The Aardvark — 24 April 2019 on Rocket Shop Radio Hour

The Aardvark joined host Tom Proctor on ‘Rocket Shop‘, Big Heavy World’s weekly local Vermont music radio hour on 105.9FM The Radiator. Catch up with them at facebook.com/TheAardvarkFanPage

“I get to travel a lot. I get to play a lot. I get to do a lot of things. But what I really love is what we’re doing here right now, and that’s just sharing time with my brothers and some of my best friends and people that I’ve grown with, playing the music of our heart.” 

-Micah Carbonneau of The Aardvark

On Wednesday, April 24th The Aardvark drove down from Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom to share an eclectic repertoire of live songs on Rocket Shop. Lead singer, Mitch Watson, mentioned that The Aardvark jumps at any opportunity to play original music, so they definitely came to the right place. Lead guitar player, Donovan Delabruere, and Mitch are cousins, and they began playing live music together in a little barn in Orleans, Vermont in 2012. At the time, it was just an excuse for them to get together, but when they realized that they had something special, they started recruiting local talent. They knew Morgan Wells as a “renowned” guitar player in the area, so they reached out to him and convinced him to play bass for them. They also recruited Micah Carbonneau to be their drummer.

Aardvark’s sound has elements of Americana and folk, translated into a full band setting with a touch of traditional rock riffs and jamming, or “structured improvisation” as they call it. They like to keep their music interesting with an element of spontaneity. One of Mitch’s favorite quotes was said by Bob Dylan: “A song is something that walks by itself.” He mentioned that for each song that they write, they keep this motto in mind, respecting the song as its own entity and not just for those who play it. The Aardvark finds inspiration in a variety of artist from Bob Dylan to The Allman Brothers to 90’s alternative. In fact, their inspiration is so diverse that it is where the name “Aardvark” comes from. Aardvarks are animals made up of all different animal parts, and the band is inspired by a mix of artists, “plus… it looks cool and it’s spelt cool” added Mitch.

To hear more of The Aardvark, check out their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/TheAardvarkFanPage/about/?ref=page_internal

Upcoming shows:

Gustos Bar in Barre, VT on July 19th

Snow Shoe Lodge and Pub, Montgomery VT on May 11th

Public House in Quechee, VT on September 6th

Text by Marisa Iannitto

Photo by James Lockridge.