The Black and White Years
Location: Austin, TX
Website: http://www.theblackandwhiteyears.com/
Bio: Every band has a “big break” moment and for The Black & White Years it
came during SXSW ’07. The Years had put together five shows ... (more)
during the festival and would
perform some damn good ones but their “official” SXSW showcase wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t
the sexiest of gigs…off the beaten path in the parking lot of Opal Devine’s on West Sixth
street…the B&WY were the first of five bands…exactly seven people in the audience to catch
their show. But, one of those seven people was once upon a time Talking Head and Modern
Lover, Jerry Harrison.
Harrison was curious to see the band because, accurate or not, the early press tended to
compare them to Talking Heads. Just one week before SXSW, Austin Music Magazine wrote:
“The Black and White Years deserve comparison to the Talking Heads in the way they elicit
quirky embellishments and innovative arrangements while retaining a catchy, tap-along pop
feel…vocalist Scott Butler invokes the David Byrne way of stuttering as he sings.”
Harrison was captivated by the band’s performance and over the rest of the weekend he visited
their rehearsal space where the Years performed all of their songs for him. Five weeks later they
were in Harrison’s San Francisco bay area studio, Sausalito Sound, recording what would
become the band’s eponymous debut album, The Black And White Years.
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