Let’s start with the basics, who are you? Where are you from? What style of music do you create?

Escaping Pavement is an Americana quartet based out of Detroit, MI. We released our debut album, ‘UpRooted’ last summer. We like to describe our sound as “Americana on the rocks with a splash of folk.” Or as you put it in your MTM review of ‘UpRooted’, Joshua, Folk- rockin’ altercana master blend (we like that description a lot too).

This is MusicTree Fest’s 3rd year. Is this your first time? If yes, how did you learn about MusicTree?

This is our first year at the Music Tree Festival and we are beyond excited to be a part of it. We learned about the festival through our involvement with MTM when you reviewed our album this past summer.

Was there an “ah-ha moment” in your life when you knew you would pursue music?

For myself personally, yes. Can’t speak for all the other guys in the band but I knew my moment came when I seriously injured my left hand about 13 years ago. I remember being really devastated at the thought that I might never be able to play guitar again. That was when I knew music and specifically playing music meant more to me than I had ever realized. After months of physical therapy, my hand fully recovered from the incident and I regained the ability to play guitar. I was about fourteen years old at the time and ever since then, music has been my life and will continue to be for a very long time.

Who (or what) motivates and inspires your writing and playing style(s)?

The world! Friends, family, life in general, everything basically inspires our writing style. We write about what we see, what we are experiencing in our own lives, past experiences, things our friends/ family are going through, etc. In a way, it’s a bit like a musical journal/ diary. The same thing is true of what inspires our playing styles. We like ALL kinds of music and therefore listen to a very large variety of genres/artists-all of which influence what comes out when we play in some way, shape, or form.

What can we expect from your performance at MusicTree Fest 2014?

Some good, down-to-earth, rootsy music with a whole lot of heart. We really do immerse ourselves into every performance we give and always try to put on the best show we possibly can. We’ll also be playing some new songs that we are working on for our second album which is always exciting to do and tends to give a bit of extra excitement to a performance.

Where can we connect with you online? Where can we listen or download your music?

You can connect with us on all of our social networking sites, facebook.com/escapingpavementband, twitter.com/Escape_Pavement, youtube.com/EscapingPavement and on our personal website escapingpavement.com. You can listen to our music on our home web page as well as soundcloud.com/escapingpavementband or on Spotify. Our debut album is available for purchase through iTunes and Amazon mp3. You can get a physical copy through CDBaby.

Do you have plans for Bonnaroo this year?

Not this year unfortunately although there are some artists we would love to see playing this year-like Sarah Jarosz, Lake Street Dive, The Wood Brothers, Jack White, and many others. We have to get back home to Michigan for some upcoming shows and prep for our August tour.

Any closing thoughts? Shout outs?

Big thanks to MTM and Music Tree Fest for including us in things this year. We can’t wait for June!