The Figs! profile picture

The Figs!

About Me


The Figs were born of hot July practices, conflicting musical interests, and a strong desire to wear dresses and uncomfortable shoes. But you don't have to take our word for it...
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"The Figs' new CD, "What Keeps Me Up At Night", is filled with antique twang, slowly plucked strings, and soothing harmonies, floating around a picturesque landscape of good and bad men, wary women, guns, love, boats, trains, buses, escape and a load of other cool things with function like a soundtrack to an imaginary film about women at the turn of the century...the music and songs never get tedious, continuously luring the listener further into the next procession of tracks like chapters in a hardbound book that you'd rather not end."
--- Dege Legg, THE INDEPENDENT | Lafayette, LA
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"The all-women sextet The Figs looks like a country-time tea party of pretty girls in pretty dresses, but it rocks, Cajun-style, like a roadhouse full of moonshine and buckshot."
--- Allison Fensterstock, GAMBIT WEEKLY | New Orleans, LA
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"In listening to their music, one is at first struck by the captivating three- and four-part harmonies as they adeptly tackle old-time country, folk, rockabilly and bluegrass songs, along with some original lyrics and musical arrangements thrown into the mix."
--- Kelli Moore, TIMES PICAYUNE | New Orleans, LA
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"The Figs, a six-piece outta Lafayette, Louisiana are a bit like what would happen if The Pipettes decided to wear flowery as opposed to polka-dotted dresses, traded in their keyboards for banjos and were just generally more Fig-like. The sassy sextet stomp their feet and bat their eyelashes as they hoot, holler and coo their own interpretations of Louisiana roots rock."
--- Alexis Swerdoff, PAPER MAGAZINE | New York, NY
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"I was really amazed by the level of talent of The Figs; they are able to easily replicate so many different sounds and yet they manage to retain their individuality. It is odd, yet compelling, how The Figs remind the listener of so many bands yet still not sound like anyone but themselves. "
--- Jesse White, THE CORNER NEWS | Auburn, AL
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"The Figs have taken a completely different tack by cutting their own path. The shows are filled with lovely harmonies and a sense of being delightfully out of phase with modernity."
--- Alex V. Cook, COUNTRY ROADS MAGAZINE | Baton Rouge, LA
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"On Cross that Bridge, they recorded one of the most haunting songs of the year."
--- Nick Pittman, OFFBEAT MAGAZINE New Orleans, LA
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"From blues to rockabilly to straight-up old-timey and haunting a capella, these ladies make the vintage stuff sound fresh and the new stuff sound retro."
--- Sharon Arms Doucet, AUTHOR | Lafayette, LA
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"With the girls decked out in modest dresses, each of The Figs' live shows acts as a throwback to equally modest times. It's all girls. It's dresses. It's rootsmusic laced with sugar-sweet harmonies."
--- Tim Landry, TIMES OF ACADIANA | Lafayette, LA
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"If there are three things in this world I like, it is women, banjos and ukuleles, and The Figs present all three with the charm of a county fair, their harmonies clear as a church bell."
--- Alex V. Cook, 225 MAGAZINE | Baton Rouge, LA
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"This Acadiana female sextet makes sweet music out of vintage mountain sounds. Ukulele, banjo and guitar are the instrumental underpinnings for the group's formidable vocal talents; it's members alternate lead and harmony vocals for an ever-changing tapestry of voices and textures."
--- THE INDEPENDENT | Lafayette, LA
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"In the great musical orchard of Acadiana, The Figs bloom on a tree scarcely plucked: vintage string mountain music. The members of the female sextet (decked out like city-going country ladies of the 1920s) each sing backing harmonies and switch up lead vocal duties. Between old time swing, country weeping and sassy takes on both traditional tunes and similaroriginals, the Figs take sounds like that of the "O Brother Where Art Thou?" soundtrack and add their own grit and spit - a sweet yet strong concoction."
--- Nick Pittman, THE INDEPENDENT | Lafayette, LA
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"The Figs can be haunting, uplifting and shimmy-inducing all in the same evening."
--- Tim Landry, TIMES OF ACADIANA | Lafayette, LA

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 7/2/2006
Band Website: www.thefigsband.com
Band Members: CAROLINE HELM
Upright Bass, Vocals

SARAH GRAY
Electric Guitar, Vocals

JILLIAN JOHNSON
Tenor Ukulele, Vocals

CLAIRE OLIVER
Banjo, Vocals

MELISSA STEVENSON
Acoustic Guitar, Vocals

A PAIGE P
Drums, Harmonica, Vocals
Influences: brother harmony groups, family bands, swing, western swing, rock n' roll, honky tonk, vocal groups, bluegrass, old time, ragtime, gypsy jazz, banjo blues...you get the idea...
Sounds Like: Listen for yourself. . . We like all kinds of old music, and even some of the new stuff! Old Time Ballads, Blues, Hot Jazz, Country, Bluegrass, Rockabilly, Swing & Western Swing, Cajun...we like it all, though we really sound like none of it...ironic, no?

Record Label: Unknown Indie
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

It’s All About Caroline! A video from the CD Release Party!

It's all about Caroline! And Jillian takes a ukulele solo! Check out this neato video from our CD release party! More to come, and thanks to Sky for shooting it!Check out this video: The Figs ...
Posted by on Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:18:00 GMT

You can watch our CD Release Party Online! Right here!

Can't make the release party tonight? Well, no worries!The uber-cool folks at synclive.com are doing some really cool things with live music and the interweb, and our performance and CD Release party ...
Posted by on Sat, 02 Aug 2008 08:01:00 GMT

EVERYBODY DANCE NOW! Figs CD Release Party!

Figs for everyone!We're so very excited about our CD Release Party coming up this Saturday at the Blue Moon Saloon (the BEST place) with rock n' roll darlings Direwood! J Burton from Direwood even co-...
Posted by on Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:12:00 GMT

new figs album in the works!

The Figs have been slaving away in the studio for more than a week now. So it's official, WE'RE MAKING A NEW ALBUM! The recording has been going swimmingly out at J Burton's studio in St. Martinville,...
Posted by on Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:22:00 GMT

cool live figs video!

hello all! a real nice fella took the time and effort to shoot this lovely video of the figs performing at festival international for one of his school projects. we hope you got an A+ on this one, and...
Posted by on Sat, 24 May 2008 23:41:00 GMT

Figs featured on Minneapolis Bridge Disaster compilation project!

We are humbled and honored to be a part of this wonderful 3-Disc compilation benefitting the victims of the Minneapolis Bridge Disaster in 2007. Our versions of Little Birdie/East Virginia Blues are ...
Posted by on Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:50:00 GMT

FIGS ARTICLE: Offbeat Magazine [September 2007]

OFFBEAT MAGAZINE - New Orleans, LASeptember 2007By: Nick Pittman A Fig By Any Other Name:When the Figs perform, the female group takes the stage in vintage-themed dresses in the style of the 1920s thr...
Posted by on Sun, 02 Sep 2007 15:19:00 GMT

FIGS ARTICLE: Times of Acadiana [August 22, 2007]

TIMES OF ACADIANA - Lafayette, LAAugust 22, 2007By: Tim LandryPRESERVED: The music, the attitude, the album. The Figs are officially packaged and ready for market.In May of 2006, back when the member...
Posted by on Wed, 22 Aug 2007 22:39:00 GMT

FIGS CD RELEASE PARTIES!

Hi Everybody!Won't you join us this weekend as we celebrate the release of our brand spankin' new album on Valcour Records? It'll be so much fun!Totally!We'll be appearing at the following wonderful p...
Posted by on Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:34:00 GMT

New Figs Record is NOW AVAILABLE! Get yours TODAY!

Hello Cajun Friends! (and even friends that are not Cajun!)At last our brand new record is available for sale on our website, along with lots of other goodies like shirts, stickers and pins...everythi...
Posted by on Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:44:00 GMT