The Sweet Remains Plays Campus

On Thursday, Jan. 16 in Mead Chapel, The Sweet Remains — a folk-rock group led by Middlebury College alumni Rich Price ’99.5 and Greg Naughton ’90 — will perform in Mead Chapel. The concert in sponsored in part by both Brainerd and Wonnacott Commons, as well as the MCAB Small Concerts Initiative.

“We’ve been slowly working on bringing the band to campus since September,” said Winson Law ’16 of the Brainerd Commons Council in an  email. “We’re also excited that this event is sponsored by three different campus organizations, and hope that the concert will help different people come together.”

The Middlebury Campus had a chance to chat with Naughton and to learn a little bit more about the band’s history and their plans for the upcoming Mead Chapel show.

Middlebury Campus (MC): When did you guys start playing music and how did the band first come together?

Greg Naughton (GN): Well— Rich and I are both Midd grads and although we weren’t there at same time, we became aware of each other in New York City for this reason, since we were both solo singer-songwriters at the time. I would go to his shows and he would come to mine. We became friendly then ultimately started writing, playing and touring together about ten years ago. But being fans of some of the old super groups, like CSN, we had this idea that we really wanted to hear a third harmony on the stuff we were writing. About 5 years ago, he called me from a co-bill tour he was doing with this fella, Brian Chartrand, he’d just met and said ‘I think I found the guy.’

So when their tour reached the east coast I met up with them in a hotel room in Rhode Island somewhere and we had a little jam session. I think we knew that day we had a new band...

MC: What are your biggest musical influences, both for you personally and for the band as a whole?

GN: We all bring different influences to the group, which I think gives it some dynamism it wouldn’t otherwise have if we all were coming from exactly the same place. I feed heavily on Motown and soul. Brian’s a fan of alternative bands and R&B. Rich loves  some Paul Simon, James Taylor and John Mayer. But we kind of meet up on a mutual affection for the singer-songwriter super-groups of the 70s like CSN, The Eagles and such. And that’s easiest comparison to draw with our music, 3 part harmonies and singer-songwriter folk-rock.

MC: You say you and Rich were Midd students. What did you guys study here at Middlebury and did you play any music while you were students at the College?

GN: Yeah, I was very active musically at Midd in bands and the Dissipated Eight, which was great education for the harmony singing and arranging we do with the Sweet Remains. But I did a joint major in English and Theater. Rich and I were both really involved in Midd Theater (he did a joint History/Theater major). It’s a great theater department you’ve got there.

MC: What sort of music and touring experience do you and the other band members have outside of The Sweet Remains?

GN: As I said, Rich and I used to tour together promoting our solo stuff. He then got a deal with Geffen Records (for which we wrote a couple songs together) and then they put him out on the road really heavily for a couple years. Though we do solo and other projects on the side, these days Rich and I pretty much only tour with the Sweet Remains. Brian however is gigging pretty much every night of the year — if we’re not out, it’s his solo deal or other side projects.

MC: Tell me a bit about your writing process, do you pull from personal experience? Play off of music that influences you?

GN: I think all three of us have pretty different processes and different themes that we favor, though there’s definitely a common thread. For the most part the Sweet Remains is about having a good time hanging out with friends on the back porch, if you will. So there’s a good number of those types of songs. Most of the darker stuff gets saved for our solo projects. Most frequently one of us will bring something to the table once it’s mostly been written, then we’ll polish it up together and arrange harmonies and such, a process we call “RGB-ifying” it (Rich/Greg/Brian). But we also write some of the stuff together.

MC: What has been your toughest experience touring with The Sweet Remains?

GN: Geography. Brian lives in Phoenix, Rich in Vermont, and I’m in New York City, so we’re probably one of the most geographically challenged indie bands you’ll find. Every tour starts off with some hefty transportation bills that need to get paid. Otherwise the middle of the country is hard, it’s much easier to tour the Northeast and the West Coast. But in the middle the drives between cities can make it really difficult.

MC: If you could play with any musician in history, who would it be?

GN: For me it’s definitely Stevie Wonder (I got to meet him last year, and that was pretty cool for me…). Rich I’m pretty sure would say Paul Simon or maybe the Beatles. That would be awesome, I’d go to that show! And Brian, Steely Dan.

MC: Anything else you’d like to add about the upcoming show?

GN: We’re pretty psyched to be playing in Mead Chapel this time. We’ve played McCollough Social Space the last few times, which is great, but the chapel is such a unique space to hear music. Its got is own great vibe and acoustics. Also, we’ll be joined by a great backing band, including Midd grad Peter Day (of VTs own The Grift) on Bass, and Brad Wentworth on Percussion.