired of sitting in the same space,” Lucy added. “Once we realized it wasn’t going to end anytime soon, as soon as it was safe to get back in the studio, we did. We just decided to do this release show last month.”
They recorded the EP at the same place – The Arbor Studio in Knoxville – that they always have, with John T. Baker and Gray Comer manning the boards. “[Writing and recording] was different because a global pandemic means a lot of individual time to work by yourself,” said Lucy of the experience. “We got to really listen and put a ton of thought into what we wanted it to sound like. We’ve never been forced to evaluate a project at this level.”
“A couple of songs are really old compared to how we usually do everything at once,” added Roxie. “This EP has been a long time coming. Some of these songs, we began recording in September 2019. And some of these songs have never been played live before, which is different but more exciting.”
The Pinklets stuck to simple recording techniques rather than adding in a lot of superfluous production. “We bring songs in completely finished, just how we would play them live,” Lucy said. “We will add some layers in the studio, like tambourine or extra guitar parts I can’t do onstage, but there is no writing in the studio.”
For this third release, they decided on an EP rather than another full-length album because they “didn’t want to write more when we had other stuff going on,” as Roxie explained. “These four songs are super tight and so layered that we didn’t feel the need to add any more not-as-good songs. Quality over quantity.”
Lucy’s biggest inspiration recently has been “Broken Horses,” Brandi Carlile’s memoir. “It’s about every phase of her career as a musician,” she said. “She went through so many changes and different things, and seeing her process and that she had highs and lows was eye-opening because it’s easy to think that successful musicians had it easy. Seeing that her journey was as crazy as ours has been was really affirming for me.”
In that regard, The Pinklets have had a unique trajectory, having pretty much spent their most formative years in the spotlight. When asked if they could have any do-overs, Roxie said, “I wish we had been more conscious of everything because we were so young. We could have done some things to make it more marketable. But we were busy with other things too.” Which is true: They were playing big stages and learning to be professionals before returning to school and trying to be regular kids.
But as Lucy mentioned, such an unconventional lifestyle in retrospect feels somewhat like a blessing in disguise. “When you think about it, if we took it so seriously, we would have felt stuck in it,” she said. “We got to experience what it was like to play in a band and not take it seriously.”
So what does the future look like for the band? “We all want creative freedom and don’t want to feel stuck in The Pinklets,” said Eliza. “We always have the choice to play music together if we decide to later.”
“I’m going to college and want to be in a bigger city than Knoxville,” said Roxie. “I want to network and meet people. I’ve also got other things on my own I want to bring to life.”
Lucy plans to spend the next year or so in Nashville before maybe attending college. “Maybe music,” she added.
When asked what this EP and show mean to them as sisters, Lucy spoke for the group. “We don’t know when we’re going to get to play again because it gets harder and harder,” she said. “It’s our first show back, but we don’t know what the plan is after that. It’s a full-circle moment. It’s about getting onstage again and loving it and having fun. It takes a lot of the pressure off of it. I’ve missed performing with them so much.”
“I realized it’s not just missing from our lives,” Eliza added, citing all the people who told her that they missed seeing them play together and who inspired her to again take to the stage. “It’s everybody.”
Doors open at The Pilot Light at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, July 30. Local band CARMEN opens the show at 7, and The Pinklets go on at 8.
