by Amanda Davis

Gainesville is rich with all types of bands, from punk to hip hop. But despite their differences, what these people have in common is a love for music and their community. Among these are the country group Short Stack, who are using their songs to bring people together and challenge the perception of the genre. These guys aren’t just here to talk about beer and fishing—their music is heartfelt and innovative, and they care about the local scene. 

Tell me about the band and how you started. 

Dylan Kadas: So me and Sam grew up playing music together, mostly starting in high school, but I’d always played music through my childhood. We played in, like, shitty high school rock bands…I moved out here when I was 18 and Sam came a year later. And I had gotten to know Adam in that time…I was just writing, doing kind of singer-songwriter stuff, and then kind of got tired of playing alone. You know, playing with other people is fun. That’s kind of the good part about music. So originally, it was actually just us three. That was probably two years ago. And then maybe a couple months in, we added Garett on banjo and have just been playing around ever since.  

Adam Krein: I met Dylan at the Bull open mic. When he first moved here, he was going there and I just went up to him and was like, “dude, your songs are amazing,” and he was like “your songs are cool too.” And we just started hanging out and playing guitar together and playing music…we played some shows and then Sam moved here, and I was like, yeah I’d love to play drums…and we can form a band out of this.  

How do you feel country music fits into the Gainesville scene? 

Sam Holcomb: There’s not many country bands…also, most of the time if you say you’re a folk band, you’re better perceived and can get more shows as a folk band than a country band. There’s, like, a stigma to it. 

AK: The genre, like the word “country,” is so loaded…everyone has a certain association. And then there’s all the subgenres…folk country, alt country… I don’t know, Dylan just writes these cool ass songs that are pretty country ‘cause he’s from Austin, Texas, and influenced by country. 

SH: Not every song is about, like, fishing and trucks and shit. 

DK: Short Stack is song-oriented music, and I just think it’s the instrumentation—Sam’s playing upright bass, and there’s acoustic guitar and banjo—that makes it country more than anything. 

What’s the songwriting process like for you? 

DK: I write the songs, and I’d say most of the time it comes pretty quick. And it varies a lot—sometimes with a guitar, sometimes it’s without a guitar completely, but…I can’t force it. I just try to capture a feeling that I have, and the associated time and place. 

What’s your favorite song to play with the band? 

DK: We play a song called “Cornerstores and Waltzes” and I think that’s a good song…I wrote that probably two years ago and I’m still really happy to play it every show. I’m proud of that song. 

AK: “Hawaii.” 

SH: I like “When I Drown” a lot. 

Who are some of your influences? 

DK: For me, when we started this project, there’s a band from New Orleans called the Deslondes…and the people in that band—Riley Downing, Sam Doores—they were huge for me. 

SH: I kind of like the older stuff—Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams, Johnny Paycheck.  

AK: I listen to a wide variety of stuff and have a lot of influences, but for this project—especially playing drums—I had to take time to listen to a lot of country stuff that was in the field of what Dylan writes. You know, listen to it and learn how to, like, be in the group…the brushes and minimal drumming and stuff.  

SH: Before we started playing, I didn’t really like country music…I was listening to, like, Wu Tang Clan. And then the more we played, it was like “holy shit, country kind of rules.” So I started listening to it. 

Do you have any music on streaming platforms yet? 

AK: We’re recording an album soon. 

DK: We’re going with Pulp Arts…and we have a couple videos we shot with them coming out probably in the next week. But then in July we’ll go record an EP. 

Any thoughts about the local music scene? 

AK: The amount of genres that are thriving is really cool. Like, the hip-hop scene’s fucking awesome…what we play, country, not so much…there’s not too many country bands here. But we have a lot of support from these other people. Punks and hip-hop kids and rave kids. And all these different people who are into different shit come to Short Stack. Which is good, ‘cause I feel like we’re changing their association with country. 

SH: They’ll see us play and be like, “wow, it can be something else.” 

DK: And I think the Gainesville music scene, regardless of genres, is real supportive…which is really good ‘cause when I first came here I was shy, 18 years old, and it’s hard to go and play your songs when you don’t even know if they’re any good. So going out and getting support from—honestly, first this guy [Adam], kind of cultivated confidence. And you wanna try again—you wanna write another song, a better song. 

AK: The inspiration, it’s crazy…like we were talking earlier, there’s so many people in bands. You go to a bar and you know the bartender for a while…and then you go to a show and he’s playing the show, and it’s like, “oh fuck, you’re in this awesome band.” There’s so much music here, a lot of support for it, people who will show up. It’s a small town, but the community is so rich with people supporting each other. You see the same faces. 

DK: Which is a lot different coming from Austin, which is one of the most cutthroat music scenes in the country. When we were kids, we couldn’t get gigs there. We ended up playing west Texas ‘cause that’s where we could play. 

SH: And then we turned to busking in the summer, just to play. 

Is there anything else you want to talk about? 

AK: Just want to say shout out to the Ox, it’s a DIY venue in Gainesville. They need support fundraising. Everyone that owns it is in a band or artists…it’s really unique. 

DK: We’re gonna play Heartwood on May 1st, we’re gonna open for a guy named Jim White. 

AK: He’s pretty legendary. 

SH: But we’re trying to blow Jim White out of the water! 

((Short Stack have an upcoming show at Heartwood Soundstage on Wednesday May 1^st, which you will not want to miss! You can also follow them on Instagram @shortstack723 to stay up to date, and keep an eye out for their EP. Please also consider helping the Ox Store, which is the all ages DIY space Adam shouted out—they are currently fundraising to be able to reopen. https://gofund.me/8b7ab618))