A Brief Interview With Split Lip Rayfield

Clearly, this will be a very different tour for Split Lip. Rundstrom, now twenty pounds lighter, is no longer the fierce, snarling guitar player of yesterday: he's become far more jovial, visibly taking in the spectacle of each moment onstage.

This has to be the most physically, mentally trying tour you’ve ever done. How has it been going? Has it been a difficult tour?

Wayne: No, actually. I think in some ways it’s been a smoother tour. Everybody is on the same page right now, more than ever before. I know it's been exhausting for Kirk, but at the same time, every night he jumps up and [has] been playing fantastic shows.

How was that feeling the first night back at Davey’s Uptown in Kansas City? Was it different coming right back?

Wayne: It was a pretty emotional situation. We’d practiced a couple of times, but playing a show with the energy of all those people and the anticipation... there were some nerves involved. But once we got up there, the crowd was such a positive force. I think the nerves just kind of went away and we were able to just play. It went really well, I thought.

Here we are a few weeks later. How was playing a Continental gig any different? Are things a lot smoother now?

Wayne: Yeah, playing-wise. Still, with all of the serious old Split Lip fans there’s still an emotional [connection].

You have a really dedicated fan base. What has their reaction been like?

Wayne: The feedback has been incredibly positive, so it's gone really well.

Wayne, you just got back with the group. What was the process of getting back in SLR?

Wayne: They said they'd been working on some plans for a tour. I said, "I’ll do it," and that was that. We’re all pretty cut and dry.

SLR’s musical style is very hard to define, I’ve read several definitions, [including] "progressive bluegrass" and "punkass country." Jambase described it as “simultaneously bluegrass, western, honky-tonk and hell bent garage rock.” How would you describe it?

Wayne: That’s kinda difficult, especially looking from the inside out. It's hard to put a title on it, or even really worry about it. It seems that everybody is so quick to want to pigeonhole you into a sound or a genre, and we just play Split Lip Rayfield music. I’m exhausted merely trying to describe it.

Jeff: We’re just trying to recreate things that have yet to be created.

You know a lot of people in Austin. Is there anything specific you do when you come to town?

Eric: Eat barbeque.

Wayne: Usually if we come here and play a two day show, we drive here the first night, play the show, and [spend] the next day resting and relaxing, and walking around a little bit.

There are a lot of rumors swirling around Dave Eaton's 65 Ford bass. Is the single string really a cut gut stretched out?

Jeff: It's weed eater line. 9500 Statler weed eater line. It's actually a mid-70’s Mercury or Ford LT. There’s a kind of insight.

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After the interview, I sat at Jo’s coffee shop and watched the crowd gather for the show in front of the Continental. It isn’t too often that people are lined up past FactoryPeople for a Sunday night show, but clearly this wasn’t just an average night to these fans. It might well have been their last chance to see a group that has become not only a yearly fixture at the Continental, but also a part of Austin.

The show itself was incredible. Rundstrom is half the size of his former self, but neither his energy nor his intensity has lost a step. The rest of the band follow in tow, playing at an incredible pace while trading solos back and forth. They maintained a blistering pace throughout the show, while the crowd toasted their drinks and screamed for more. Chants of “Split Lip” echoed onto South Congress Avenue until the band came back to treat the Continental for few more songs.

I have had the pleasure of seeing Split Lip play the Continental several times, and none matched the power of the show that evening. Let’s hope we'll be fortunate enough to have Split Lip back for another two night stand next year.

Photo by Lasuprema on Flickr