A chat with the guitarist of Nashville’s coolest indie rock band: Andrew Smith of Goldpark

For fans of DMA’s, Gang of Youths, San Cisco, check out their latest release: Goldpark One.

Photo Source: PR Ashleigh White

Summer in Tennessee is ending as I sit with Andrew Smith of the new band Goldpark at Carter Vintage Guitars in Nashville. Founded almost a decade ago by Christie and Walter Carter, it’s easy to feel lost in the wide range of vintage guitars on the walls. Andrew picked up a ‘66 Gibson 335 during our conversation about the latest Goldpark releases and new music coming soon.

Initially, Andrew did not have a plan or job in place when he moved to Nashville. His intuition seemed to guide him to the music city knowing something was “bound to happen”. Andrew settled into Tennessee and “got connected with a part-time job at a digital marketing place where Wes Hunter (vocals) was working” in 2019. At the time he was in a band with his high school buddies however agreed to perform with Wes Hunter’s band.

“They needed a guitarist to fill in one of their shows so I did and the rest is history,” he said.

The new role introduced him to the lead singer and other members of what became Goldpark as it is today. Wes previously played music in high school but this time around the new band was ready to take it to the next level. With the announcement that Goldpark was set to play major festivals, their co-workers knew that they made it to the big league. Andrew stated that “the Bonnaroo announcement really legitimized us”. Once they entered the festival circuit, new opportunities arose for the group.

Kyle Neblett (drums) and Andrew played a lot of different kinds of music together, through weddings and church bands. Historically speaking, Andrew said “I’ve played more music with Kyle than Wes so far. But the three of us are on the same page musically”.

The band’s cinematic hymns like “Beautiful Desperation” and “Morning Light” bring a ray of hope for indie rock lovers and dreamers. Andrew states that “all three of us are young married dudes and are talking about what it means to start a family and whatever else that looks like...we’re in that season of life and space”. Their mature perspective hints at wisdom with tones of 1980s arena rock similar to Springsteen.

Goldpark has had close to a dozen live shows together, not many for a brand new band that are already doing so well for themselves. Coming out of the height of the pandemic, possibilities were making a positive turn in the city as their success began to skyrocket. Writing sessions were scheduled and soon their circle within the local music community grew.

“In Nashville there’s so much energy and people are constantly working on something,” said Andrew.

The fact that “life is really beautiful and life is really hard” is a persistent theme in Goldpark’s music. They stand for a message of hope in troubling or confusing times and have been working on unreleased tracks for months, creating a marathon of perseverance and excitement towards the future.

Andrew is particularly inspired by Coldplay’s “A Rush of Blood to the Head” studio album and the catalog of Kings of Leon. Andrew sees the guitar as a production tool, looking at George Harrison as an example, stating Harrison’s guitar playing sounds like a “third voice of a song”.

Andrew breaks down their unreleased song “Free” mentioning that the set up for the record was pretty simple, “currently, as it is standing on the recording, it’s just a single guitar track on the entire song”. It has similarities to the soaring vocals of U2 and is characterized by the accompaniment of sleek guitar parts and their producer paired an Epiphone Sheraton guitar with a Matchless Spitfire 15.

“Free” is a standout song with many more to come. Andrew said, “I would definitely tell my younger self, there are gonna be people that tell you how you should sound, but don’t think that they’re assigning you to a sound or genre. You can reinvent yourself”.

Stay tuned and follow Goldpark for the release!

Listen to "One", their debut EP here.