Water Liars return to Fayetteville on June 29 at Nightbird Books

Water Liars performing during a HearYa live session in early April.

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If you’ve missed out on seeing Water Liars play live in Fayetteville, don’t worry. There’s still hope. You’ve got another shot coming up on June 29. Don’t miss killer music played by people who you’ll meet after the show and probably end up hanging out with at Waffle House until 3 or 4 in the morning. The band now includes a bassist, and is about to release a new 7-inch record. Get into them now, and catch them live. I asked Pete (Singer/Guitar) some questions about the band, and here goes…


Your last show in Fayetteville was around the release of Wyoming, fill us in on what’s been happening since then?

We’ve just been trying to keep busy. We were out all of April behind Wyoming, we just started recording the next LP, and now we’re fixing to head West in June behind Wyoming again. Also, we have a new 7″ and there’s going to be a re-release of Phantom Limb by Fat Possum/Big Legal Mess this summer as well.


How’s the new bassist? Besides the obvious, how has he changed the band?

GR Robinson is a great bass player and a great man. He knows just exactly what to do with the songs to slide right in and make em better. We never would have thought we’d be able to find somebody who fits in so well, but he does, musically and personally. It’s a pleasure. He’s working on the new record with us too.

What have you been reading lately? What’s the last line/idea from a novel that has popped into your songs?

I’ve been reading Vladimir Sorokin’s Ice Trilogy, Flannery O’Connor’s Selected Letters, and Breece Pancake’s Collected Stories (again). There’s a song that’ll be on the next record that talks about knives singing, so there’s Frank Stanford in there. I don’t ever wanna make a record where Stanford doesn’t show up.

What have you been listening to these days?

I’ve been listening to our buddy Duquette Johnston’s new record Rabbit Runs A Destiny, Action Bronson’s Rare Chandeliers, Roc Marciano’s Reloaded, Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City Ghostface Killah’s Fishscale, and Ty Segall’s Twins in the van, and at the house been listenin mostly to old soul records, James Carr, Doris Troy, Solomon Burke, Sam Cooke, and on and on.

What can you tell us about the new 7-inch, and the new record?

The new 7″ is a cover of one of our favorite Hasil Adkins songs, “Moon Over Madison”, which we feel like has a nice wild half sloppy Haze vibe to it, and then a new WL track called “The Turnaround.” We cut it real quick. The new record, we’re super excited about. I think we’re all real happy with the songs and the sounds that we’re getting and we’re gonna try our best to make it a really good record.


You’re back in Fayetteville on June 29 at Nightbird Books – what’s it like to play a bookstore?

Playing Nightbird’s space doesn’t feel like playing a bookstore, although playing in a bookstore is kinda cool anyway. We all love books so it’s a pretty natural setting for us even if most people don’t think of rock and roll happening in a place where you usually have to use inside voices.

Feel free to use this as an opportunity to say something nice about our fine town.

Fayetteville rules. Hard. We’ll play there til we die.