Drum and ukulele on the Appalachian Trail
Jillian and Logan Ivey of the lavender-clad, Chattanooga indie-pop band The Mailboxes have a wild and ambitious notion of what a national tour can be—after a tour kick-off show at Songbirds North this Saturday, the duo will perform on the Appalachian Trail for fellow hikers (and wildlife) on a four-month, 2,200-mile northbound thru-hike, with Jillian playing a clear, waterproof ukulele and Logan playing percussion on improvised surfaces.
After completing the hike in Maine in late June, the band will then circle the continental U.S. and finish the massive tour with a homecoming event at the AVA Gallery on the North Shore on October 5.
The tour will support The Mailboxes’ new album Inside Outside—to be released online this summer, but available for early-bird fans on CD at the Saturday show—and twice-monthly YouTube videos will document the duo’s performances and adventures on the trail, with Patreon supporters getting early access to media and invitations to interactive livestreams.
Jillian Ivey, the band’s founder, answered some questions for The Pulse about the tour and new album.
The Pulse: How did the idea of performing on the Appalachian Trail come about?
Jillian Ivey: A year and a half ago Logan, just after coming home from a month-long tour with our band, my husband and the drummer for The Mailboxes, broke his right wrist and left elbow in a work accident. He needed surgery and physical therapy, and the doctor said it would take him a year to fully recover and not to expect full mobility back in his wrist.
Not being able to use his arms is what inspired him to pursue running more and wanting to pursue his dream of hiking the John Muir Trail in California since his legs worked fine.
We were getting so excited for the hike we wondered how we could combine our new love for thru-hiking and a new album release. That sparked the idea of hiking another trail in lavender which led to us hiking the trail as a tour and promoting our new record that way.
We also love incorporating different types of art and performance in our music so it was exciting to think of thru-hiking as a performance art piece. Logan’s accident was really the catalyst for us just trying to pursue all the things we are excited about and not wasting the precious time we have here doing things we don’t feel passionate about.
We ended up choosing the Appalachian Trail for the project because it’s local and makes sense as part of a tour since the start in Georgia isn’t far from Chattanooga. It’s also the most popular trail in the country, so it gives us the most opportunity to share with lots of people about our new album and play songs for them.
I wasn’t a thru-hiker until this last trail, and now I’ve fallen in love! It’s definitely pushed me in a new direction. I loved disconnecting and being more present in nature. It gives you a lot of time to think and come up with new ideas you might not have if you were in a different setting.
TP: Can you discuss the theme of Inside Outside?
JI: The theme of the record is a lot about self-discovery and trying to become the person you want to be instead of the person you think you should be.
I wrote a lot of the songs post-college when I was new to adulthood and figuring out how to cope with the transition into my marriage, working instead of going to classes, figuring out my career path as a musician, and what my own personal belief systems are instead of what I was raised to believe by my surroundings.
It’s a lot about questioning your own upbringing and thought patterns and coming out on the other side with beliefs of your own and reasons of your own for who you are and what you believe and do.
With the album colors, lavender represents our inner world and dark green represents our outer world. The lavender is represented by our clothes and dark green represented by nature.
I think the path to self-discovery and personal growth means looking inside of yourself but also outside of yourself, taking all your experiences and using that to inform your ideas and become who you want to be in the world.
We hope to encourage others to do the same and get their “insides outside” and find what they’re passionate about.
The Mailboxes Album Release Party with Spinster
Saturday, 7 p.m.
Songbirds North
35 Station St.
songbirdsguitars.com
Photo by Lucas McKay