SLCene Suggests: The Apache Relay at Kilby Court

THE APACHE RELAY, KILBY COURT, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 7 p.m., $16.50

Just five years since forming at a Belmont University dorm jam session and releasing their first album, the Apache Relay has already toured with the likes of Mumford & Sons and Jenny Lewis, hit major festivals like Bonnaroo and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and headlined their own tours across the country.

That doesn’t mean the band was in any hurry to record their latest, self-titled album, though, according to guitarist Ben Ford. Instead, the band headed out of Nashville for the sunny skies of Los Angeles and the famed Fairfax Recordings–better known to most as the Sound City recording studio where Tom Petty recorded much of his catalog, and Nirvana recorded Nevermind. Dave Grohl made a well-regarded documentary about the place a couple years ago.

“That room, I get why so many people have recorded there,” Ford says. “It sounds so good. It sounds crazy, but I feel like you can hear [the room] on the records that have been recorded there. When I listen to those old Tom Petty records, I can hear that room in it, almost. It sounds weird, but it’s true.”

Acknowledging that thinking about all the great albums made in the space threatened to “kind of freak you out or distract you,” Ford said the band managed to settle in and take their time to make the album turn out exactly how they wanted.

“We were thankful to record there and be able to take our time with it,” Ford said. “We were there like three months [in work time], but we were able to take four or five months. We were able to take our time and do some exploration of the place. It wasn’t like, ‘Okay, we’ve got a week. You get three takes.’ We had some time.”

They put the time to good use, judging by the lush sounds filling The Apache Relay, from the “Wall of Sound” vibe of album opener “Katie Queen of Tennessee” to harmony-laden love songs like “Don’t Leave Me Now.” Not only is the songwriting the best of the band’s three albums, they just sound great.

Tuesday in Salt Lake City, the band takes the middle spot on the bill between Desert Noises and The Wild Feathers.