The Goodbye Horses

“We call it the 'sweat shack,' but the first time we played together it was freezing cold out there,” says Malarkey, speaking of their 100 square foot dilapidated shed where the band originally plugged in for the first time. “It was the Super Bowl, that really bad one… Pats and Rams? Anyway, it sucked. Bad. Like 3-0 at half or something. Mark and I had discussed playing together since we moved in next door, and this seemed like the right moment,” Shipman added. “My amp needed some work, “confesses Malarkey, “but it was good enough for the moment. We mostly just blazed through some Stooges and Heartbreakers, maybe some Springsteen. We didn’t even have vocals set up yet.”

 

It was apparently “good enough.” Good enough to keep playing together as the cold weather turned hot. It was those mid-summer afternoons where the practice space earned its nickname. “Nothing could be done,” exclaimed Malarkey. “We tried window units, fans, door open, door closed. We just resigned ourselves to wearing wrist bands and headbands, very Knopfler-esque, and lots of sweating.”

 

More importantly, prompted by Shipman, Malarkey began introducing some of his original songs to the practices. A lot of these songs were just ideas and sketches, but Shipman became very involved with arrangements and even lyrics. (He is a published poet after all, his book GETTING AWAY WITH EVERYTHING, with longtime collaborator Vincent A. Cellucci was recently published by Unlikely Books). “It’s not often that you find a drummer who wants to be involved in songwriting or arrangements, so it was great to have Chris to bounce stuff off of, and really work these arrangements out. I pull lyrics from his writing all the time, so I feel like our songs really come from a wide creative range,” says Malarkey.

 

Eventually the duo added RJ Hooker on bass. Chris and RJ clicked immediately, developing the band’s sound to be much bigger and rhythmic. “RJ was also our musical advisor; he actually knew what key we were in and stuff like that. If there were technical questions during rehearsals, everyone just looked at RJ,” confesses Malarkey.

 

When the pandemic hit, the band moved their rehearsals to a concrete padded area outside the shack. “This was before any vaccines, so we wanted to keep a pretty tight bubble, but also felt like the outdoor space would allow us to be distanced from each other,” Malarkey says. “Some aspects were better, you’d get the occasional breeze, the neighbors would make a party of it, but we also needed sunscreen, so… give and take.”

 

This is around the time Dagger Jackson started playing keyboard with the band. “It was a lockdown, we were all trying to quarantine, so we all needed things to do,” says Shipman, Jackson’s husband. It turned out to be much more than a hobby to keep busy as Jackson’s keyboards added a needed fullness to the band’s sound. Some bands would naturally turn to a second guitarist to add “color” or “fullness,” but for this band, keyboards just seemed like a more unique approach. “We tried it, and it was amazing,” says Hooker, “especially when Dagger started getting more involved in writing.” 

 

The keyboard was replaced with a synthesizer and Jackson started bringing riffs and melodies to the practice sessions. The sounds were more dynamic, and the band started constructing new, more rhythm-based material around her ideas. “It kinda changed the way we write as a band. The process is almost 100% during rehearsals when we are all together,” says Malarkey, adding “the only thing I really do outside of rehearsals is lyrics now.”

 

“I experiment a lot with sounds, and tempos, filters, modulations, arpeggio, and sometimes we end up building a song around it. It’s a real process. I get lost in it sometimes”, adds Jackson. “This is Nowhere” and “Bertie’s First American Birthday” are recent examples of how the band has managed to successfully write around synthesizer, and still hold on to their Americana vibe.

 

The Goodbye Horses don’t seem to want to sit still. Their sound will likely continue to change and evolve as they grow as artists. Be on the lookout for their first official release this winter.

 

For booking contact Mark Beuhring (336-458-6572) or Chris Shipman (870-243-5860)

or email the band: thegoodbyehorsesnc@gmail.com

check out the YouTube page: 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpZhZpBA_0UFbIMuynQeLZD2StNMlTsiN 

 

Mark Malarkey – vocals, guitar 

Sarah “Dagger” Jackson – synthesizer, vocals

RJ Hooker – bass

Christopher Shipman – drums, vocals