The Underground Springhouse will perform live at Proud Larry’s on Friday, April 11, at 9 p.m.
The now Atlanta-based group formed in Athens, Ga. just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic began in the United States. Over the past four and a half years, the band has traveled the nation and spread their love for music.
Band members Charlie Haas, Jackson Thompson, Max Motley and Mitch Davidson are fully committed to their music career. They were friends in college, but they all played in separate bands during their undergraduate careers.
“A few of our members, their plan was always after graduation to get a job and go separate ways,” the band’s lead singer Haas said.
As their band began to gain momentum, they quickly realized that they would pursue music for their career instead of pursuing a traditional job.
“We do over 100 shows a year, so we are constantly traveling and spending time together,” Haas said. “We are together at least every other day.”
The Underground Springhouse is not new to the Oxford music scene. The band has been coming to Oxford consistently over the years, playing at fraternity parties as well as Proud Larry’s.
“There is rarely a time when we go to a college town and I think, ‘This gives Athens a run for its money,’ but Oxford is (one of them),” Haas said.
Although they continue to grow after every tour, Springhouse keeps their heart and mind at home, bringing their start into their live performances.
“We like to cover Greta by Widespread Panic because there’s a line in that song that says there’s a pack of rabid dogs on my front door, and the rabid dogs are like (the Georgia) bulldogs,” Haas said.
The band continues to come back to Oxford for the town and the people, but most importantly, the town’s love and passion for music.
“People are more into original music in Oxford, and I see more bands popping up in Oxford than most college towns,” Haas said.
The band formed with their heart set in Athens, always holding a special place for their home state. The college town experience allowed for Underground Springhouse to develop expectations for other college towns such as Oxford.
“I think the Athens scene helped us by giving opportunities to just play in dingy bars (where) people can show up or not,” Haas said. “There’s so much live music in Athens, so we just figured it out by playing live at bars just as a cover band at first.”
As the band writes their own music, fans and listeners from Athens continue to support their continuous evolution of music. With each release, they aim to make their sound stand out in the music community through collaboration.
Springhouse plays a mix of reggae, country, funk and rock ’n’ roll inspired music. They work solo and as a team to produce the genre bending music.
“We’re more inspired by the southern rock side of things. If you sat in the van with us for a couple hours, you would be like, ‘Wow, this is like musical whiplash,’” Haas said.
Haas talked about the songwriting process.
“One person will write the structure of the song and then bring it to the group,” Haas said. “We have a lot of different identities, and I think that’s probably what helps it stay fresh, for us at least.”
As the band continues to tour and produce music, they use their experiences to create memories on the stage with audiences and the road with one another.
“The goal is for this to become a full-time career and for us to make a living off of it, but the good thing is even if you don’t succeed, you can fall back on it being fun,” Haas said.
