Listen People Listen to Run Dan Run

With so many brilliant bands in our backyard, we don’t always pay enough attention to talented local acts from outside the Five Boroughs. But since hearing Charleston-based Run Dan Run’s song “Your Name Escapes Me” (off their 2007 release Basic Mechanics) last year, they’ve stayed squarely on our radar. Now with a new acoustic EP, 27 Coming St., and an upcoming five-show run in New York, Run Dan Run is taking hold of both our iPod and our city.

With the new EP, band members Dan McCurry, Nick Jenkins, Ash Hopkins and Erin McKinley, who met at the College of Charleston, really show their range. A far departure from the Postal Service-inspired tunes on Basic Mechanics, the young foursome offer up stripped down and slowed down ballads on 27 Coming St. It’s the type of music that could have only been conceived someplace calm and quiet and listening to it transports you there as well.

We got the multi-talented McCurry, who plays keyboard and guitar and sings and writes the songs for Run Dan Run, to answer some post-EP, pre-tour questions for us:

So how did the name Run Dan Run come to be?
It came from a friend's T-shirt that said "Run Katie Run" (referring to Katie Holmes from Tom Cruise). At the time I was looking for a band name that would be fun and flexible. I wasn't thinking about Forrest Gump.

What's the story behind 27 Coming St.?
It was due time to make a recording. We'd been playing acoustic lately and that had been working well. We wanted to try a live recording and saw that we had an opportunity with Ash coming into town to do some musical business (he currently resides in Chapel Hill and has been there for the past one and a half years). We set up in my living room one Sunday evening in October and went for it. Ash took it home to clean it up. When he sent us the files to listen to, he had put in 27 Coming St.. for the album name since that's the location where it was recorded. It seemed fitting. It wasn't at all discussed prior, just a happy accident.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a car designer. I spent a lot of time quizzing myself on the makes of cars. I often drew my own designs and named them and filed them. I decided that my company would be MTC: McCurry Transportation Company. I suppose that looks like a rip off of GMC though. Apparently I wasn't as creative as I had thought.

What are you most looking forward to doing in NYC?
Personally, I am excited about playing Rockwood Music Hall because they have a really sweet baby grand and it's not often that I get the opportunity to play an acoustic piano in a rock show. I think dynamically the group works best when I'm at the piano. I'm not a very good guitar player.

What band(s) would you give a non-vital organ to tour with?
Broken Social Scene, David Bazan, Laura Veirs, Death Cab for Cutie, Andrew Bird and Stars.

If you could land one of your songs on any TV show soundtrack, which show would you pick and why?
The Price Is Right. I grew up on that show. The deal would have to be that we get to win the Showcase though. We would have to go all the way or nothing.

Run Dan Run's upcoming New York shows:
Mon., Mar 2nd - Kenny's Castaways - NYC, NY
Tues,. Mar 3rd - Arlene's Grocery - NYC, NY
Wed., Mar 4th - Shrine Bar - NYC, NY
Fri., Mar 6th - Goodbye Blue Monday - Brooklyn, NY
Sat. ,Mar 7th - Rockwood Music Hall - NYC, NY