By Rev Adam McKinney

In the local music scene, you’ll sometimes encounter bands we might call “climbers.” These are the bands, bless ‘em, that are dead set on working their way up through the ranks, going national, and becoming some Grade A hot shit. And some of them do make it there, those striving pieces of work!

But a music scene is a delicate ecosystem, and its survival is largely based around its artists being there to support one another. Tacoma’s rock scene has been going so long and been so productive that it can be described in eras, with each segment of history showing how every band props up the other. The ‘60s saw bands like the Sonics, the Wailers, the Kingsmen, and Paul Revere and the Raiders establish Tacoma as a hub for garage rock. Forty years later, Team Unicorn and Dear Record formed the heartbeat of Tacoma rock-one side beating for confessional indie rock.

Despite the inherent stylistic differences between Team Unicorn and Dear Records, the flow and exchange of talent was constant. One thing was clear: Music was the thing.

This past January, there was an event called the Washington State Independent Music Awards. Held at the Spanish Ballroom, the awards were given out to artists who may have pinged on your radar, or maybe not, but who represented a cross-section of artists who had made some measure of impact in Washington. At the packed event, there began a comingling of artists who might not have ever crossed paths, and it’s this that we’re here to talk about.

Raymond Hayden and Meghanne Storey were two performers who won awards that night, and despite having never spoken before, they were inspired to start a collaboration, now called Lemons. The name comes from how they bonded over the two of them having rough experiences in their lives, turning those lemons into lemonade.

“It’s been easy to write with Ray, because our musical vibe is very similar,” says Storey. “I sit down and listen to what he’s put down, and I can come up with some words and a story, so the melody moves the story along.”

“There’s a lot of musicians who understand working together, and a lot who don’t,” Storey continues. “When we collaborate, we learn from each other.”

When talking about the benefits of collaborating versus the perceived detractions of giving up your audience to another band, Hayden is quick to point out examples of bands that collaborated and only experienced positive results: Aerosmith and RunDMC, Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty, Ed Sheeran and a million people on No. 6 Collaborations Project.

What Hayden and Storey both agree on is that the scene—at times, and perhaps even now—can feel like it’s hostile towards collaboration, preferring instead to focus singular bands on getting their bread. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting to climb, the folks behind Lemons think that coming together is ultimately a better prospect. Because, yes, Tom Petty fans might’ve learned about Fleetwood Mac from Stevie Nicks singing with Tom, but there’s something much simpler at play.

“What person only listens to Fleetwood Mac?” Storey asks. “They want to hear new things and new sounds. When you’re collaborating with other people that’s the point of music, right? It’s ultimately the biggest expression of emotion.”

Lemon’s self-titled first single, released on April 12, is a tender ballad of piano and synth, serving as a mission statement for their project and talking about how hard times are there to be overcome. There’s more to come, with Lemons saying they may release as many as four more singles in the next four to six months.

From a chance meeting in January to a first single in April, Lemons serves as a reminder that coming together can only result in more for the scene. More of this, please.