Indie rock band Futurebirds shares its southeastern sound at the Varsity Theatre

Indie rock band Futurebirds took the stage at The Varsity Theatre on Thursday night in a concert that saw all proceeds donated to the St. Jude’s Hospital. 

The seven members, Daniel Womack (vocals, guitar), Carter King (vocals, guitar), Spencer Thomas (keyboard), Kiffy Myers (pedal steel), Brannen Miles (bass), Thomas Johnson (vocals, guitar) and Tom Myers (drums) all come from musical backgrounds. 

The members have been together for 13 years and had various bands together, but it wasn’t until its core four members – Womack, King, Johnson and Miles – met while attending The University of Georgia that the idea of Futurebirds would form.

“Carter took a pulley evaluation class at UGA and learned that Germanic tribes back in the day used chicken to foretell the future, and we thought it was hilarious. Futurebirds, that’s it,” said guitarist and founding member Womack.

Growing up in Georgia has affected the band’s music greatly.

“You can hear Georgia and the southeast in our voices and it’s hard to hide, but we’re proud to be from a very musical culture and state,” said Womack.

This is not the Georgia boys’ first tour, and it definitely will not be their last. Futurebirds has performed in Baton Rouge before at Chelsea’s Live on Perkins Road, but The Varsity night show was its first theater show, so the band was expecting it to get loud.

“Playing live has always been our main thing,” Womack, nicknamed Womz, said. “There’s nothing like connecting with a crowd. It’s a synergy we’re very lucky to experience often.”

The band’s donations from the show went toward the St. Jude’s Hospital Research Donation, because, according to the band, “charitable donations to children is one of the easiest contributions to make as a human.”

Killer Whale, a local laid back band, opened for Futurebirds. The band opened with one of its hit songs, “College Drive.” Whether the crowd knew the lyrics or not, everyone was having a great time. It did not matter what song was playing, the band made the crowd feel comfortable.

Claire Hedges has seen the band more than five times. She is an Athens native, so when she saw the band was having a show in Baton Rouge, she knew she had to get tickets.

“I have not been to a show where I did not enjoy it. Seeing them in Baton Rouge made me so happy. It was like my two lives crossed over,” Hedges said.

Most of the songs played by Futurebirds were from its newest EP, “Bloomin’ Too,” which was produced by the band with American rock guitarist Carl Broemel.

“We wanted to make a guitar record with our hero, Carl, so we got our best collection of songs to him and ripped ’em,” Womack said. 

Although the band is on tour, its members are still constantly writing songs. Womack even has over a thousand voice memos of ideas on his phone.

Futurebirds have a unique sound to its music. The band is not too country, but not too indie. When asked what two bands would make Futurebirds, Grateful Dead and Boys II Men came to mind for the group. 

Another fan at the show, Chloe Cattanach, said she would describe Futurebirds’ music as “A summer day – it’s something you put on when you drive around with friends.”

Tour life is not easy. In between shows, Futurebirds still try to find time to make music. Before each performance, they have a ritual of standing in a circle and staring at one another until its pedal steel player, Myers, yells “Quack.” Then, it’s show time.

Creating a successful band is not easy. It takes lots of skill and talent, luckily for Futurebirds they have both. Many young aspiring artists, especially those from Georgia, look up to this group.

The band’s biggest piece of advice they could give to any artist just starting out?

“Practice hard, focus hard, check your intention and always be humble and honest,” the band said. “Those are the only sustainable practices in anything. And if you’re not having fun, what’s the point?”