The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Mighty roar
Alt-rockers Judah & the Lion keep finding success early on
Judah & the Lion sounds like a biblical tale, but it’s actually a music trio from Nashville whose sound is best described by the title of its sophomore album, “Folk Hop n’ Roll. ¶ The group has made some impact, too. Both of its albums have debuted in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Folk and Heatseekers chart, with “Folk Hop n’ Roll” going Top 5 on the Alternative Rock survey as well. The single “Take It all Back” went No. 1 on Alternative and No. 6 on the Rock Songs chart and was certified gold, while “Suit And Jacket” and “Going To Mars,” the latter from an expanded deluxe edition of the second album that came out last fall, have helped cement Judah’s notoriety.
The troupe was also named Best New Rock/ Alternative Rock Artist at this year’s iHeartRadio Music Awards, which gives it a head of steam for its current round of headlining shows, which brings them March 21 to House of Blues Cleveland.
• Banjo player Nate Zuercher says Judah is enjoying doing its own dates after opening for Twenty One Pilots, Incubus and others during the past couple of years.
“It’s pretty crazy to think back to when the record came out and how much things have progressed since then,” he says by phone. “Opening for everyone last year was such a gift, but it does feel good to kind of come back and be able to host our own parties around the country and embrace who we are and welcome people into that. It’s been the best tour yet.”
• Nevertheless, the opening slots have certainly been to Judah’s benefit.
“The most noticeable was the Twenty One Pilots tour last year,” Zuercher, 26, says. “We do these meetand-greet and VIP things each day before our shows, and we’ll always ask and see who found out about us from opening for what band, and almost every night at least half the people there found out about us through Twenty One Pilots, ‘cause that was such a big tour. But it’s amazing those other artists believed in us enough to bring us along, and the most important aspect of our career is getting in front of those people and having an opportunity to show who we are and get them on board with our music.”
• Zuercher says the ability to add new tracks for the “Folk Hop n’ Roll Deluxe” album has added an important new chapter to Judah’s story.
“I think when it first came out it was pretty nerve-wracking,” he acknowledges. “It was so different than anything we’d done before, there was definitely a period of feeling like maybe we’d missed the mark. It was obvious a lot of our older fans weren’t very pleased with us. So to me the songs that came on the deluxe edition are really the progression that I’m hoping to go along with. ‘Folk Hop n’ Roll’ was really exciting and fun to make, but I Think it was a little too out there in some regards and a little too random, and I think we’ve gotten into more of a groove now.”
• As much as they like making records, Zuercher and his bandmates, Judah Akers and Brian Macdonald, believe the band is best seen in concert.
“It’s always been a thing for us to just show someone our record or a song doesn’t quite get us across to them,” Zuercher explains “We feel like we’re best represented when someone can see us live. I think that’s when it all makes sense and people get on board.”
• Judah & the Lion has “been writing quite a bit,” according to Zuercher, with plans already being made to start working on the group’s third album.
“I think our goal is to get in the studio this summer and take a month or two and really hash it out,” he says. “We’ve got around seven or eight songs we’re really proud of that we’re wresting through, and we’ll hopefully triple or quadruple that amount before we go in the studio. And we’re a band that writes a lot when we’re in the studio, kind of feeling out the inspiration. We’ve all grown a lot since we made our last record, so I’m excited to see what comes from that.”