Attendees of Ghost Light were in for a treat as they stood mere inches away from River Whyless with no stage, speakers or microphones blocking them. The Ghost Light hosted another concert Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Columbia Theatre. The headline band, River Whyless, did something that is not usually done by bringing the concert out into the lobby of the theatre.
“I kind of thought about it when we were walking in and how Halli [violinist/vocals of the band] always hoots and hollers whenever she gets in a space that has higher than ten foot ceilings,” said Ryan O’Keefe, vocalist/guitarist for River Whyless. “So we were walking through here and immediately she was testing the reverb and seeing what it was like to sing in it. That’s when I decided to do it.”
This was not the only special thing about the band. River Whyless, a Baroque/Folk quartet from Asheville, N.C., gave a sensational performance.
“It’s basically one of the best acts we’ve had in here and just the musicianship was unbelievable,” said David Avelar II, operations and productions technician of Ghost Light. “They were dialed in; you can tell they’ve been playing together. You can tell that they love what they’re doing and there was emotion in their music. Sometimes you’re listening to music and it can sound kind of sterile, but you knew they meant what they were saying and that it came from the heart.”
River Whyless is composed of four members: Ryan O’Keefe, vocals/guitar, Halli Anderson, vocals/violin, Alex McWalters, drums and Dan Shearin, bass/vocals. According to their Facebook and various websites, “River Whyless is named in spirit of its ongoing love affair with the natural world.” They have toured all over the country and parts of Canada playing hundreds of shows. Their debut album was “A Stone, A Leaf, An Unfound Door.”
The band’s sound has been labeled folk-rock, nature-pop and baroque.
“Most of the songs are rooted in the idea of songwriting and folk music originally,” said O’Keefe. “We don’t really put any limits on it. Sometimes, it can get expansive, really quite, and dynamic; but I guess to put a label on it, it would be experimental folk or folk rock. Baroque folk is what we’ve been calling [it] a few times too.”
O’Keefe described folk music as more of a collaboration of melodies between separate artists that is in a continuous evolution.
Folk music is rooted in lyrics and melody,” said O’Keefe. “Folk music starts very simply and evolves over years. Whether it’s your own song evolving, or it’s someone else’s song evolving over yours, even some of the melodies that I use are from traditional songs. That’s the beauty of folk music; I feel like it’s more of a communal thing. Musicians enjoy sharing music and lyrics. You build upon each other.”
Andrew Reinhardt, guitarist for Telegraph Salesmen, described the inspiration behind their music.
“Most of our songs are about actual life events that are incredibly personal, and some of our songs are inspired by cinema,” said Reinhardt. “I think the Ghost Light is a great outlet for anyone in Hammond who loves to listen to live music and enjoys hanging out on Thursday nights.”
Other artists who played at Ghost Light included Britton Newton, a member of Biscuithound and second time performer of Ghost Light; Telegraph Salesmen, a local band from of Southeastern students and Denton Hatcher, a musician from Baton Rouge/New Orleans.
For more information, the River Whyless Facebook page.