Dan McCurry Aims for Success with Hearts & Plugs
Dan McCurry never aspired to be a record label executive. As a classically trained pianist and independent songwriter, he aspired to make his living as a performing musician. But musical journey’s have a funny way of twisting and veering.
This week, McCurry’s newly invigorated Hearts & Plugs label celebrates its fourth official release — a seven-song album by local rock band Elim Bolt titled Nude South. The CD hits the street on Tues. Nov. 6, and the band headlines a CD release show at the Tin Roof on Sat. Nov. 10.
“I don’t know if I’ve learned how to do it right yet, but I’m getting there,” McCurry says. “I probably sent out about 200 e-mails about Elim Bolt’s new album about three weeks ago, and we got eight little write-ups here and there, It seems like a tiny amount, but on the other hand, it’s pretty impressive. I wonder, ‘How do we not lose them before step one?’ It’s like how do you not immediately go to the trash bin with a sent press release? We’re learning.”
Hearts & Plugs head Dan McCurry (photo by Megan Elger)
McCurry usually spends his time teaching piano lessons in Mt. Pleasant, but he regularly leans into the rock ‘n’ roll world through his quirky pop/rock project Run Dan Run. With McCurry on keys and vocals, Nick Jenkins on drums, and Ashley Hopkins on bass and guitars, Run Dan Run is melodic band propelled by vintage synth tones, odd drum bats, and fuzzy/jangly guitar sounds.
As a label, Hearts & Plugs’ organic beginnings stemmed from Run Dan Run. It initially took shape in 2007 as a low-key collective of local musical and visual artists. McCurry and Jenkins were casually at the helm. Jenkins’ solo projects usually utilized the stage name “Mr. Jenkins.” Hopkins (currently based in Chapel Hill, N.C.) released his own solo recordings through the Hearts & Plugs imprint as well.
“The name ‘Hearts & Plugs’ came from a handmade T-shirt design Nick Jenkins did for Run Dan Ran, McCurry says. “It was a logo, basically. We didn’t have a place to sell our bands’ records, so we thought it would provide a good way to do it.”
In those early days, calendars designed and printed by Jenkins regularly sold better through the website than the albums did. Run Dan Run’s 2007 debut was a melodic indie-rocker titled Basic Mechanics. They followed with a tidy EP titled 27 Coming St. in 2009 and with the more complexly produced full-length Normal in 2011.
After a brief tour and an expensive radio promotion campaign behind Normal, McCurry decided to take things into his own hands and dedicate more time, effort, and money into Hearts & Plugs.
“The name had just sat vacant for a while,” McCurry says. “But the name stuck, and the websites were there. Run Dan Run had been around for five years and had no home, so I thought, ‘Well let me just refocus this.’ Then I started out again and it was just about rebranding it.”
McCurry’s initial goal with Hearts & Plugs was to focus on a homebase of acts and start growing with them. Last spring, he reached out to friends in the Columbia-based folk/pop/electronica band the Lovely Few (led by songwriter Mike Mewborne), who immediately signed on. In April, they released an elaborately orchestrated, 11-song disc titled The Persides. Over the spring, McCurry also complied a 12-song Hearts & Plugs sampler featuring two songs from all of their bands.
The roster expanded even more this year when McCurry hooked up with local band Elim Bolt, a reverb-drenched indie-rock combo fronted by singer/guitarist Johnnie Matthews (formerly of Florence-based pop/rock band Sequoyah Prep School). Elim Bolt brought a bit of rough-edged rock action to the otherwise poppy Hearts & Plugs gallery of acts.
“We’d like to always recognize our roots while also moving beyond just being a hometown label. We hope that in three-to-five years, perhaps, we’re in the league of the other very respectable indie labels like Barsuk, Jade Tree, Carpark, etc. But we’re starting here, and we’re going to continue to highlight Charleston no matter where we are.”
Elim Bolt was already halfway through a local recording session at local facility the Space with engineer/drummer Ryan Zimmerman when McCurry approached with them about working together. The encounter soon led to additional studio sessions at McCurry’s own Apartment A home studio.
Dan McCurry with Elim Bolt (photo by Megan Elger)
“I was initially just bogged down trying to record the record when Dan reached out to me with ideas,” Matthews says. “He helped me organize some tracks, and he eventually started adding organ to a few things. It all happened pretty naturally.”
McCurry oversaw the additional sessions for Nude South his home studio, Apartment A. McCurry calls Apartment A the “in-house design and recording studio” that services the label. “I do the recording and Megan Elger does the design work and photography.”
McCurry also stepped into Elim Bolt’s lineup as at the auxiliary organist alongside lead guitarist Jordan Hicks, bassist Christian Chedester, singer/keyboardist Amber Joyner, and drummer Michael McCrea.
Full of amp reverb, jangly power chords, and Matthews’ unusually dramatic vibrato singing, Elim Bolt’s new album will surely earn attention for its atmospheric pop stylings, rich harmonies, and darkly romantic tone.
“Nude South is the most official, fully-produced album release Hearts & Plugs has done to date,” McCurry says. “A lot of Hearts & Plugs involves in-house production, and it involves access to Apartment A.”
Nude South‘s sepia-toned album cover features a beautiful photo by Elger depicting a freshly mown hayfield at dusk at Matthews’ family farm in Elim, S.C. (near Florence and Lake City). A sleeping couple rests under a sheet on a stray bed in the foreground. It is impressive imagery from Apartment A.
A forthcoming debut from Charleston-based Brave Baby (formally known as Wylie) is on Hearts & Plugs’ horizon. Brave Baby is a synth-tinged pop project led by Keon Masters with assistance from Zimmerman, Chidester, Hicks and keyboardist Stephen Walker. Zimmerman tracked the 10-song Forty Bells at the Space this year. It’s due on Jan. 15.
Elim Bolt plans to take Brave Baby on the road in mid-January for a Hearts & Plugs showcase tour through the Southeast and the Midwest. They’ll share nearly as many band members as they will amps and drums.
“A big part of the Hearts & Plugs philosophy is pooling resources and getting as much done as we can,” McCurry says. “The main resource we don’t have is money. We don’t have a big investor, but we can make the art look good and we can make the music sound good.”
Elim Bolt hosts a CD release show at the Tin Roof on Sat. Nov. 10 at 9 p.m. Opening acts include Company and Scott Dence. Admission is $5. Visit elimbolt.com and heartsandplugs.com for more.
Top photo by Megan Elger.
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About the Author
Ballard Lesemann is a musician and writer. Born and raised in Charleston, S.C., he spent years playing in bands and working for Flagpole Magazine in the bustling music town of Athens, Ga. He returned to his hometown and served more than seven years as the Charleston City Paper's music editor. He's better at drumming than he is at playing guitar.
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