Fall into Middlebury's music scene The Green Mountains are alive with the sound of campus bands

Author: Melissa Marshall

Local is the word. Whether it is in reference to vegetables, paintings, or knick-knacks, homegrown is hip. Unfortunately, the type of love students demonstrate for Happy Valley apple cider, is lacking when it comes to the on-campus band scene.

The College is chock full of overwhelming talent and potential, as evidenced in its awe-inspiring theatre and dance performances, as well as the college's athletic standings. While packed opening nights and stands filled with college students proudly sporting the blue and white are commendable, most students are only exposed to campus bands when they overhear practices as they pass the Service Building on their late-night munchies walk to The Grille.

Although it is easy to write off student bands as the product of mere hobbies, the original musical compositions and poetry produced by such ensembles are legitimate artistic expressions. It is surprising that these students have time to dedicate to the pursuit of musical creation between papers, e-reserve readings, and volunteer work, but what is even more astounding is that they are succeeding.

Dawn's basement (formerly known as The Royal We), compromised of Jordan Tirrell '08, James Riley '08.5, Brian Harris '08 and Max Obata '09 are anticipating the release of their first album in early 2007, while the campus band Mr. Bumby, formerly known as The Exploding Gremlin Quartet, has dropped down to a trio featuring Zach Maxwell '07, Tristan Axelrod '08, and Abel Fillion '09 - gigging extensively in Burlington and Stowe. Following in Mr. Bumby's footsteps, many bands have started looking to the surrounding areas for opportunities to perform due to the shrinking prospects and support on-campus.

"The music scene at Middlebury is decent. There is, considering the size of the institution, a veritable bevy of talented musicians here. We respect all the bands around, and love playing shows with other campus groups," said keyboardist/vocalist of The Genius Cave, Tim Shepherd '07.5. "The problem here lies in administrative support of on-campus performers, as more and more gigs are being filled with off-campus bands, and in campus-wide support of bands. While nobody should feel pressured into funding the music scene at Middlebury, the number of parties which depend on DJs is overwhelming, and ultimately makes the slew of bands who don't have connections to the social hours or grille committee an untapped resource,"

Sam Lazarus '09 of The Noise Upstairs agreed, "There are great opportunities to play if you are willing to go out and find them. We are a little concerned about this year's plan to limit MCAB sponsored student band shows, although we are sure that we will have plenty of chances to play some awesome shows in other venues."

Despite some deterrents, such as mediocre administrative support and new Pub Night policies, the spirit of rock n' roll on campus is still alive and well­, as seen in the exponential growth of student bands in the last couple of years.

"As far as my opinion of the local music scene [goes], it is real good, definitely better than my freshman year when Penelope was pretty much it," said Alex Banys '07, drummer of Larson, a jam-band who dominated campus musical performances last year. "There are more and more talented musicians coming out and putting together groups that groove really hard, creating new fresh sounds on campus. I think the people that have had the largest impact on the music scene at Middlebury are Doug Adams, MMG and the people that made Pub Night work," Overcoming the hurdle of graduation, which seems to be the death sentence of many student bands, Larson is striving off-campus, currently planning to open for Virginia Coalition in Killington, Vt. on Oct. 20th.

The ease in which new bands can establish themselves in the circuit speaks volumes about the dedication of student musicians, as well as the supportiveness of the College music community. The all-sophomore band The Noise Upstairs, is a perfect example, for they broke on the scene last semester when they had the privilege of opening for State Radio. Bandmates Evan Beilin, Cameron MacKugler, James Giampietro, Lucas Scherer, Sam Lazarus and Max Obata attribute their formation to the Middlebury housing system - it is impressive that six freshmen were not only able to force their way into the music arena, but also to flourish there.

This is in great part thanks to the evolving nature of the scene. The Genius Cave, featuring the musical stylings of Sam Jesse '07, Shepherd, Aaron Krivitzky '09.5, Macleod Andrews '07.5, Alex Slavin and Noelle Bullion '08, was conceived in an effort to move out of the shadow of the label "jam-band"- a tag that plagues many a college band.

While The Genius Cave has cemented itself as more of a pop-rock group, Dawn's Basement has traversed a less beaten path, drawing on influences as diverse as foot-stomping Irish rock, Dave Matthews, Radiohead, Motown and funk­ self-proclaiming themselves as "hobbit rock" and "stoner hypo-groove."

Whether it's fiddle-infused jams, jazz based rhythms or guitar-driven pop-rock, the College is breathing with musical talent and passion. And while students enjoy local favorites this autumn such as apple picking or the Burlington out-door market, they should keep in mind the flavor of local music, experiencing campus bands which are as diverse as the fall foliage itself.