Momentum can be a funny, fickle thing. Local husband-and-wife duo You & Yourn (formerly Casados) are on a bit of a roll, having recently secured a slot opening for Andrew Bird at Foellinger Hall on December 8; released their first album under their new moniker, It Would Make Things Worse, on Parasol; completed a month-long tour of the western U.S.; and garnered mentions of their new album on blogs for Seattle’s KEXP and Largehearted Boy.
They’ll try to keep the good times going Saturday night with their album release show at Indi Go Art Gallery, at 9 E. University in Champaign. Iowa City’s Caleb Engstrom opens the 8 p.m. show, cover is $5 and it’s BYOB.
I caught up with Nic and Heather Dillon (and their dog, Sadie) at their east Urbana home on Tuesday, as the news of opening for Andrew Bird had begun to sink in.
Photo by Jason Berg
They’d just received an email from StarCourse on Monday asking them if they’d like to open for Bird. “Nic called me from work and he was like ‘You’re not going to believe this,'” Heather said. “That’s probably the best show offer we’ve ever had,” although they’d previously opened for Low and David Bazan.
Nic agreed, explaining, “I would put a person like Andrew Bird down as one of the bigger voices of the last decade, and I would have never even fathomed that I would do more than attend Andrew Bird concerts.”
The opportunity to play in that venue is also a thrill for the Dillons. “I never would have dreamed of playing in Foellinger,” Nic continued. “That’s a way bigger venue than I would have ever thought You & Yourn would have played in.” Heather explained, “We totally don’t feel deserving of that.” She joked, “From now on, we’ll only play auditoriums.”
“It’s ridiculous, because we don’t have a ‘team,'” Nic related. “We really have enjoyed working with Parasol, but they don’t help us with booking. I’m just baffled with how much we’ve been able to accomplish on our own, without a booking agent or…”
Heather added, “I think Parasol has helped, though. To be able to say, ‘Parasol’s putting out our album, and they’ll be handling tour and album promotion,’ I think that helps. Makes us sound more legit.”
The mention on KEXP, among a couple dozen new releases (including U2’s new live album and the Swell Season) was also a surprise. “We were in good company,” Heather said with a laugh. Nic noted, “I’ve listened to KEXP online and when we are in Seattle, on the radio, for at least five-plus years now, to be even mentioned by a station of that caliber was really shocking to me.”
On the KEXP list, they were listed immediately after Wolfmother, which is about as rock ‘n roll as it gets, until you realize that on Largehearted Boy, they followed The Essential Weird Al Yankovic.
Trying to put his finger on why they’re getting all this attention all of a sudden, Nic said, “I don’t know what it is, it’s a big mix of elements. It helps to have [Parasol] promoting the record. It helps that it’s a good record. It helps to be touring. We had a good show in Seattle [with Eyvind Kang], maybe that kind of stuff gets around, and maybe not.”
Speaking of It Would Make Things Worse, Heather said, “I think the album as a whole is something we’ll be proud of for a really long time. I feel like it’s something I can stand behind.'” One of the things that makes the album special for them is that a lot of their close friends played a part in making the record, from playing on it, to mixing, to producing the album art.
It’s a heady time for You & Yourn, and tomorrow night’s show should be a celebration of that. Nic adds, “It’s always fun to play for people that we know, and to play in our hometown. And we’re playing pretty well right now, having been on tour, which basically amounts to very consistent practice of the same repertoire every night. It’s fun to play if you’re good, and we’re pretty good right now.”
Second photo by Cody Bralts.
Full disclosure: My wife and I are friends with the Dillons, and Gillian did the album art for It Would Make Things Worse. I fixed Heather’s bike once.