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Friday: Happy Bullets fits life between gigs

CHRIS KORNELIS
summit daily news
Special to the DailyThe Happy Bullets plays a 9 p.m. show Friday, at the Fairplay Hotel as part of the South Park Music Festival, in Fairplay. The show is open to all ages and admission is free.
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The Happy Bullets conducts interviews during lunch breaks from quirky day jobs, scheduling a tour has become contingent on the baby-sitter and “a good night’s sleep” has become a relative term.

Yep, the Happy Bullets are living the indie-rock lifestyle.

“We all work. Typically it’s creative planning,” said Josh McKibben, who plays guitar and trumpet in the Dallas-based sextet.



After the Happy Bullets plays the South Park Music Festival, Friday, the band hits Kansas City, Kans., then are back to “work” after hitting the pillow for a couple hours.

It’s a pattern the band has grown accustomed to by playing mid-week regional gigs and then returning home, only to “wash the smoke off you, and you’re at work three hours later,” McKibben said.



McKibben’s role ” like the rest of the band ” is often augmented to expand the band’s sound. He regularly picks up the glockenspiel, tambourine and mouth harp.

“We enjoy utilizing as much instrumentation as we can,” McKibben said. “We jump around a lot and use different instruments as much as possible.”

McKibben said the band is looking for some deep pockets to finance trips that are out of the question for the limited budget of an independent pop band.

“I think Japan would love to have us,” he said. “For the pop feel that we have, they would really appreciate it.”

Fairplay’s cool, too.


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