Search - Old Empire :: Queen City Quandaries

Old Empire s music, which spans the breadth of American pop, is influenced by the great genres of American music, evoking everything from Motown, to 60 s surf rock, classic country and NYC new wave. Songs like the Jonathan Richmond-esque Sweaterdress, bound with both confidence and vulnerability while the dreamy lilt of Queen City, and the rolling Fender Rhodes intro of Empty Promises, showcase the band s versatility and emotional range. When asked about the group s restless style, singer and guitarist Dodson cites a range of diverse influences: As far as my roots, I'm really into The Band, Sly & The Family Stone, and early Funkadelic. Those groups all wrote and played great music. None of them seemed that concerned about sticking with a particular genre or sound; their songs dictated their sound. It seems like a lot bands today try to come up with a sound and then force their songs to fit that sound. I hear a common ground where rock, soul and country overlap so our approach is different. Maybe I ve just listened to too many records. As diverse as Old Empire s influences are both Gabe Dodson, and his singer and co-vocalist Alexis Dodson, sing with voices that are unmistakably Midwestern, crafting first person character studies with a sympathetic eye for life s minor moments. The album central image, Queen City, may be a nickname for countless American cities, but on this collection of songs, images of rusting factories, vacant downtowns, and corner bars serve as emotional landscapes for the lives at the center of Dodson s breezy narratives.