Cub Country

In interviews, Jeremy Chatelain has been quick to offer up his love of the Americana sound, but it's not the genre you think of when you here his usual band, the indie rocking Jets to Brazil. The singer/songwriter/bassist started writing some songs in a more Americana/alt-country style around 1998, but Jets to Brazil was hardly the right vehicle. Instead, he created Cub Country. At first it wasn't a band but a "project" with a loose set of rules. The songs were to be recorded casually and as soon as possible, to avoid getting bogged down with over-thinking. The first product of this process was Cub Country's debut EP, Castle Coldshins, which was recorded by Chatelain with his friend Utah Slim in 1999 and released by the Ear to Ground label in 2000. Next was the more elaborate High Uinta High, released by Jade Tree in 2002 and featuring members of Helmet, Lunachicks, Rival Schools, and Chatelain's own Jets to Brazil. By 2004, Chatelain decided a regular band was needed to take these songs on the road. North Carolina musicians Matt Sumrow, Jeff Clarke, and Justin Ansley were now regular members of Cub Country and appeared on their 2004 album for Future Farmer, Stay Poor/Stay Happy.