The Fairground Saints found each other in a thoroughly modern way.
“It was a random sequence of social media events, I would call it,” McAllister said.
McAllister said Mason Van Valin posted an ad on Facebook and Elijah Edwards was the only one to respond, so they begin playing and writing music together. They wanted to expand from there, so they put an ad on Craigslist.
“The girl I was living with sent a submission video and I happened to be in the background,” McAllister said. “They spotted me and heard me singing. They tracked me down through my dad’s chain of hot dog restaurants in the Midwest. I grew up in the Midwest but was living in California when we met. It was really serendipitous the whole thing. We started writing music and have been doing it ever since.”
The Fairground Saints will open for country music singer/songwriter Sara Evans at 8 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Palladium in Carmel
“We found even with just the one show we did with her that her fans were very responsive to what we do,” McAllister said. “I think she’s so passionate about songwriting that I think her fans can see that and feel that. We’re passionate about it, too, and it’s a great pairing for that reason.”
Earlier this month, the group released its rendition of “Silent Night.”
“We are looking forward to performing that while on the Christmas tour,” McAllister said. “It’s going to be all new songs from us, mixed in with a little bit of that Christmas music, too.”
McAllister said this is group’s first holiday tour.
“I grew up listening to Sara Evans and Shania Twain,” McAllister said. “I’ve always loved country music. I’ve dabbled in other genres, too. But I always keep coming back to country, so it was a perfect place for me in the band.”
