The Good Old War is consistently noted for their “sing alongability,” and that’s exactly what the High Noon Saloon will be doing this Friday night. The band, fresh off of the release of its new album Come Back as Rain, will be performing in Madison.
The band has been around since 2008, but it recently made an artistic breakthrough. It had a performance at Coachella, received video play on MTV, and went on a two-month national tour. Combined, these things have put a spotlight on the talented trio and have surrounded them in an air of anticipation by their loyal followers.
The band is made up of three men endowed with musical talent and God-given good looks: Dan Schwartz, Tim Arnold and Keith Goodwin. The band was not necessarily named “The Good Old War” in order to anger the extreme pacifists that may stumble across their music nor is it a nostalgic grasp at a past battle. Rather, the name was created by having taken parts of their last names and putting them together.
The fact that the three came together was a bit of an accident. Arnold and Goodwin were in a band called Days Away before Good Old War came along. Days Away was billed to be an opener for Anthony Green, but as the tour approached the band fell apart. Arnold called Dan Schwartz to join him and Goodwin for an acoustic opener.
“By the end of the tour, we were playing songs together,” said Arnold in an interview with The Daily Cardinal. “And the next week, Green asked us to play on his record as the backing band and it’s just been like that ever since.”
They drew their influence originally from classic 60’s vocal groups—like Crosby, Paul Simon and the Beatles. Now Good Old War acknowledges its influences have become much more diverse as its career has progressed. Despite their simplistic and straight-forward sound, the band draws lyrical influence from life events that affect them on a deeper level.
“We just write about what we know,” Arnold said. “A lot of the songs are based on the fact that being gone all the time can be a strain on a relationship. I guess one way of dealing with it is writing about it.”
The band manages to maintain a unified and dynamic sound through the overlapping roles of the members. All three men have their voices on the recordings, and each can play multiple instruments. The music produced feels as if it was created by one incredibly talented man rather than by three unified musicians. This sound is found through simply trusting their musical abilities.
“We kind of just follow our instincts and do whatever it is that we think is the best thing we can do,” Arnold said. “I feel like there is no formula for a hit song. The business of art is a huge gamble and that’s why we take our time and work really hard so that maybe we can bypass the ‘business’ and just let the music and the people who enjoy the music carry our careers.”
The 2012 release of Come Back as Rain has been well received by critics across the board. The style is a unique blend of indie and pop and the lyrics are catchy and well-written. The upbeat sound of the songs is starkly contrasted with the serious and often sad lyrics that accompany them. The three voices combine as perfect harmonies, producing an album of eleven tracks that are each consistent in their quality.
“When we write a song we try and just make it as catchy as possible” Arnold said. “We don’t really sit around and think of lines or melodies that are easy to sing along to or anything, but I guess the fact that they are catchy makes them fun to participate in.”
Despite its recent success, Good Old Wars understand the quick shifts that occur in the music industry.
“I think the biggest challenge is staying alive in this business and we seem to have done that so far,” Arnold said. “I don’t think any of us are going to think ‘Well, we made it, we got through it’ because there are always challenges and obstacles standing in the artists’ way. That might be the fun part.”