With their four older siblings and cousin comprising indie pop outfit Eisley, their brother-in-laws consisting of Max Bemis of Say Anything and Darren King of Mutemath, their mother being a vocalist and their father being a band manager – it surely would surprise none that Christie and Collin, the two youngest members of the DuPree family, would choose to embark on an equally creative and musical path of their own. The young duo has essentially grown up on the road, having toured alongside Eisley nearly non-stop since they were young kids, and have made the move to sharing the stage with the band as the opening act on recent tours.
Prior to their days of performing though, the band spent their time honing their skills, learning as much as possible about music and songwriting, and developing their own unique sound. “I think I was 13 or 14 when I first started trying to write songs, I would just open up Garageband and record myself making up melodies and such. Then after a while I asked one of my sisters to show me a few chords on guitar, and started writing songs that way,” states Christie. “And since our mom sings too, we grew up always singing with her.”
Christie kicked off her recording career in 2010, with the aforementioned Darren King serving as engineer on her very first [untitled] EP, which led Christie to the first tour offer opening for Eisley. Having accompanied Christie on guitar for the tour, it only made sense to have Collin officially join her as a collaborator on the project when it came up for the follow-up recording, and first official release.
The four-track album, Through The Rough, was recorded in their hometown of Tyler, TX, with the assistance of Andy Freeman for the recording, engineering and mixing of the EP. The duo self-released the album on March 6, 2012 and later released a vinyl split 7” with Eisley, featuring the EP’s title track, on July 3, 2012.
The true beauty of Through The Rough lies within its seemingly simple, yet subtly intricate compositions. While on the surface each track carries the sound of delicate sweetness, further listens reveal a mesmerizing darkness within the lyrics, fueled by the pure pain of love lost. Musically the album is airy and whimsical with light, dancing guitarwork and gentle percussions guiding along the angelic, emotional vocal work of Christie. Their memorable tunes blend together elements of indie, folk-Americana and pop music - reminiscent of the innovative likes of Iron and Wine, Red House Painters, and Bon Iver, offering a graceful, modern sound that is sure to appeal to the masses and displays a musical maturity well beyond their years.
Merriment will spend the remainder of the year touring in support of Through The Rough and writing for their next release. “We’re both overjoyed and so thankful that people have been responding so well to our EP,” Christie concludes. “And we hope that they’ll love whatever we do next too!”