The Womb Spooners to release album
Womb Spooners is a local band featuring the up-and-coming artists Kate Lane, senior Liz Lane, and junior Hannah Wilson. The band defines their genre as folk-punk, and they describe their sound as “folk with angst lyrics and some dry humor.” They band was greatly inspired by bands such as AJJ, The Mountain Goats, They Might Be Giants and Fire and Frenzy.
Originally under the name Special F, twins Liz Lane and Kate Lane began the band when they were in high school with another member. However, the band became just the twins before they added Wilson as a bassist a year ago. The band changed their name to Womb Spooners as a joking play on the song entitled “Dream Weaver” but chose to keep the name because of the memorability. Their first album is currently in the works and already has cover art as well as a producing time frame.
The album itself has had quite a journey so far. The album’s official name is “The Family Album” and includes songs inspired by the hardships through which the twins have gone in the past including many deaths and tragedies. The idea for the album came from the twins’ father, who suggested songwriting to Liz Lane before he passed away a short while later. The history of the family impacts the tone of the lyrics in songs such as “Side of the Road” and adds the essence of angst to the otherwise folk band.
Liz Lane is the lead singer and songwriter of the band. Lane picked up her first instrument, the recorder, in middle school. She now plays guitar, ukulele, melodica, clarinet, bass clarinet and mandolin. She began writing songs as poems that helped her let out negative energy and anxiety before putting them to music later.
“Music was a natural second step,” Liz Lane said. “I’ve been a musician all my life.”
After coming to Maryville College, she even found herself in a Music Theory class taught by Dr. William Swann, Professor of Music, which only inspired her on her musical journey further. She is now a music minor and is a member of the Tartan Band as well as the Maryville College Community Concert Band, which are both under the direction of Dr. Eric Simpson, Lecturer in Music and Director of Bands. Liz has always felt a connection to starting a band.
“I feel like I always have that stage in my friendships with people where I want to start a band with them, and this time everything worked out to make that happen,” she said. When she was doing a cover that required an upright bass, she found Wilson to fill the role and make the band happen.
Kate Lane is a music major currently enrolled at Pellissippi State Community College but plans to transfer to Maryville College next semester. She plays most brass instruments as well as the violin and piano. Being twins, Kate and Liz Lane were always close growing up. Since they’re the youngest of six kids with a substantial age gap, they’re closer than most. Between the two of them, there are a whopping 20 different instruments in their house. Kate plays the French horn in the Maryville College Community Concert Band and adds both piano and vocals to the group.
Hannah Wilson is the bassist of Womb Spooners and plays both the upright bass and the kazoo. When she first mentioned her desire to learn the bass, she said that her mom tried to convince her to learn the violin instead; however, she was dead set on the bass and is a member of the Maryville College Community Orchestra as a result. Wilson is currently an orchestrally-trained psychology major and is ready for the band’s first album.
“I was initially roped into this, but I liked it enough to stay,” Wilson said of her time with the Womb Spooners.
“The Family Album” by the Womb Spooners is scheduled for recording to begin during spring break at the local recording studio at Murlin’s Music. However, the band does have a SoundCloud and an official Facebook that contains demos of most of the songs on the album as well as official shirts that are available on threadless.com. If folk-punk sounds interesting, or if the name Womb Spooners is just too intriguing to ignore, check the band out on their YouTube channel, SoundCloud, or their Facebook page.