Hembree storms out of Quiet Corral with a brash new sound

Hembree’s Isaac Flynn and Garrett Childers might be two of the most approachable guys on the planet. They are so gregarious, in fact, that when we meet on a Tuesday night at the Local Pig in Westport — on the premise of discussing New Oasis, their band’s debut EP — it is nearly impossible to keep the interview on track. Of half of what I ask, they answer first with a joke, then with something real, then with a quick mockery of the sincere reply. Laughter is a constant interruption. It’s a mess.

“If there’s one thing our band is good at, it is hanging out,” Flynn tells me, after I point this out to him.

“If you don’t like our music,” Childers adds, “we’ve got an easy fix. Just hang out with us.”

But it’s hard to imagine the tired, miserable wretch who wouldn’t find something to enjoy on New Oasis. The six songs add up to a mountain range of pop sensations: swelling choruses, emotional crescendos, dramatic 1980s synths, a certain Michael Jackson inclination. Flynn, the group’s principal songwriter, finds easy common cause with his fellow millennials: loneliness (“Walk Alone”), longing (“Whistler”), a burning desire for some unattainable treasure that defies definition and is forever just over the horizon (“New Oasis”).

If that makes it sound as though the band is on the gloomy side, don’t worry. Hembree wants you to dance. This confident, enthusiastic EP is an achievement, one of the most promising debuts a brand-new band could hope for.

Hembree isn’t really brand-new, though. The five-piece is a recombinant version of what used to be the Lawrence Americana band Quiet Corral. Following the departure of two bandmates, Flynn, Childers and drummer Jim Barnes drafted bassist Matt Green and keyboardist Eric Davis (formerly of Middle Twin) for the project that would become Hembree.

“I think that when our singer [Jesse
Roberts] left, there was a period where we were leaning toward staying as Quiet Corral, with a slightly different lineup,” Childers says. “But when Isaac started writing a lot of new songs, it was apparent that the sound was so different.”

So the new outfit took some time to adjust, letting its first recordings steep for a bit.

“After Quiet Corral dissolved, I took a three-month summer internship in Austin,” Flynn explains. “But we tracked the Hembree EP before I left, and it was really nice because we were able to sit on it and listen to mixes and get some perspective on it. And then we went in and made some revisions.”

“Since this was a new band, we had the luxury of time,” Childers says. “We were able to tweak the tracks, and stepping away from it for a few months and then coming back really helped us. We mostly made cuts to the songs because we came back and realized that we had made things too busy.”

“Yeah, I came home, we sat down and basically said, ‘What can we delete?'” Flynn says with a laugh. “I think so many of my favorite songs know how to find space in music, and that’s something that I’m always aspiring to find. Like, how much space can I give this song and still make it powerful?

“I’m a sucker for really catchy pop,” Flynn adds. “I love Hall & Oates and Tears for Fears and Prince, but I can also never really stray away from my love of straight-up Americana songwriting. I don’t know that we’ve totally found exactly what our sound is, but I think we’re getting closer with every song we write.”

Flynn, a tall, broad-shouldered, boy-next-door type, sings Hembree’s songs in a scratchy tenor. The soft, airy harmonies come from Childers, who wears a beard and a top bun. The voices don’t match the faces, until you watch Hembree in action. When I visit the band at its rehearsal space — a well-lighted, soundproof room in the basement of Flynn’s childhood home in a quiet Lawrence neighborhood — I come away thinking that nothing seems more natural.

Between sips of beers and more wisecracks, Flynn cues up song after song from New Oasis. The title track remains one of the band’s best, an escapist’s anthem: Maybe I will take a trip/To somewhere that has no script/A place where we can really see, Flynn sings, his voice full of hope and promise. Follow every sun/To a new oasis right/For everyone. It’s transporting, even in the casual atmosphere of Flynn’s basement.

If Hembree’s musicians feel the pressure of their debut — much anticipated in local circles — they don’t show it. Sure, Flynn says, every band would love some recognition. But he and his bandmates say they define their project’s success only in terms of how much fun they’re having and how much fun they’re spreading.

“I would be so satisfied and so happy if we could be just one of the bands that people recognize, if we could break through and do something good for our city and Lawrence,” Flynn tells me during a rare serious moment. “But ultimately, we just want to be able to find ways to continue to make music because it is so important to all of us.”

He goes on: “While we realize how difficult the road ahead could be, we definitely aspire to make it a full-time thing. We’re very aware that there will be plenty of obstacles. But really, we just want to go out, we want to play well, we want to be entertaining, and we just want to enjoy it.”