Arts This Week: The Barons at Fridays After Five
By Sage Tanguay
[Intro – Narration by Tiger Lightfoot]
You’re listening to WTJU Charlottesville. On Friday, July 11, The Barons will take the stage at Ting Pavilion as part of the Fridays After Five concert series. For this week’s edition of Arts This Week, we spoke to Peyton Alley, frontman of The Barons, who shared all the details about their upcoming performance and new album.
Peyton Alley:
My name is Peyton Alley. I’m the front man and rhythm guitarist for the band The Barons. I’d like to say we’re alternative rock, but we don’t necessarily try to fall into too many genres. We kind of try to mix it up a little bit.
Tiger Lightfoot:
How did your approach to this album differ from past releases, both in terms of production and songwriting?
Peyton Alley:
Last year, we decided to embark on recording our first full-length studio album. It’s called Le Château. We embarked on this sort of record really wanting to go for a raw but refined sound, and influences from everything that we were consuming—from metal to jazz. Really, the past couple of years, I’ve gotten into exploring my taste in music a lot more. And so I think for this record, we wanted something that was definitely more exploratory for The Barons.
Tiger Lightfoot:
Can you tell me a little bit about your new single and how it fits into the themes you’re exploring on the upcoming album?
Peyton Alley:
Yeah, sure, yeah. So we just released a single Bouquet a few weeks ago, and it’s technically the first single on the record. We also have another song called Gator that will be on the record. But this song just kind of deals with empathy and love and death, essentially. Most of the record deals with those sorts of anxieties that every human faces, and how we are communicating with one another nowadays—whether that’s face-to-face or through a screen.
I think it’s crucial that we maintain that feeling of human connection with one another in person. And that’s what we love about live shows and making music—it transcends that sort of judgment
field. When you hear something, it can make you feel a certain way. It’s universal. So I think Bouquet, our new single, kind of touches on that. And a lot of the record touches on that empathetic feeling we have for others, and how we navigate that—not knowing what’s real and what’s not real.
Tiger Lightfoot:
What do you think makes live shows so special today, and what are you looking forward to in your upcoming show in Charlottesville?
Peyton Alley:
Yeah, for sure. With the live concert nowadays, I think often we’re sort of stuck behind our TV or our screen, and we have a hard time getting outside. I think concerts really bring this element of human connection—and this mind, body, and spirit feeling of someone playing and performing and you feeling connected with that in a real way.
We’re looking forward to being back in Charlottesville for our show at the Ting Pavilion. We really feel like Charlottesville is a very appreciative crowd of all sorts of music that comes at them. We feel like we can let loose here, and people can enjoy themselves in a really weird and real way. And we love that
Tiger Lightfoot:
What does it mean to be playing Fridays After Five again? And how does it feel to return to
Charlottesville for these upcoming shows, including your album release show at The Jefferson?
Peyton Alley:
Yeah, sure, yeah. So, on Friday, Fridays After Five—it’s been a few years since we’ve played it—and I think it’s one of our favorite gigs to be a part of. Under the tent, and the staff and crew that work at the Ting are always super, super sweet to work with.
We just love playing for Charlottesville. Not only did we grow up around here, but we do feel like people from all walks of life move here—whether that’s for work, the university, or whatever. We’re just looking forward to being part of that community. And then we’re planning to do our album release show on September 12 at The Jefferson. That will be a big deal for us—it’ll kind of be our first time playing an official show there. So we’re looking forward to that and just being alongside the Charlottesville community. Hopefully, one or two songs can resonate with a few people. I guess nowadays they’ll probably clip them up to ten seconds for some part they like [laughs]. But we’re really enjoying being back in this town.
[Outro – Narration by Tiger Lightfoot]
The Barons will be performing this Friday at 5:30 at Ting Pavilion as part of the Fridays After Five concert series. They’ll also be playing The Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville on September 12. Be sure to catch them live.
Arts This Week is supported by UVA Arts Council and Piedmont Virginia Community College. PVCC Arts presents a rich array of dance, music, theater, and visual arts programming. Learn more at pvcc.edu.
