Listen Up: Silent Parade
Before he strums his guitar on stage, Charlie Shaw removes his cowboy boots.
“It does have its practical side,” said Shaw, 24, lead singer in Silent Parade. “I can use my feet to change settings on my pedals. Some people think it’s some kind of a statement. It’s not that. A lot of people think it’s like a schtick — ‘I’m the guy who takes his boots off.’ Or maybe trying to show everybody that I have boots on.” ’Cause we all know that in Midtown, it’s really cool to wear boots.”
Photo by Michael Donahue
Silent Parade: From left, John Rawlinson, Charlie Shaw, Jonathan Thomas, and Drew Thomas.
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Actually, Shaw said, “It helps me remember what this is about. This is being together and playing songs together and having a good time doing that. For me, the best things in life happen when shoes aren’t on. So, I take them off.”
That laid-back feeling is what Shaw’s fellow band members like about the band. For bass player Drew Thomas, 26, used to play music “in kind of a stiff environment. It was more achievement oriented maybe. Trying to make music a little more serious than music should be taken. So, “Playing with Charlie and the Silent Parade was a breath of fresh air for me ’cause it was almost seen as a family band kind of thing.” It’s like when you’re playing here, you’re just coming home. It’s relaxing.
“You bring ideas to the table, none of them are rejected. Nobody has anything to prove. And if you don’t write the perfect part or you don’t execute it in the perfect way, that’s fine.”
Thomas believes that feeling permeates the band’s new CD, The Safest Boy. “It’s just a very relaxed album. It just had a little bit of room for less-than-perfect parts.”
Referring to Silent Parade’s first album, After all the Wars, Shaw said, “I love the old album, but I think we’ve grown musically a lot. I think we’re drawing from deeper wells this time. This time the pressure was off. I don’t think we had anything to prove.”
Silent Parade originally was just Shaw and Drew’s brother, Jonathan Thomas, on guitars. Drummer John Rawlinson, 27, was the first addition. “I was a fan of the songwriting,” he said. “It was very honest and very insightful and clever, which I really liked.”
“Charlie (has) more of an attitude of an old country songwriter, where there is a lot of just personal information in the lyrics,” Drew said. “There’s just nothing pretentious about his songwriting. It’s just straightforward and its honest and would fall into the unconventional category.”
Talking about “The Safest Boy,” the title track from the CD, Shaw said, “I think every person if they legitimately look at their life they’re gonna know that being a good person is not a safe thing to do, but it’s a good thing to do. And love isn’t safe. It’s incredibly dangerous.” It’s stupid a lot of the time. But it’s good.... So, it’s a little love song that kind of touches on that — ‘Hey, I’m not the safest boy, but maybe I can call you on the phone sometime.’”
“Late Night TV” is about “dancing to late night TV. I think that when you’re in a relationship with somebody the most romantic and most meaningful times are the times that aren’t planned.”
As for “Covered Wagon Girl,” Shaw said, “When it comes to love, you’re not just looking for somebody you really like. You’re looking for company.... You’re looking for somebody you can walk through life with. To me, That reminds me of pioneers, covered wagons. It’s just you and me going through uncharted territory.”
Jonathan Thomas also writes Silent Parade songs, including “25 Pieces,” “Myopia” and “No Lady.” “He writes in pictures,” Shaw said. “When you listen to the song you see almost still shots of these images he’s describing.”
“Myopia,” Jonathan said, is “really about the time in your life when it’s the big turning point. You go back to your roots and what you really think your purpose is. You try to find that in other people and the surroundings around you as much as in yourself.”
The new CD also includes a hymn, “Green Pastures.” “I grew up listening to traditional country/Western with my dad — ‘cowboy music’ me and him call it,” Shaw said. “It’s one of the best ones. A lot of people recorded it. I think Emmylou Harris has a great version of it.”
A tattoo on Shaw’s arm reads “Sole Del Gloria.” “It’s Latin,” he said. “It means ‘God alone be glorified.’
“I think the record we made (is) a very spiritual record.” One of his songs, “Beautiful World” is about “finding peace wherever you are in life. It’s the idea that the world is beautiful because God made it. Whether it hurts or it feels good, it’s a beautiful thing.”
Silent Parade's CD release party is at 9 Friday night at Hi-Tone Cafe, 1913 Poplar. Cover: $5. Listen Up spotlights area per formers. Michael Donahue can be reached at 529-2797.
Michael Donahue: 529-2797.
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