A Styrofoam Winos set is an extended game of musical chairs. The Nashville band has no lead singer, no lead guitarist, bassist or drummer and after a song, each member will move to another instrument. “Usually we will start with whatever we feel called to that day and inevitably we will switch it up,” said Lou Turner. It’s a kind of musical equity in action, hinged on the perfect creative harmony among bandmates Turner, Joe Kenkel and Trevor Nikrant.
The love that they all have for each other is what their new song, “Angel Flies Over,” is all about. The band formed in 2016. Nikrant says that they were backing each other’s solo projects and then “became each other’s band.” The lyrics on “Angel Flies Over” were written in large part by Joe Kenkel, who wrote it while the band was living in different cities. “I was in Iowa City and going to grad school at the time and we weren’t playing together as much as we would like to play, so when we would get together it would be really special,” he said. “The idea for the song was what happens when we get together. Together or apart, the friendship lasts.”
The chemistry is working for Styrofoam Winos. They were recently asked to play with indie rock rising star MJ Lenderman and performed “Long Black Veil” with Lenderman, which appears on his live album, Live and Loose.
“Angel Flies Over” will be the opening track on Styrofoam Winos’ upcoming album, Real Time, which will be out on 9/27. They will celebrate with a show at Nashville venue Soft Junk on 9/26.
