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Premiere: The Lightweight Champs’s “Delaware”

Release date: April 18th, 2019

Dan Ray April 18, 2019
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Premiere: The Lightweight Champs’s “Delaware” April 18, 2019

Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).

Photo courtesy of The Lightweight Champs

The Lightweight Champs, a power-pop trio out of Tacoma, released their debut album, Contenders, in September of last year. Now, the group is back with “Delaware,” a track about the possibilities on the road ahead.

Written and sung by Ryan Garrette, “Delaware” is a testament to the tight bond between The Lightweight Champs. Usual frontman Justin Stiles takes a backseat for the first time in the band’s recording history and sings harmonies with drummer Angie Watson while Garrette belts it out in true LWC form. Garrette’s vocals add a new-but-consistently-LWC element to the groups’ repertoire, and, as “Delaware” takes you through an aural tour of the U.S., you can’t help but image Garrette, Stiles, and Watson happily bopping along in their tour van, a la the “That ’70s Show” theme song.

Garrette wrote the tune while working in Boise, ID for a few weeks and daydreaming about tour life. The track starts with a verse about “traversing the Atlantic with our baggage far behind” and “head[ing]” somewhere a little less controlled,” before breaking into a wonderfully bouncy guitar solo. When the second section hits and Stiles’s and Watson’s voices come in, it feels like a party, and everyone’s invited.

As the track progresses and Garrette begs to “pack our bags, lock the door, and go,” it’s hard not to feel that itch for exploration. Whether you’re actually headed out on tour or vacation, need some motivation to pursue your dreams, or just want to go for a ride with the Champs, “Delaware” will get you there.

 

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Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).