Valhere
Valhere is a great band that is a northwest
original. The members include Andy Koontz as lead vocalist and rhythm
guitar; Randy Bowden on bass; Mike VanYserloo on drums and background
vocals, and a relatively new member Scott Phillips as lead guitarist
and backup vocals as well. The first three members mentioned have
been playing together for an astonishing 7 years at the date of
this writing-an amazing feat for any band out there. On top of that,
the guys all LIVE together too in a big house converted to house
the bands studio as well.
"We do not have any friends...we are
definitely not a 'friend band' like so many that are out there.
the majority of our audience is people we do not know, not our friends
from around town", says Andy Koontz. This is an important step
for a band to make, too-all of you perfomers out there really know
what this means...it means the band is drawing FANS, not just people
that don't want to see you look stupid on a stage in an empty room.
Koontz also points out that the numbers keep growing as people spread
the word about the band, and the shows keep getting better and better
because of this.
The music that Valhere plays struck me immediately
as very interesting and listenable. I found myself humming several
of the five tunes off their recently released E.P. "Instantly,
I Promise!". It seems to be a mix between college radio friendly
indie rock and the Counting Crowes (well, vocally the Crowes are
as close as you will get to matching this voice). The songs have
great hooks to them and are well arranged, but really not overproduced
or polished too much. There is an inherent simplicity within the
music that makes it so appealing to the average listener; not that
the music lacks difficulty, rather, the band keeps it simple instead
of adding too much music at every turn.
When asked about the CD Koontz gave me to
review, he added "You know, if you only listen to this and
judge the entire band on these types of songs, you will have a very
small idea of what we can do live". This is refreshing amidst
the lip syncing and crappy musicianship of most modern "bands".
So this only means one thing-go see the band live, of course! Andy
is a really cool guy and very personable towards fans. In fact,
when covering a show for a band that had to make a sudden cancellation,
Valhere came to the gig with no PA to play through (they didn't
know they needed one at the club). The fans still thought they were
so cool that the band sold several CD's and got booked for two shows
on the spot for the coming months. That is a cool story, Valhere.
So go check out this great rock and roll/indie
style band soon and let us know what you think. I have a feeling
you will be generally pleased (or they would not be the band of
the month, eh?) with Valhere-the sound is right and they shoul be
selling a lot of records very soon. Kepp up the great work Valhere-and
put me on a guest list soon so I can see you live!
-MAS
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