Sometimes the best things come to those who wait. In 2012—a decade after they met—co-vocalists David Stockhausen and Terry McCants formed the folk band Spurs. Initially calling themselves Silver Spurs and performing country covers, the pair eventually made the switch to folk music at McCants’ urging. “The band started to shift when we saw an equally great, if not greater, response to our own music at shows,” says Stockhausen, who also writes the band’s songs.
“So we decided to ditch the country covers, just call ourselves Spurs, and take this seriously.” The move was a natural one, as Stockhausen is a classic folk rock fanatic. “Folk music from the late ’60s and ’70s has been a huge inspiration to me,” he says. “When you’re listening to it with headphones and walking down the street, it has this cinematic quality that makes life seem hyper real. A good song or songwriter should be able to capture an emotion or a feeling to the point where it adds this cinematic quality and depth to the song.” The band—which is currently recording its debut album—produces warm, acoustic music. The simple strum-and-stomp track “Shoot to Kill” shows off the band’s organic sound, while Americana numbers, like “New Scene,” shine the spotlight on Stockhausen and McCants’ harmonizing vocals. If these songs are any indication, the band’s debut should be a good one. The two are approaching the recording process with great care. “We’re trying to take an artistic approach to it,” Stockhausen says. “Whatever’s going to serve the record the best is going to end up staying. It’s been fun. It’s been a real creative process and that’s what I was hoping to get out of it, was something that was going to be a real record of how we envision the songs to be, not just ‘Let’s quickly put our songs down, put out an album and move on.’”
INFO: 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $8. 429-6994.
