In a few weeks, Baton Rouge will lose one of the biggest things to ever hit its local music scene.
Poor Harvey, the Baton Rouge-based band that has been touring in the South since its inception, will be uprooting itself and relocating to New York City.
The band members are leaving their hometown with hopes of making a name for themselves and broadening their horizons.
Justin Hilbun, guitarist and vocalist, said while the fans in Baton Rouge, and the city itself, have been great to Poor Harvey, the opportunities were too great to pass up.
Another reason the band is leaving is to work more closely with their manager, Kristin Diable, and record label Meridian Jane Records.
Diable recently moved from Baton Rouge to New York and urged Poor Harvey to relocate and also provided the reassurance they needed to move.
Drummer Dan Thompson said Diable moving by herself to New York has provided the band with the motivation to do it, too.
Patrick Johnson, bassist and vocalist, said, “We would not be going up there if it was not for [Diable].”
Even with fears of being in a new city, the band members remain optimistic about the changes they soon will face.
“I have no idea what to expect,” Hilbun said. “But if I was not scared to death, I would not go.”
Paul Johnson, guitarist and vocalist, said the drastic change of lifestyle will provide excellent material for song-writing, as will the inspiration provided by the city itself.
“It could be the hardest thing in the world, or it could be easy,” Johnson said. “But I know for a fact that inspiration will come out of it.”
The band also said leaving behind their family and friends, as well as the place they grew as a band, will be difficult.
Hilbun said that growing up as musicians in Louisiana has made them live up to a lot of standards set by industry greats. Even if their music is not necessarily “Louisiana music,” growing up here has played a part in their development, and it will not be easy to leave behind.
“When I got into music, it was rock music,” Hilbun said. “But Louisiana definitely seasoned me.”
The members of the band hope that with the move, they will achieve some measure of success.
Patrick Johnson said the measure of his success would be the ability to play their own music and make a comfortable living doing it.
“The reason that all of us are willing to take this risk is that none of us want to do anything else,” Paul Johnson said.
Paul Johnson said the amount of success has nothing to do with the money they make.
“In ten years, I see myself doing the same thing I’m doing now: playing music,” Thompson said.
The band plans to start touring as soon as possible when they get to New York.
Paul Johnson said they are not moving to New York to take a break; they are going to work.
Poor Harvey remains focused on what they want to do with their careers and what direction they need to take. They are determined not to let anything stand in their way.
“This is not the end all, be all, not salvation or bust, with New York,” Patrick Johnson said. “It’s just another step.”