One of the bright sides of this quarantine for me has been discovering some new music. One of the acts that I have been listening to during my time at home is Temecula Road. The is named for the town in California where they grew up and is comprised of sisters Emma and Maddie Salute, and longtime friend Dawson Anderson. They have been named by CMT and Taste of Country as one of the top new country artists to watch and they have played festivals across the US last summer including CMA Festival and Stagecoach. They are set to also appear at Stagecoach 2020 in the fall.
The trio released four new tracks in 2019 including “Fades,” “Never Knew I Needed You,” “Maybe Not,” and holiday favorite “Christmas In Dixie.” They also made their Grand Ole Opry debut at the Ryman in November and to hit the iconic Opry stage on February 1, 2020.
We were happy to be able to catch up with Dawson Anderson from the band for an interview to talk about what they are doing to stay connect to fans while staying at home.
What are you doing to stay sane during this quarantine period? Any advice for others?
A few things that we have been doing during the quarantine are singing covers, writing songs, reading, in home workouts, and watching lots of Netflix/Hulu/Disney+! One of the biggest pieces of advice we could give would be call family and friends everyday especially if you’re quarantining alone. This has helped is so much by keeping us connected to the outside world while being safe.
How are you staying connected to fans during this time?
We’re on a virtual tour right now called the “Temecula Road Off The Road Tour”, where we do multiple livestreams every week where we play songs for fans and answer loads of questions! On top of that were posting covers, answering DM’s, and we just posted a community number where fans can text or call us directly and we can answer back right away!
The music industry is being hit hard by this time. Are you doing anything to support any specific charities or causes during this crisis? Is so how can others help support it as well?
The biggest thing we’re doing to help during this time is supporting local businesses in our area. There are a lot of To Go places near where we’re quarantining and we’re try to donate and order food as much as we can.
What is your quarantine playlist? What music is inspiring you right now?
We’re loving and listening to all types of music during the quarantine. Because we have so much extra time on our hands, we’re able to listen to a lot more music. Of course our favorites are country, R&B, and pop!
Quarantine item you couldn’t live without?
Our instruments and our computers.
What’s in your refrigerator right now?
Too much coffee, or not enough??
What are some of your favorite destinations when on tour and why?
Gosh there are so many places we love to visit on tour, but our favorites have been: Berlin, London, Chicago, New York, and anywhere in California. There is so much culture and life in those cities and Cali is our old home so we always get to see family and friends when we roll through the state.
What is your favorite tour memory?
Our favorite tour memory was when we we’re in London and we went to a pub with a longtime friend who recently moved there and we ate the best bar food!
Has a travel destination ever inspired a song? What is the story?
Absolutely. A lot of our inspiration for songs comes from experiences we get on the road. Whether its stories we hear from fans, relationships, the normal everyday growing up we do as young adults together, there is a song in everything. We wrote a song called ’Til I Left It’, and its about being on the road and missing home.
Do you have a dream vacation spot after quarantine is over?
I think we’re most excited to eventually get back to our old hometown in California to see our family and friends!
Any message to Fans?
We hope everyone is staying safe, we appreciate all the support and love shown to us during this time, and if you’re bored we’re playing livestream shows for the next couple weeks on our “Off The Road” tour so stop in and hang!!
Photo: John Shearer
