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For three kids who weren’t around for any of it, Hilton Head’s Steppin’ Stones know an awful lot about classic rock.
For most teenagers, summer is a time to relax and have fun — a time when “serious responsibility” means sweating through some extra shifts at your temp job. Not so for the members of the Steppin’ Stones, the teenage power trio that’s been impressing crowds in the Lowcountry for five years running ... even though none of them are old enough to drive. Monthly caught up with singer and lead guitarist Hannah Wicklund.
Q. Let’s start by talking about the band. How would you describe yourselves to the readers?
A. We’re a classic rock band, and we’ve been playing together for five years. We’ve played everywhere from Savannah and Wild Wing Cafe to Harbour Town to private parties. We’re a three-piece band, with me on guitar and lead vocals, Mick Ray on bass and keyboards and Ryan Tye on drums. We met at school and all shared an interest in music, so we teamed up — jammed for a little bit and went from there.
Q. The stereotype for your age group is that it doesn’t generally listen to the kind of music you play. Do you find that to be true?
A. There are always kids listening to rap and stuff, but there are also kids like us listening to classic rock (laughs). There might be a couple of kids in our class who know a few of the songs we’re playing, and can dance or sing along. But typically, the age group we play to is a little older.
Q. Steppin’ Stones are a little different from some of the other bands on the circuit in that you play a fair amount of original material.
A. Yeah, we actually just finished recording an EP with my brother, Luke Mitchell, and we’re going to start focusing on our originals a lot more. We’ve had a good response to the single “Make Up Your Mind” — people say it gets stuck in their heads.
We’re never going to drop covers totally. Original music is awesome, but in order to grab people you have to play things they know. So we’ll keep playing both.
Q. How do you manage to fit time for practice in with your regular high school lives?
A. We usually practice two or three times a week for at least two hours, so we spend a fair amount of time on the band. We all have our own separate schedules, but we make it work.
We’ve been lucky. We’ll have one gig and people will see us play, and then they’ll ask us to play a party or show — it’s been a snowball. And thanks to our amazing parents, who set up for us and take us to gigs, we’ve had a lot of help.
Q. You guys can’t order your own drinks yet, but you’re seasoned veterans. What’s your perspective on the local music scene?
A. It isn’t what it was a couple of years ago, but it’s starting to come back. We also travel a lot — we just got back from doing a show on Tybee. But we do a lot of gigs on Hilton Head.
Pop culture obsessive Jeff Giles is a contributor to Rotten Tomatoes and Paste and the editor-in-chief of Popdose.com and Dadnabbit.com.
