Brotherly duo JEREMIAH MCKINLEY came together due to being family members, growing up the brothers do the usual went to school, played sports, and would get into music. This would lead to them forming a band, and would then on release some music. This being an EP, and an album of sorts, with some more single's coming out within the next few months..... The The duo talks of their music, togetherness and more below.
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
We are two brothers Jeremiah and Noah Smith. I (Jeremiah) am seven years older than Noah. Growing up we would sing in church but never really considered making music. We come from a sports family, and both of us played football in high school and I played in college. My younger brother Noah started guitar lessons in fifth grade, but eventually sports took over and we lost interest. I was off at college when I started to realize how much music meant to me. Most days I won’t pull out of the driveway until I find the perfect song to start my day. I am quite often late, and our family eventually turned to telling us events were Thirty minutes earlier than they were just so we’d be on time. I majored in painting and drawing in college and have always been interested in creating things, but it wasn’t until I left school that I found a new outlet in writing songs. My brother Noah had by this point started college at UNC Chapel Hill and picked the guitar back up. He helped me start learning some chords and we were hooked with the idea of making music. Since then, we continue writing together and sending new song ideas back and forth, Usually helping each other if we get stuck on an idea.
2. What’s the origin of the band’s name?
Jeremiah McKinley is a mashup of our names. I am Jeremiah Christian Smith and my brother is Noah McKinley Smith. When playing video games as children we would create a character for us both to play with, and Jeremiah McKinley was the only name combo that sounded cool to us. When we decided to start making music it was the only name we could agree on. For the record my first choice (Jeremiah) was The Sheppard Hill Gang, since we grew up on Sheppard Hill Road, but I got vetoed and we settled on Jeremiah McKinley.
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
We are based out of Kernersville, North Carolina. It is a small town just between Greensboro and Winston Salem. The music scene is a lot smaller and as we began preparing for setting off and playing shows the pandemic hit. But things are starting to come around in North Carolina and we are setting up shows as I type this.
4. How would you describe your style?
Long hair, Blue jeans, vans, bandanas and a hat. But if you mean musically I would call us Dirty Folk. We incorporate a lot of different influences and genres from folk and Americana to rock and even a bit of country. We each listen to wide varieties of music. I listen to The Black Keys, Tyler Childers, the Bones of JR Jones, Shakey Graves, The Movement and Noah listens to a lot of Hendrix, John Mayer, Caamp, and Hippo Campus. But, we also hare a lot of the same influences and want to make music people can dance to and that can make people feel. I think we are mostly categorized as americana/folk rock. We chose folk music as our jumping off point because those are the songs that have always spoken to us. Real life experience, good and bad, stories that really get into your soul. And that is what we hope to accomplish with our music. Songs that speak to you and help you cope with the things in your own lives.
5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
So far we have released an EP of stomp and holler tunes called the Jeremiah McKinley Ep , an Album The Basement Tapes and some singles,
(A rocking riff based tune) Sing For My Supper, Hanging on/ Creekside ( an acoustic ballad) , and our newest Same Old Heart. Same Old Heart is the story of a man. The woman he loves starts heading down a dangerous path, and while he loves her, it is a path he cannot follow. She spirals into addiction, and his heart breaks as there’s nothing he can do to stop or save her. What you can expect are a lot of stories with my raspy lead vocals, a folk acoustic guitar style, and Noah’s lead electric guitar.
6. Do you have any new music in the works?
We have a few more singles coming out in the next few months, and an album in the works for next spring. We have been sitting on a load of material and are excited to be putting more music out to the world soon.
7. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
With things starting to open up we are planning to play a lot more live shows in the coming months. For the moment we hold a live shows around the neighborhood, inviting all to bring some chairs and some beers and have a party with us.
8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
We want to be making music until we can’t hold a guitar anymore. We plan to start touring more extensively and bringing the neighborhood to every city and country that will have us. I picture a lot of our music in soundtracks for dramatic movie and tv show moments. We love writing and playing for people so we hope to be doing it every chance we get.
9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
We are on all the streaming platforms, and you can buy and listen to our music anywhere online, but for any live dates you can check us out on Instagram or our website.
10. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
Obviously, these songs mean a lot to us, and they each have stories, but they are not just our stories. We want the listeners to walk with us from beginning to end, taking away whatever they want from their experience.
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