Ahead of Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds’ performance at the Westcott Theater this weekend, The Daily Orange spoke with Sister Sparrow’s lead singer, Arleigh Kincheloe. Originally from the Catskill mountains, Kincheloe has been performing since she was a child.

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The Daily Orange: When and why did you start singing and performing?

Arleigh Kincheloe: I actually started when I was a little kid. My parents were always in bands together – my dad is a drummer and my mom would sing – and I used to go to their gigs when I was little. I think I first started singing on stage when I was 9 years old and then kind of through the years singing with (my parents). Then, I started writing my own music when I was about 18, which was the beginning of what Sister Sparrow is now.

The D.O.: How did you come up with the name “Sister Sparrow”?

Kincheloe: That was actually a name that my sister gave me once when we were on a road trip together. I started calling her Mama Quail, since we were staying at the Desert Quail in Sedona, Arizona. She started calling me Sister Sparrow because she said I was “too little to be a mama.”

The D.O.: What is your favorite part about being on tour?

Kincheloe: Touring is really hard, and the travel is really intense. Obviously, it’s my favorite getting to play. It’s fun to be able to go all over the place and play for different people in different settings. Like, I’ve played on top of a mountain and right on the beach and every different setting imaginable and it’s pretty awesome.

The D.O.: Have you performed in Syracuse before?

Kincheloe: Yeah, we’ve performed many times actually. I can’t even count how many times we’ve been to the Westcott, so this should be a really fun time.

The D.O.: What is an average day on tour like for you?

Kincheloe: Usually, it involves very little sleep. I used to be really good about taking naps in the van but lately, we’ve been taking my son on tour with us so I haven’t been taking very many naps at all. We get in the van and are driving forever, and we find a good place to get coffee and food, it’s a lot of little mundane stuff. Then, we get to the club and it’s kind of like hurry and wait. So, you kind of rush around and try to get there on time and then you’re waiting for a while to perform … It’s almost like all day is spent preparing to do this one thing and it goes by so quick. We usually hangout and talk to people after the show and then try to get to the hotel and try to get some sleep and start all over again.

The D.O.: What’s your process for writing your music?

Kincheloe: It varies for sure, sometimes a song will just be there. It will just pop up in your brain and you just got to write it down really fast. But sometimes you have to really work on it. A couple songs that I’ve written have taken forever, like it will take years until its fully done. And, I have all of these voice memos in my phone and go back and be like, ‘Oh yeah that could be cool,’ like three years later.

Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds will perform at the Westcott Theater on Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.

Published on September 18, 2018 at 9:30 pm

Contact Amanda: aebyrne@syr.edu