With outstanding performances like their "Road To Bonnaroo" show, which had them marching through the capacity crowd accompanied by an 11-piece marching band thusly winning them a coveted spot performing at the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, to their "CopCar Release Party" which featured performances by 7 of their favorite regional bands and local artists painting giant 8'x5' versions of the pages from their EP, which is packaged as a coloring book, they've been rapidly building their profile and fanbase, inking them as a must see live show.
Heypenny recently headlined the final night of Next Big Nashville at Mercy Lounge, closing out the festival to a sold out crowd. Running with big ideas and surprises, they played a short 7-song set of blistering, high energy songs and then made a surprise move to the middle of the crowd with an upright piano, string quartet and horn section, blanketing the audience in a hundred feet of white Christmas lights. Suffice to say, they think big and deliver.
Three years ago, Ben Elkins lived about 150 miles south of Nashville in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He experimented with sounds and spaces and new ways of writing songs. Through these efforts, Heypenny was born and an album called Use These Spoons was completed and Elkins relocated to Nashville, TN and recruited long-time friends Kevin Bevil and DJ Murphy on guitar and bass respectively.
Though never fully distributed, Use These Spoons made waves in the blogosphere and garnered accolades throughout the region/country/Western hemisphere for its pop-infused balance of rhythm, harmony, and DIY brilliance, ultimately selling out of all their pressings.
What started out as a quiet, solitary and patient endeavor has over the last year erupted into a staccato-rock band that finds company with contemporaries, while channeling the pop-appeal of Michael Jackson, and the naiveté of Sesame Street.
The band, now a complete 4-piece, who’ve been known to dress in tailor-made Neapolitan-colored marching band uniforms or futuristic LEGO-MAN/robot outfits, put on an explosively energetic live rock show that rivals most. And it’s their DIY aesthetic that makes it something wholly unique and special. It’s the attention to detail—those custom, hand-made uniforms to the old-fashioned, big-knobbed, wood-paneled television sets that bathe the audience in abstract colors, flashing and pulsing with the songs—that gives the audience and actual show.
At last years, SXSW, the band performed as part of the Red Gorilla showcases—their time slot competing with Peter, Bjorn & John—and the bar was at capacity with a line serpentining into the street. At Bonnaroo, the band was thrown into an unforgiving slot, performing opposite Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, Grizzly Bear and Santigold, yet they still managed to attract quite a crowd and leave them with an impression. Graham Hawthorne, drummer for David Byrne emailed the band after their performance and said that he happily stumbled onto the set and that it was perhaps “the best thing he saw at the festival.” It’s little things like that, going in as the underdog and winning the hearts, minds and ears of strangers that keeps them going and make them pour everything they have into perfecting their craft and giving their fans something memorable.
Heypenny is currently finishing up their follow-up to Use These Spoons. It will be released in 2010 with subsequent tours to follow.
Let It Rain
Heypenny Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And listen to the water fall down and fade away
Wishing I had hid the day away somewhere
So I could find it; now that it's clear I need the grey
Let it rain, let it rain
Let it rain, let it rain
The gutters flowing, full of street lights, and where they laid
I saw water rolling down like many times before
It never stops, it never ignores why it was made
Let it rain, let it rain
Let it rain, let it rain
Oh, to hear the water, clean on blessed fall
And everybody missing it all, heaven's rain
Turning face and heart towards the sky, and then
Remembering where water begins to make its way
Let it rain, let it rain
...
The lyrics to Heypenny's "Let It Rain" evoke a sense of longing for rain, both literal and metaphorical. The first verse describes a person lying in bed, listening to the rain and wishing they could hide away from the day. The rain serves as a comfort, drowning out the noise of the outside world. However, as the song progresses, it becomes clear that the rain also represents something more elusive. When the singer walks the rainy streets, they see the water flowing down the gutters and recognize that it never stops or ignores its purpose. The rain represents a force that will always continue on, regardless of what humans do to try and stop or control it.
Line by Line Meaning
I remember how I used to lie in bed
Reminiscing about past experiences where the singer would lie in bed and listen to the sound of falling rain.
And listen to the water fall down and fade away
Recalling how they would hear the sound of the rain falling and then slowly disappearing.
Wishing I had hid the day away somewhere
Expressing a desire to hide away from the world and take shelter from the rain.
So I could find it; now that it's clear I need the grey
Realizing that they need rainy days in order to appreciate clear ones.
Oh, back home I walked the rainy streets one night
Reflecting on a memory of walking through rainy streets.
The gutters flowing, full of street lights, and where they laid
Noticing the city's gutters filled with rainwater, illuminated by street lights.
I saw water rolling down like many times before
Perceiving the familiar sight of rainwater flowing down the street.
It never stops, it never ignores why it was made
Observing how rain continues to fulfill its purpose without hesitation.
Oh, to hear the water, clean on blessed fall
Expressing a longing for the sound of fresh, clean rain falling from the sky.
And everybody missing it all, heaven's rain
Noticing that many people fail to appreciate the beauty and purity of rain.
Turning face and heart towards the sky, and then
Looking up towards the sky with a newfound appreciation for rain.
Remembering where water begins to make its way
Recalling the origins of rainwater and how it makes its journey to the earth.
Let it rain, let it rain
Embracing and accepting the presence of rain in one's life.
Let it rain, let it rain
Repeating the phrase to emphasize the importance of allowing oneself to experience and appreciate the beauty of rain.
Contributed by Audrey M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Dolores Mas
“To bad.” “So sad.” It was so cute
Bandit
The cat in the background deserves an oscar.
Eliana D
Lilly? She's beautiful..
Toyya Stokes
That was so cute 🥰 she just like I’ll stay here . My ears have been BLESSED 🥹
Mitch Antram
Ok mom and the other day 😊 the samem😂 Time
So I will be here tomorrow man so I will be able to help me with the nurse said that the way you can see the rest and pops on the phone and I am just in the morning and grab a am not sure what time do 😂 we are moving to a friend of ours and I am just very busy t that you have 😊 you t that you have any spare me
pokemon god
I swear the cutest cat in the world
Braylon shorts
I bet it feels so relaxing when it’s raining with your cats🥹🥹
Pluto loves charon🌑
“We die uh that’s a little dramatic” turned me into a tree💀💀💀💀
Willow
This comment had me dying 🤣
Vera Mae
... said by a woman with blue hair.