Vienna

~ Adam Johnston ~ Leave a comment

It’s no secret that I love Billy Joel. A big part of me secretly wishes that I could be Billy Joel. And this song, Vienna, is one that I particularly adore. I know exactly where I was when I first heard it, and even now I pull it up, the first song of the B-side of The Stranger, to work through some nostalgia or some tangled psyche or just to hear that simple but impassioned piano. That intro is creepily beautiful (and harder to play than you’d think, or at least I find ways to mess it up a lot), and the chord progression and extra riffs draw me in every time.

Thing is, when we all played it together as a band for the first time in rehearsal, it spontaneously morphed into something that I’d never heard before. It was no longer just Billy Joel’s song, but strangely it wasn’t ruined, either. It was our own. The song rings true to me personally, but more than this it resonates as testimony to what it means to play with others, to be in a band. We don’t play Vienna like anyone else or even like I’d ever imagined, and now I wouldn’t have it any other way.

There’s something else, too. When we first played this for an audience and Caryn introduced it, she told the story of how it relates to Joel’s father who spent time in Vienna, and how the city represented not only a geographical place but a state of mind. “You can get what you want or you can just get old … when will you realize, Vienna waits for you?” It’s about taking hold of moments when you have them, paying attention to what’s important, making sure you embrace the opportunities you have to be who you want to be. Vienna is an appropriate song for us to end a set on, because it’s a bit about us as a band. This project is our Vienna.

[Video courtesy of Karyn Johnston.]

 

Summertime Sample

~ Adam Johnston ~ Leave a comment

So, we had our first public gig. And it was really, really fun. Friends and family were there, and we made some new friends during and after the sets. Cuppa, by the way, is fabulous, encouraging, and delicious. We’ll be back.

Here’s a sample of some of what we were able to create in that fantastic loft space, surrounded by lots of enthusiastic people. Thanks to all who came out!

(video provided by Karyn Johnston)

 

a gig

~ Adam Johnston ~ 1 Comment

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Frankly, we’ll play and have a great time whether you’re there or not. But you should go, sip some tea and snack on vegan pastries. We’ll play our full set, and maybe more.

Friday, August 3, 7-9p at Cuppa, 552 E 25th St, Ogden.

bios

~ Adam Johnston ~ Leave a comment

Caryn

Caryn is our vocalist and band organizer/hassler. She has a long history music, from singing along to Disney movies as a toddler and making home videos of 90s girl pop covers, to years in school and extracurricular choirs. She fell in love with jazz in high school and, while she took a bit of a music hiatus in college, the passion for jazz and performing has never left. She used to have to get her jazz fix singing along to YouTube karaoke alone, in her basement, but she’s finally found a cohort of music nerds that were foolish enough to join her in her quest for a perfect jazz combo. 

Tim

Tim took string bass lessons when he was in grade school and started playing electric bass for his high school jazz choir.  At Gonzaga U, he played in the jazz band and was a member of the faculty jazz quartet. In grad school, he played in an instrumental jazz combo as well as a garage rock band.  Since then, he’s mostly played music casually with friends and family so he’s excited to play with this group.

Ian

Ian began playing percussion in the 7th grade and instantly fell in love with music. He was first introduced to jazz music in the high school jazz band, where he learned to enjoy the freedom it allowed. At BYU, he studied percussion under Dr. Ronald Brough and had the privilege of performing with many talented musicians. Since graduating, Ian has spent most of his time teaching music and has rarely had time to perform. He’s excited for this new opportunity to have fun playing music with some great people.

Adam

Adam got to borrow his grandparents’ piano when he was 12, and soon after he learned how to read chords and that he hated Bach and that level of precision. This all led to taking jazz piano his first year in college, where he fell in love with jumbles of notes labeled “C7 #5 #9,” blues scales, and permission to throw in an extra note or leave something out. He spent hours in a dark dormitory lounge playing an out-of-tune grand piano, and ever since he’s been making things up.  Now he’s excited to break out a little and play along with this talented ensemble.

Kevin

When he was 14, Kevin stole his dad’s ‘69 Fender Mustang (which no longer worked) and tried to play some Jimi Hendrix without knowing what chords were. Needless to say, he was less than successful. His unfounded confidence led him down to the basement where he taught himself to play punk and metal music while his parents told him to turn down that god awful noise. Luckily, that noise was loud enough he didn’t hear them. Many years later, he fixed that old guitar and attempted some Jimi again with mixed results. For some reason, he thinks he’s okay at this guitar thing now, although objective evidence points to the contrary. One day he hopes to be a real musician.

beginnings

~ Adam Johnston ~ Leave a comment

This all started when Caryn started talking to Adam, and there happened to be a piano there, and then we simultaneously realized that Caryn just wanted to sing, and Adam just wanted to play, and then they pulled up a couple of things that they knew and then, right then and there, there was music, and that was fun. And then Tim was there, and we all simultaneously thought that it would be great if the next time we did this he had his bass and could play along. And then, pretty much at the same time, we realized we should talk to Ian about percussion and Kevin about guitar, and how fun would that be?

And sure enough, it’s really, really fun. We just all had to be in the right place at the right time and have Caryn say, “We should do this,” and so here we are.