Missing Radio Waves, Sister Hazel Stays Afloat

If you listened to the radio in middle school, you probably listened to Sister Hazel. In 1997, Sister Hazel's single "All for You" became a pop-radio staple and propelled the band's second album to platinum status. These days though, it's difficult to find Sister Hazel songs on the radio, despite the fact that they've had five top-30 singles and four albums' worth of new material since "All For You."

What has changed since then isn't Sister Hazel-it's the radio. Many of the stations that used to play music like Sister Hazel's-whose style is often described as jangle-pop, Southern rock, or roots rock-have changed formats since the late '90s, leaving Sister Hazel with plenty of new music and few radio stations to play it.

"A lot of bands try to change the music to fit the format, but that's not what we're all about," said Sister Hazel's guitarist Ryan Newell in a recent phone interview. "We, fortunately, have built up a career for ourselves that we don't have to be a slave to radio anymore."

The career that Sister Hazel has built up rests on the support of its devoted fan base-self-proclaimed Hazelnuts-who follow the band's activities with or without radio play. Sister Hazel uses the Internet to reach out to those fans and, according to Newell, to create "a community of like-minded people."

"We have a voracious group of fans that are constantly keeping in touch," Newell said. "They have show reviews, they have all kinds of discussions about the band's music and lyrics ... I think that's the beauty of the site."

Newell isn't exaggerating when he calls Hazelnuts "voracious." For example, it took Hazelnuts just one day to buy up all the cabins on the Carnival cruise ship that hosted the seventh annual Rock Boat-a five-day floating music festival founded by Sister Hazel. And the band is always looking for more ways to engage with its fans outside the bounds of radio.

"Along with the Rock Boat, we also do an event called the Rock Slope, which is a ski trip for everybody. We have a charity, called Lyrics for Life. We just create a bunch of events for people to feel the vibe of what it's like to be in this community," Newell said. "We're creating a lifestyle, and hopefully we'll be the soundtrack for that lifestyle."

For fans, a key part of that lifestyle is attending Sister Hazel concerts, and since the band plays about 150 shows per year, they have plenty of opportunities to do so. Without widespread radio play, touring is also the way the Sister Hazel expands its fan base.

"We pride ourselves on our live show," Newell said. "If someone gets dragged to our live show, we have a feeling that they're going to come back."

The next generation of Hazelnuts has also started showing up at Sister Hazel shows, boding well for the band's long-term popularity. "Parents are playing this stuff for the kids, and the kids are being raised on Sister Hazel, and they become fans. And we look out in the audience, and there's kids-it's great."

Sister Hazel's busy tour schedule continues with a stop here in New York tomorrow night. "We love playing New York," Newell said. "There's not too many places you can go on a Tuesday night and expect everyone to be there ... But you can go to New York, and everyone will be there."

Until radio trends change, Sister Hazel will have to continue relying on the Internet and on Hazelnuts to promote their new music (an acoustic album is in the works) and concerts. In the meantime, Newell said, "We just stick to our guns and, you know, hope that the wheels spin back around-when it does, we'll still be here."