photo by: Journal-World

From left, Ashley Zeigenbein (keyboard/accordion), Monica Greenwood (mandolin) and Brianne Grimmer (guitar) of the band Sugar Britches perform June 26, 2015, at the Replay Lounge.

Not all girl groups are sugar and spice; and if you don’t like that, then the gals in Sugar Britches will call you out on it… from the stage.

Ashley Zeigenbein, also known as Ziggy, has seen her fair share of hecklers while playing in the band. From behind her accordion, she’s been the victim of a range of horrified reactions from men. When she gets up onstage alongside guitarist Brianne Grimmer, mandolin player Monica Greenwood, and bassist Kahlen Ryba, the sass tends to run wild. Of course it does, considering the four strong-willed females that make up Sugar Britches. Their harmonizing is high-pitched and pleasant sounding, but the lyrics will tackle anything from booze to boys.

“We get called man haters a lot because we sing about breakups and exes, but that’s what (men) do!” Zeigenbein exclaims at a breakfast table surrounded by her bandmates. “There’s a big double standard because we’re a girl group. We call them out on stage.”

Grimmer agrees.

“Everybody calls us crass and vulgar and whatever. But the thing is, all the guy groups, they’re singing about the exact same thing,” she says.

The bluegrass balance

It sounds like a lot of drama, but in reality Sugar Britches are a riot.

Their lyrics are more cheeky than offensive, and at their shows they tend to get an entire venue giggling along. It’s no wonder they shot up to popularity so quickly in this town. They only played their first show in March, and a solid fan base formed around them nearly instantly. It’s almost like the town was waiting for something like this to come along, and they weren’t the only ones.

These four girls didn’t know each other at all until they met at the Lawrence Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. After throwing a few (dozen) drinks at Free State Brewery, the decision was made to form a band.

“We all wanted to play music,” Greenwood says. “We all had similar tastes and good chemistry.”

That chemistry is so good that even after moving out-of-state, bassist Ryba makes trips back to Lawrence to stay with the band.

But their next task involved tackling what flavor of music they were going for. All four of them were fans of the Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival in Winfield, an event that is darn near a religious ritual for bluegrass fans in these parts.

But Grimmer’s guitar background involved something a little more metal and hard rock. She learned to switch from electric to acoustic, and the band found a balance somewhere between bluegrass and folk.

“I think for us, our band really prides itself in strong vocals, and folk music definitely leans more towards a vocal focus. It came natural to us,” she says, noting that the strong and supportive folk scene here also played a hand in shaping their musical goals. “I think the folk scene in this town, it flourishes here so much. There’s a huge indie rock thing, too. But there’s a lot of other towns where I don’t know if folk would play as well.”

The female focus

Now, not even a year after the band’s formation, Sugar Britches is wrapping up an album and will be heading out on tour mid-August. Their live shows are what seem to garner them the most attention, especially with women.

“I’ve always loved being onstage. I love pretending to be a character and expressing myself through that character,” Ziggy says. “On the other hand, I love inspiring other women, especially young girls seeing women onstage, inspiring other people to be expressive.”

Grimmer notes the conversations they’ve had with female audience members after their shows.

“The more we play, the more women come up and say, ‘It’s so awesome that you guys tell it like it is,'” she says. “I first started playing music for boys and booze, but it’s since changed.”

Sugar Britches can sometimes be all jokes, but at this point in the conversation, they get serious. Ryba further remarks on the effect the band has on their female fans.

“I think it’s really inspiring for people to see a bunch of chicks getting up there and doing their thing,” she says. “We’ve got a really unique take on everything, so keeping that unclassifiable situation that we have going on is really great to just add to the scene.”

An emotional Greenwood concurs.

“I’ve been looking for something like this since the moment I got to Lawrence in 2001. The fact that I found it now, I don’t think that I’d ever let go,” she says. “It’s been something that I’ve really wanted for a really long time. Singing and performing is a huge part of me, so I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep it going.”

And with a grand wave of her arm toward her bandmates across the breakfast table, she very sincerely declares, “I love these Britches!”

— Fally Afani is a freelance writer and editor of iheartlocalmusic.com.