2 former Hendersonville buskers are now in bands that play sold-out shows
Two former downtown Hendersonville buskers (street performers who play for donations) are now members of two separate bands that play to sold-out shows all across the region.
Hendersonville High graduate A.J. Pyatt lives in Winston-Salem and is the lead singer for the band No Scope. Sam Frame, a 2004 East Henderson High graduate, lives in Mill Spring and is the drummer for the WNC rock band Lazrluvr. Both Pyatt and Frame say they owe their current success to their humble beginnings about a decade ago performing on the street corners on Main Street in Hendersonville.
The Times-News interviewed Pyatt and Frame recently. Below is the interview and their responses:
Talk about your journey from high school to where you are now.
Pyatt: I wasn't the most well behaved kid in high school. ... Some would say I had excess energy. I didn't really feel like I fit in until I met the Wray brothers and Bryan, who were in a pop punk band called The Hasbens. Joining their friend group sparked this need to be creative. These guys didn't just play music, they loved it, listening, writing, performing, truly studying music. They gave me an outlet for all the excess energy and gave me something to focus on.
After high school I went from being just a member of the friend group to a member of the band when we formed an emo band called Brightwater Drive. That was the first band I ever wrote for and performed for, and from that point on I've always been involved in music in some way shape or form.
Years later I traveled the country with Dillon and Jantzen's band Old North State as the guitar tech/roadie. It was during those travels that songwriting became a major focus and where I discovered the art of busking, aka street performing. When those tours ended I was kind of alone as a musician and wanted to get stronger, so I decided to start writing my own songs and testing them out by playing them on street corners downtown to see if anyone liked them. What I didn't realize is how much the city of Hendersonville would love and appreciate someone sitting on a chair with a guitar.
I would make hundreds of dollars and have huge crowds surrounding me every weekend I went out there. If wasn't out there I'd get calls saying "where are you?" I sang originals, covers ranging from The Jackson 5 to Taylor Swift, and street performance became a part of the downtown Hendersonville aesthetic, so much so that they had to create new laws regulating it because of the influx of performers following my lead. It was crazy. There I am, a guy with guitar being featured in the paper regularly, making tons of cash, and having people tell me I inspired them.
The problem came when I wanted to be more than just "The Busker." Venues in town wouldn't book me because they'd say, "Why would people come see you here when they can walk downtown and see you for free?" Busking both opened and closed doors for me, so to quote one my favorite artists, Kacey Musgraves, "I had to get away so I could grow, but it don't matter where I'm going. I'll still call my hometown home."
One of my best friends invited me to live in Winston-Salem and that move was literally life changing. I tried busking here and it just didn't work. Winston is a city and the small-town boy with a guitar on the corner just wasn't cutting it out here. I teamed up with with a percussionist and a banjo player to form my first Winston-Salem band ThreeFour Mountain, and that was the spark that lit the fuse out here. We played vineyards, wineries, bars and breweries all over the Triad, but I didn't feel like that style of music was really me. I wasn't happy playing covers and mainly being background at restaurants and bars. I wanted to be rock star on big stages with people focusing on what we're doing and singing to our songs. That's when No Scope formed. It was me and four friends with a common love of the music that got me into performing in the first place. We create music that I sincerely love and love performing.
Frame: I toured in multiple bands ranging from country to death metal through most of my 20s. I was diagnosed with cancer when I was 28 and during treatment wrote and recorded “The Great Blue and Wide” with Strange Avenues. I went back to school and became an mechatronics engineer. I did that for a few years but left that world to continue doing music professionally, and that’s where I am now.
I recently won the No. 1 drummer/percussionist in WNC from Mountain Xpress, and my band (Lazrluvr) won No. 1 all around favorite and No. 1 rock band
More: Street performers pack up, head to corners
Do you have former friends or fans of when you were a busker talk to you now or see you in concert? What are those experiences like?
Pyatt: Definitely. My new band No Scope got to play the Dark Harvest Rock Festival this summer. It was the first time I'd been home in nine years, and the outpouring of support I saw for this new band had me in tears. It felt good to be more than just "The Busker" anymore.
Frame: I still see a lot of people since I play out a lot. For a long time a lot of people thought that being a musician was just a hobby, but now that it’s a full time job, a lot of them have changed their tune. I have had a lot of friends who have supported it, and that’s always been a good thing to have in my corner.
What would you like to tell other aspiring musicians from the area?
Pyatt: I've been very fortunate to be surrounded by not only great musicians but great people, I think that's what has helped me the most. My advice to anyone chasing the dream is to surround yourself with positive people, people who believe in you and aren't afraid to be honest with you.
Frame: You have to be tenacious. If you don’t have the heart for it don’t do it. It’s a tough business to be in, and you have to have the strength to get back up and push forward through all the heartache and pitfalls.
More: Hal Linden of 'Barney Miller,' Marilu Henner of 'Taxi' coming to Flat Rock Playhouse
Upcoming performances
No Scope
March 30: Heist Brewery, 2909 N. Davidson St., Charlotte
April 21: ALV Nightclub, 675 W. 5th Street, Winston-Salem
April 28: Eulogy,10 Buxton Ave., Asheville
Lazrluvr
April 6: Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, Alabama
May 17: Downtown After 5, Asheville
June 29: The Hum, 227 Second Ave., Hickory
July 6: Birthday Block Party at Oklawaha Brewing, 147 First Ave. E., Hendersonville
Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Former street performers are now in popular bands No Scope, Lazrluvr
