Surf Rockers Bring The Party Back To NWA

March 9, 2018 at 1:00 a.m.

Courtesy Photo "At the end of the day, I want to be in a sweaty room with college kids who aren't drinking because they're not old enough, so the only thing that's really getting them high that night is you. It's the music. It's being able to dance. It's sweating. It's the crowd-surfing," says New York rocker and High Waisted frontwoman Jessica Louise Dye.
Courtesy Photo "At the end of the day, I want to be in a sweaty room with college kids who aren't drinking because they're not old enough, so the only thing that's really getting them high that night is you. It's the music. It's being able to dance. It's sweating. It's the crowd-surfing," says New York rocker and High Waisted frontwoman Jessica Louise Dye.

Only one week ago, New York City-based '60s surf rockers High Waisted debuted a new lineup at a show in their hometown. Tonight, they're jamming at a house party in Fayetteville as they make their way down to Austin for their return to the South by Southwest festival.

"I have a brand new guitarist and bassist, two completely bada**, rocking women that shred and inspire me, and they feel like my sisters already," says frontwoman Jessica Louise Dye. "I feel more comfortable; I feel more like myself."

FAQ

High Waisted

WHEN — 9 p.m. today

WHERE — 1674 N Gregg Ave. in Fayetteville

COST — Free; donations for the band accepted

INFO — highwaisted.party, facebook.com/highwa…

Dye has experienced that self-actualization in her music before -- when she went from playing folk music to the quirky, summery garage band aesthetic she oozes now.

"I wanted to be on stage, and I wanted to see people smiling and dancing. And I wanted to be able to dance. And I realized the only stuff that I personally put on and dance to is '60s rock 'n' roll -- that's the only thing my dance moves make sense to," she says.

A few short years later, High Waisted is preparing to put out a sophomore album -- a "summer wedding," Dye says of the anticipated release -- and treating this tour as a sort of farewell to "On Ludlow," their 2016 debut.

"The new record is very much more personal; I like to think each song is sort of an anthem in its own right," Dye shares. "And it's definitely the first time I've opened up about some of the worries of being an older woman in music competing against 22-year-old supermodels."

High Waisted's return to Fayetteville is brought to us in part by the band's friendship with local post-country songwriter Dylan Earl. The musicians became tour friends on the group's last trip through the region in the fall, and Dye has a great story about Earl DJ-ing old country tunes at her favorite dive bar in New York when the two threw a huge cowboy Christmas party.

"We are lucky enough to have friends like that in all sorts of cities," Dye says, "cities that people are like, 'You're going to Fayetteville? I've never been there; I've never heard of that.' And I'm like, 'How could you not have? It's one of my favorite cities on the map!' But it's because of the people we've met in those places."

-- Jocelyn Murphy

jmurphy@nwadg.com

NAN What's Up on 03/09/2018

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