By Whitney Youngs
“Central time will put you roughly in the right area,” explains Andrew Taetz about where he and his fellow bandmates currently reside.
Taetz fronts the alt-rock-country-blues quintet, The Youngest, comprising members who live in the cities of Chicago and Nashville, and with connections to the state of Texas.
Taetz, The Youngest’s vocalist and guitarist, didn’t think much about music until college at St. Louis University, where he recruited fellow skateboarder and Houston native, John Wood (drums) and Chicagoan guitarist John Quinn. The band is rounded out with Brendan Linnane on pedal steel guitar and Austin-based keyboardist Jackie Myers—who’s currently filling the group’s fifth rotating spot.
“I’d say I hit my stride in music and songwriting in college,” recalls Taetz. “St. Louis is a town that supports original music, and it’s definitely the town in which I would say, we came up musically.”
A truncated version of The Youngest—Taetz and Myers—will wrap up its West Coast tour with a show in Long Beach on Saturday.
“I love playing the West Coast and I really wanted to make that happen, and the most practical way to do that was to go out with only Jackie and I.”
Inspired by one of his favorite musicians Andrew Bird, Taetz plans to loop his guitar as a stand-in for a rhythm section.
“[Bird] can put on a one-man show better than most, so he’s been kind of a person I’ve watched to see how he does things,” adds Taetz.
In 2014, The Youngest recorded its debut album at a 19th-century ranch house in La Grange, Texas, owned by Taetz’s father.
“During the sessions, you couldn’t shift weight unless you wanted the creaks of the floor to come through the mic,” recalls Taetz. “It was kind of the genesis of the band. We got there with the goal of writing and recording an album and going on tour, and after, assessing what we wanted to do from there.”
Brian Deck, known for his work with Iron & Wine, Modest Mouse and Josh Ritter, produced the band’s sophomore album, “See It Through”—which was released in October and recorded at Earth Analog in Tolono, Ill., a studio specializing in hi-fi recordings on vintage consoles.
“It proved to be an apt transition from the ranch house to this remote town in Illinois,” remembers Taetz. “In working with Brian, who has so much experience, we sat back and tried to learn as much as we could from his process.”
The album features Pat Sansone of Wilco (a favorite band of The Youngest) who was instrumental in fleshing out the group’s “more random ideas,” as Taetz puts it.
The Youngest performs March 4 at Pike Restaurant & Bar, 1836 E. 4th St., Long Beach. www.pikelongbeach.com
