Wild Sweet Orange

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Wild Sweet Orange

Wild Sweet Orange (formerly Old American Dream) was a rock band comprised of singer Preston Lovinggood, bassist Garrett Kelly, drummer Chip Kilpatrick and guitarist Taylor Shaw. Lovinggood and Kilpatrick met in Homewood and began playing together in 2004, adding Kelly to the line-up before he graduated high school. They toured that summer and then took a break before re-forming as Wild Sweet Orange with Shaw's guitar.

The group recorded its first tracks in 2005 with engineer Lynn Bridges. "Sour Milk" earned a spot on Reg's Coffee House on WYSF-FM. The band then recorded more tracks in Decatur. "Ten Dead Dogs" got airplay on Seattle's KEXP-FM, leading to some national notice. The band signed up with Canvasback Music in 2007, but issued an EP, "The Whale EP" on their own in 2007 before heading back into the studio.

Much of the band's 2008 debut full-length album was recorded in February, at producer Mike McCarthy's Austin, Texas studio. The title, "We Have Cause to Be Uneasy," was taken from a chapter of C. S. Lewis' 1952 book Mere Christianity.

The song "Land of No Return" was used in a 2007 episode of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy". The band appeared on stage on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman" on June 27, 2008. The group announced its break-up on September 7, 2010. Kelly left to spend more time at home and with his side project Red Harp. Shaw followed him out and led his own band, The Great Book of John, which soon welcomed Kilpatrick as well. Lovinggood went on to pursue a solo career, moving to Nashville, Tennessee.

In 2020 Ethan Milner and Kevin Johnson of Cedar Creative approached Lovinggood about making a new video for the Wild Sweet Orange song "Aretha’s Gold." Kelly also participated in the project.

Discography

  • Wild Sweet Orange (2007) House of Regret EP. self-released
  • Wild Sweet Orange (2007) The Whale EP. Nervous Blood/TAO
  • Wild Sweet Orange (July 29, 2008) We Have Cause to Be Uneasy. Canvasback Music

References

  • Colurso, Mary (July 4, 2008) "Birmingham band Wild Sweet Orange gets national attention." The Birmingham News
  • Taylor, Drew (June 25, 2021) "They were reaching a national audience before they broke up. A decade later, Wild Sweet Orange is back." CBS42.com