Within Oxford’s growing contingent of Americana groups, Empty White Circles are the real deal.

A five-piece band led by Connecticut-born brothers Kevin and Sean Duggan, other local acts are hard-pressed to compete with such authentic voices: although the classic genre was recently revived over here, it’s been with these New England natives their whole lives. “When I first moved here I was playing acoustic music on my own, and I was really worried that because Oxford is known for indie-pop music like Trophy Wife and Chad Valley, there wasn’t much of a scene for Americana over here,” admits Kevin, the 23-year-old big brother who started Empty White Circles after moving to Oxford in early 2012. “I had to brave myself up, because I wasn’t sure whether people were going to like these songs or not.”

Luckily for Kevin, he fitted right in. The songs in question, which were co-written with 19-year-old Sean while living with their parents in Frankfurt, continue to be rapturously received. “My family moved to Germany when I was 18,” explains Kevin. “At the time, I was in the middle of two years studying in Boston at the Berklee College of Music.

“After that, I decided to take the plunge and see something new. I spent about six months in Germany and wrote the Empty White Circles stuff with my brother before moving to the UK.”

Kevin quickly found a talented circle of musicians to play his emotive American folk music with (guitarist Callum To, drummer Ricky Eastwood and bassist Dave Royston), but it wasn’t until Sean moved to Oxford in September last year that the band really got started.

“That’s when our songs got their brotherly vibes back,” grins Kevin.

As you’d expect from guys who grew up playing music together, Empty White Circles’ pitch-perfect harmonies are in a league of their own. Their closest match comes from another team of accomplished musical brothers: Truck festival founders Joe and Robin Bennett of the band The Dreaming Spires.

Both brotherly bands played sets on the new Saloon stage at the festival last weekend. Speaking to Kevin ahead of the performance, he couldn’t have been more chuffed.

“We’re over the moon about it. I saw the banners when I first moved here and it just looked like such a cool festival. “To be able to go for free is awesome, because there’s so many great bands, both local and international.”

listen to ‘The Oxford Mail talk about Empty White Circles: Great Oak’ on Audioboom

As well as fronting a band, Kevin works as a barista at the super cool Keen Bean Café, within the Truck Store on Cowley Road. He couldn’t have picked a more perfect spot from which to follow the local music scene. “It’s been my key network for the past six months,” he says.

“I live just off Cowley Road, so originally I'd just hang out there and go for coffee. The owners were good friends of mine at that point. They were like, ‘you’re here so much that you may as well start working!’”

Truck Store will certainly make a great place for the band to sell their music when the time comes, although Kevin is savvy enough to know that releasing songs for free online is a great starting point for new acts to get noticed. Their latest single, Great Oak, is available from their SoundCloud page. As for gigging, Kevin is still keen to keep it local. “Right now the main focus for us to hone in on the Oxford crowd, and we’ll take it from there. That way, if we do find some opportunities to play outside Oxford, we’ll be a good support for someone. We’re going to be playing here a lot in the next few months!”

CHECK IT OUT
 

  • See Empty White Circles on Saturday for free when they headline Truck Store’s own stage at Riverside Festival in Charlbury