The guys from The Vamps were in town last week for a Hits 96 radio-sponsored meet-and-greet at Sing It or Wing It. While the four young men from England were traveling here from Birmingham, Alabama, lead singer Brad Simpson and James McVey took a few minutes to talk about the band and their quick trip to America.
"It's going really well," Simpson says. "We've been here many times before, but this is a really short trip. Only about a week. It's very surreal because it's so short."
Barry CourterThey are traveling to radio stations to promote their new hit, "All Night," which is doing well on the pop charts.
The Vamps are an interesting story. Billed as a boy band, in part because of their youthful good looks, they are an English quartet who have been around since 2012 when they gained some online fame covering other people's songs on YouTube. This latest surge is more mainstream with "All Night."
Simpson says part of the recent success is due to constant touring "working to be as good a live band as we can." They've also worked at writing their own material either by themselves or with others.
"It's all about being honest, I think," Simpson says.
McVey echoed his bandmate's thoughts about the band's path for the future.
"We've been working and growing to be better musicians," he said.
McVey said the band doesn't spend much time thinking about the boy-band label, and points out that they actually play instruments as well as sing. Simpson is the lead singer, though all four sing. In addition, McVey plays guitar, Connor Ball plays bass and Tristan Evans plays drums.
Hits 96 program director Brad Steiner says the 100 or so people who saw the group at Sing It or Wing It likely got a rare chance to see them up close.
"We won't be able to touch them this time next year. The industry is looking for the next big boy band and it is likely them."
» Country artist Brenda McCready will be at Micron Studios in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, to record a new song written by Lloyd Fouts. Fouts is one of the good guys in the area who has long been a great supporter of local music as well as a musician.
"Brenda has a lot going on these days," Fouts says.
The plan, according to Fouts, is that she will record his song, "Always Follow the Moon," this week and over time will record a total of 10 Fouts originals.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.