Little Tybee Tours the Eastern Seaboard
By: Stephen Wilkins
Originally published March 8, 2018, by Plasma Magazine
Atlanta’s own Little Tybee is heading back on tour, and they’ve got a lot in store for the coming cities. Lead singer and guitarist Brock Scott is always looking for new ways to engage Tybee’s audience, and for this spring tour, he has devised a scavenger hunt for the fans. According to Little Tybee’s website, “A street team has been assembled to help hide two handmade tokens depicting the head of Apollo in each city on the tour.” The street teams are taking pictures and creating clues, which will be posted on Little Tybee’s Instagram. This is just one of the creative ways Scott and Little Tybee are engaging their audience while also taking their future into their own hands.
As most everyone is aware the music industry isn’t what it used to be, with large record labels being the only path to large-scale audiences. Technology and the internet have changed the landscape for how media is created and consumed. The old gatekeepers, record labels, have tried clenching their fists on what little they can still grasp, which has created a world of opportunity for creative business-minded people like Scott. “Before, there was an almost linear progression of being a successful musician; you form a band, you write some songs, maybe you have an album or maybe not. Maybe an A&R person sees you and signs you for development and they have a $250,000 budget from a big label. Now, there are lots of different models [now] and there isn’t a right or wrong way to do it” Scott told Plasma.
With so many accessible ways to create quality content and the internet to disperse it, bands have the opportunity to be in charge of their own path. “The bands that I see and I model ourselves after are ones that have taken control over their path and aren’t waiting for people to fill it in for them.” This ethos has led Tybee into some uncharted territories when it comes to how they have marketed themselves. A major turning point was when they decided to leave their label, Paper Garden Records, after making two albums with them. They returned to self-releasing music in 2016 with their self-titled album. This release garnered critical acclaim and the following year they toured with CHON and Tera Melos which allowed them to play in front of much larger crowds than previous tours.
Brock Scott, guitar and vocals, Nirvana Kelly, violin, Ryan Donald, electric bass, double bass, Josh Martin, eight-string electric guitar, Dallas Dawson, drums, percussion, and Chris Case on keyboards.
Being able to play in front of sold-out crowds gave Little Tybee the exposure they needed to continue exploring their unique, varying sound. Musically they straddle so many different genres that you can’t put them into a single category. Their unique sound is produced by Brock Scott, guitar and vocals, Nirvana Kelly, violin, Ryan Donald, electric bass, double bass, Dallas Dawson, drums, percussion, Josh Martin, eight-string electric guitar, and Chris Case on keyboards.“Oddly enough our largest fan base is the metal and prog community”, Scott said. This is mainly due to guitarist Josh Martin who has developed various guitar tapping techniques that have made him a true innovator.
Listening to Tybee you get the sense that Brock could make it as a solo act, but the instrumentation and compositions are what set them apart from the average folk-rock band. Taking cues from a wide range of influences including jazz, folk, psych, and prog Tybee coalesces these into a sound all their own. They tightrope walk between various genres in almost every tune. Songs like 2016's "Golden Delilah" is a sweet little number that could stand on its own as a solo acoustic song. It is when Nirvana's violin and Josh's tapping come in that the atmospheric psychedelic sunshine is created, which is what sets Tybee apart from others that write in a similar vein. Speaking about how Tybee creates such an interesting eclectic sound he said,“We are trying to build the wall, which is like a nest where everyone has their place…The most fun challenge with our songs is finding that space to where everyone is equal.”
Innovation seems to be the keyword when talking about anything Little Tybee approaches. By taking their future into their own hands, they have created plenty of work for themselves. This has turned Little Tybee into a creative company almost as much as it is a band. They produce a wide range of online content: from Josh Martin’s guitar tutorial videos that have allowed them sponsorships from Ibanez, and other big name brands, to music videos Scott shoots and edits himself.
The latest music video Little Tybee dropped is for their new single “Lost in the Field”. “I was on a sailing trip in Greece for three weeks with my buddy Thompson, Captain Tom, who is the star of the video.” While sailing through the Grecian islands, where epics like the Iliad and The Odyssey were spawned, Scott developed his own story about a lost seaman. “I had the idea of Thompson sailing and he has two other crew members and then he takes a nap and they’ve been taken from the boat by some mysterious force.” Captain Tom then has to travel to uncharted territories in search of his lost companions. The video’s animation came about through a collaboration between Tybee and various animators. “We had one of the VFX artists from Stranger Things[Shrivas Shyamsundar] reach out...and then there was a 2D animator[Beaux Latham] in Nashville”, Scott explained. Now Little Tybee is now taking Captain Tom’s story on tour with them.
Scott and Thompson have built a small wooden ship outline that will act as the merch booth on the tour. Each city on tour is like another island for Tom to explore in his search for the lost crewmates. “I love the idea of having a central item or theme for any kind of marketing campaign”, Scott told Plasma. Tom will be there to reward the loyal fans that have completed the scavenger hunt with a free ticket and exclusive merch. Little Tybee is joined on tour by Reign of Kindo, out of New York, and Grut on March 9th at Terminal West. Remember to follow them on Instagram for clues to the scavenger hunt, on Facebook for more tour info, and their YouTube channel for more of their innovative content. Their music can be purchased on iTunes and streamed on Spotify and Bandcamp.