“A lot of people assume that since we’re brothers that we’ve been playing together for our entire lives, and that’s actually not the case,” says Zack DuPont, one-half of Vermont folkicana duo The DuPont Brothers. “There’s about a five and a half year age difference between us, so when I was getting into guitar as a teenager, Sam was still young. It was a thing we both did on our own accord in different parts of the world. We’ve only been playing together as a band for last three years, but once we started playing together, we were like ‘what the heck have we been doing this whole time?’. I guess when it’s time, it’s time.”
The brothers played their first show on December 21, 2012, the date upon which the Mayan calendar predicted the world would end. Why not go out with a bang? “We had such a good time, and it was apparent that we should keep doing it,” recalls Sam DuPont, the other half of the band.
There’s something ghostly that happens when siblings make music together, a phenomenon referred to as “blood harmony”—The Everly Brothers, whose voices blended together in a seamlessly complementary way that only genetics can ensure. “When we started singing together, our voices are so different, but they’re similar in certain ways that really complement each other in a special way; it’s a freakish blend,” says Zack with a laugh. “The two voices kind of become one.”
The band will release a brand new album, A Riddle For You, on Friday June 3rd. The eleven song offering is truly a family affair, as the brothers chose a painting done by their father to grace the album’s cover. “We’re crossing T’s and dotting I’s with this thing,” laughs Zack. “We’re going deep.” The painting depicts a mouse staring into the face of a crouching cat, which Zack says is deeply appropriate in more ways than one. “It goes with the whole feeling of the message behind the record, which has a lot to do with what it’s like to be an independent artist just putting your music out there, trying to figure out ways to reach more people with it,” he says. “The business is changing a lot; it’s about finding your voice within all the unknowns. We could be the mouse staring that cat in the face and the cat could be the music industry or our journey. It just seemed to fit.”
A Riddle For You brims with tunes that tell stories, and both DuPonts agree that the album’s songs might be their most personal to date. “I like to write about people and relationships,” Sam says. “Personal connection with another human is real, it’s tangible, and it doesn’t have an expiration date.”
“We wanted it to be a really strong collection of songs; we recorded the album completely live,” adds Zack. “When you’re finally doing it for yourself, the accolades aren’t as important. We just wanted to write the best songs we could.”
The DuPont Brothers hit the road on June 2nd, with their first show in Nashua, New Hampshire. Rumor has it that the pair will make a stop on June 21st for a show at The Basement in the Music City, so keep your eyes on their schedule for updates.
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