Little by Little, an acoustic four-piece straight out of Murray, is leaving their unique mark at several local venues in and around Murray. With the vibrations Brent Smith’s bass strings and Chris Abell’s guitar mixing smoothly with the rat-a-tat of Patrick Ecklecamp’s drum beat, along with Kayla Little’s smooth voice pulling everything together in perfect harmony, the band’s sound is not one that can be easily forgotten.
“It’s kind of my brainchild,” said Kayla Little, junior from Murray and lead vocalist for Little by Little. “I found Chris to play guitar with me. He’s the best guitar player I could find on campus. Then I found Brent, who is the best bass player on campus.”
Little said during the formation period, the challenge was to find a drummer that not only had the time but also the taste and feel of being able to play what their band plays.
“I hit up Patrick, who was certainly just the guy for the job,” says Chris Abell, senior from Owensboro, Kentucky and guitarist for Little by Little.
Thus, Little by Little was born. The band has faced some adversity since it’s formation. Finding balance between school and academics has been something the band has struggled with.
“It definitely can be stressful,” said Abell “You’ve gotta get all your classes out of the way, then homework, then you rehearse for two hours at night. Then it’s 10 o’clock and you’re like, ‘Well I guess I go to bed now? Or do more homework,’” said Abell.
The band has also struggled with finding places to perform outside of Murray.
“Breaking onto the Paducah scene, that was something I was nervous about,” said Abell.
He details that they started out playing at open mics for free at Mr. J’s and then moved up.
“Word started getting around and people in Paducah started responding to our emails and giving us gigs,” Chris said. “Once you play at certain places in Paducah like JP’s and Paducah Beer Werks, other venues start wanting you to play there too.”
Right now, the band is going through a period of rest but with promises to resume. Both Abell and Ecklekamp are nearing their senior recitals and with midterms coming up, they said scheduling conflicts are high.
“We are still students,” Abell said.
However, he says the band is still looking for booking opportunities up until December, stating that advance planning is vital.
“I think the thing we’re most excited about is we’re working on a demo tape with five original tracks,” Abell said.
The band is using the recording studio on Murray State’s campus to record their demo, with Justin Patton. Abell said the band is excited to have their original music on tape.
The demo is planned to be released towards the end of this semester, or at the start of the next.
“It’s being done for the recording class on campus, so that’s the object of it,” said Brent Smith, junior from Booneville, Indiana and bassist for Little by Little. He said that it should take the duration of the semester to record the demo.
“I’d say look for it early spring semester,” Smith said.
Any upcoming shows and additional information on Little by Little can be found on their Facebook page.
To view the full interview, click here.
