Never Shout Never frontman Christofer Drew is slated to perform three upcoming acoustic performances — with album signings — on Aug. 4; quite the treat for Southland fans. But for Drew, it’s just another day at work.
The 24-year-old musician from Joplin, Mo., is a self-described “nomad” and festival circuit veteran, most recently on the bill for the Vans Warped Tour that already made stops in Ventura and Pomona in June. Now he is returning to the area for performances in a record store, a clothing store and a cafe.
“It will be me and a guitar. I’ll make it easy on the rest of the band,” Drew said of the upcoming shows. “The more intimate, acoustic things are really fun — for me at least. But it’s more nerve-racking than playing in front of thousands of people.”
Drew is set to perform at 12:30 p.m. in Claremont, 4:30 p.m. in Huntington Beach and 9:30 p.m. in Hollywood on Aug. 4. He’ll also be signing copies of the band’s record “Black Cat,” which is set to be released nationwide Aug. 7.
While the events are free, attendees much purchase the new record for the signing portion of the event, said Dennis Callaci, general manager of Rhino Records in Claremont.
“It will be nice for the fans to see a different kind of set from the band and to meet them,” Callaci said.
Never Shout Never is currently on the Vans Warped Tour and will perform on its off day. The group heads to San Diego the next day.
“In this day and age when artists are making (less than a cent) per stream and records aren’t selling like they used to, I find it incredible whenever a band that is on tour makes a stop for an in-store event at any record store.”
For the new record “Black Cat,” Drew said he spent about a year in a cabin in Topanga Canyon in the Los Angeles area writing the record, starting in mid-2013. He came up with 30 songs in about four of those months and continued refining them as well as adding more material once his band joined him out there.
While the first video posted to the band’s website was “Hey! We OK,” the latest is for Never Shout Never’s “story song” titled “Red Balloon.”
“It correlates well with the older sound,” Drew said of the track. “I’ve been pushing the song to be a single. It just tells a good story that can make people try to open their minds and whatnot — and the chorus is catchy, too.”
Drew said he’s not sure how many of the band’s original fans have continued to follow Never Shout Never since its start in 2007, but hopes the new material will snag some bygone listeners.
“A lot got lost in the shuffle. … but some have tagged along for the ride,” Drew said of the band’s earlier fan base. “I started doing this when I was 16. All my fans were 14 to 16. Now, all of them would be like 24. I don’t see a lot of people my age out at the show, but definitely the crowd is growing up with me and the rest of the guys.”
