So you may have heard, we're putting on a concert on Thursday. Our fifth one actually. When we started this little endeavor way back when, we just thought it would be fun to get some bands that we liked, throw them on the stage and let them bring the musical goodness to the people. And if the bands gain some exposure that leads to bigger and better things, then we can say sit back and say "We love it when a plan comes together." We, of course, owe a big thanks to all of you, the people that come to the club and make each of these events incredibly successful. So, thanks!

But enough about the past. Believe me when I say we're all about the show on Thursday. It's going to be great, and I personally couldn't be more excited. For the first time in Unbuckled's brief history, we have a non-D.C. band playing (more on them tomorrow), and opening the show will be buzz fueled locals These United States, the brain child of Jesse Elliott and his rotating cast of Federal Reservists that specialize in "Cumulonimbus WordPop fr th’Jangly Railyard Dreamer." Jesse was nice enough to reply to a few of our questions over email in anticipation of the show:

1) Tell me about the Federal Reserve Collective. Do you have to pay monthly dues? Do you get a membership card?

The Federal Reserve is a loose-knit group of friends, comrades, and competitors, all vying for the title of World's Most Brilliant Song Written This Year in DC by One of Us. Which is to say: brothers and sisters. Dueling, loving, yelling, crying, but most of all sitting around Campfires in the Middle of Winter trying to figure out something to say about the Future and What the World's Coming To. yr Dues is yr Thoughts. yr Card is yr Songs. Bring 'em strong and loving er go Home.

2) At what point did you decide that you wanted (or needed) a band to play your songs live? Isn't it difficult to play shows when the members of your backing band change from gig to gig?

I've always loved bands. I love the idea of people wrangling over notes and phrases together, hashing something out slowly and painfully (see above) that is more than the sum of their parts. It's difficult as all get-out, and my fellow flying Dutchmen'n'women can attest that I regularly melt down, give in, give out, get out, turn up, turn back around, get back together. Not purty, but we do love those Live Shows. Long as you mean it, and everyone with you does, don't matter how many or how few of you there are. I've seen symphonies sung by grass -- no people at all! But I like people. They're generally well-intentioned, and most have brains dying to stretch out into the World.

3) What's the best thing about being in a band in DC? The worst?

Most people aren't musicians here. Most people aren't musicians here.

4) Buzz for your group has been almost universally positive, how do you turn that into becoming a successful band? How would you define success in terms of the band?

Right, yeah? Strikes me as strange. I wonder if it just means we haven't got Out There far enough, cause surely there's people somewhere who just absolutely despise us. I mean, come on now? There's a lot to hate. Maybe they're here in our Midst, and just too polite. This is a pretty polite town, on the surface anyway. I wonder if that'll change as we really stretch our Wings. But maybe a lot of the Positivity is just that people see that we really MEAN it. I think a lot of people here in town, even the ones who I know don't really care strongly one way or the other for the music, and have told me as much, really like the WAY we do the music. Like it's do-or-die, us against the Forces of Cruelty and Corruption. We can be cruel or corrupt, too, of course, just like any being human -- but we try to limit that to ourselves, to beat ourselves up, to punch ourselves in the feet til a good song comes out the other end. Success is total peace and harmony resounding through every blade of grass and every human face across the Earth's surface. That's not attainable, of course. So we go on, nose to the grindstone.

5) What are your plans for future recording?

Debut 15-songer, 45-minuter just done, mastered at Silver Sonya this week, actually, and now advertised in Personals sections across the Land as: Single Swinging Album Seeks Loving Label for Same. 'Nother in the Works, a more-rock-n-roller, 18 songs maybe? Exile on Main St flavor? There's this little place in Montana that we're going to check out on tour in March, high in the Mountains, maybe escape the City for a few short weeks, knock something else out there. The Band meets Califone? Well, that's what they say, anyway. The future alone can tell it!

DCist presents Unbuckled 5, featuring
Pela
with These United States
and the DJ stylings of John and Laura from Georgie James
Thursday, Feb. 15th
@ DC9
Doors 9:00ish
Tickets $8