Unbest

Meagan Morrow on Wild Flag’s Wild Flag (2011)
(iTunes, Rdio, Spotify) 

Sleater-Kinney has been my favorite band since I was 15 years old. I heard “Dig Me Out” my freshman year of high school and was instantly expelled from a Top 40 wasteland into a world of punk and post-punk, music that saved me as I stumbled through the next few years as an awkward teenager in the suburban Atlanta. I flew across the country in August of 2006 to be at their two farewell concerts in Portland, Ore., the latter of which is still the best rock show I’ve ever attended. I have a signed, framed poster hanging above the TV in my living room. I was, and still am, obsessed with that band.

In September 2010 it was announced that Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney were teaming up with Mary Timony (Helium) and Rebecca Cole (The Minders) to form a new band called Wild Flag. How could I not be excited? Carrie Brownstein was playing guitar again! The chance to see her on stage, busting out those signature windmills and high kicks? Well, I was sold without even hearing a note of new music.

When Wild Flag came to play Atlanta for the first time last March, I honestly didn’t know what to expect from their live show. I arrived early at The Earl and staked out a spot at the front of the stage. While I was waiting for the band to come on, I kept looking around at my fellow concertgoers. There was an energy in the crowd that I hadn’t really experienced before. Many of us had been familiar with these four musicians for years, yet we all felt genuinely excited to be there at the start of something new. The word “supergroup” had been heavily tossed around in the press since their formation was announced. Sure, there would be inevitable comparisons to their former bands. There was time for that later; we were ready for them to show us their cards.

The show was solid. While it was evident that the band hadn’t totally gelled yet, they were absolute pros who could play the shit out of their instruments. By the time Carrie Brownstein delivered the line “you bet wrong!” in a guttural, primal scream during the song “Racehorse,” I was a Wild Flag fan. I bought a t-shirt at the show that I actually ended up wearing a week later when my boyfriend and I eloped to Asheville, N.C. The Justice of the Peace probably thought I was weird.

Wild Flag played a show in Athens, Ga., last October. Athens is an easy, hour-and-change drive up from Atlanta. Once we got into town and made our way over to the 40 Watt, I picked a spot in front of the stage. By this time, their eponymous debut had been released. I had spent the previous month lost in the girl-group harmonies of “Romance,” and the 5-minute psychedelic trip that is “Glass Tambourine.” The band took the stage and from the minute they started playing they had the crowd in their palms.

While the show in Atlanta in March had a very “getting to know you” vibe, this show was about witnessing a rock band in peak form. They brought the fury, they brought the joy, they brought a kick-ass new song based on The Winter of our Discontent (!). Somewhere in the middle of the show I saw Carrie, Rebecca, Janet, and Mary stealing glances at each other while they were playing. They would flash each other knowing grins that seemed to say “yeah, we got this.” It felt like a true privilege to be watching four women, masters of their respective instruments, up there having pure fun on stage playing music.

Two years ago I talked my then-boyfriend/now-husband into buying me a guitar, even though I’d never played an instrument in my life. I had learned how to play a few chords, poorly, then pretty much given up and put it in the back of my closet.  The day I got back home from the Wild Flag show in Athens, I was still feeling inspired by what I saw on stage the night before. I felt the urge to pick up my guitar again. I wanted to see if it could be possible to capture that pure joy, even on the smallest level.

It’s been four months since I’ve started playing guitar. At times it’s frustrating and slow going. I’m by no means great, but I now have a creative outlet that didn’t exist to me before. I’m probably never going to be a master guitar player on the level of Carrie Brownstein or Mary Timony, but damn if I’m not having the most fun of my life.

Meagan Morrow is a professional temp and an amateur guitar player. You can follow her on Twitter.