Thursday, June 19, 2008

Fourth River runs through Youngstown

By Sarah Poulton

Regardless of weather predictions, with Pittsburgh-based band Fourth River headlining the show, Saturday’s FurtherMind Music Festival is sure to go out with a thunder-like bang.

The rock-influenced jam band creates an airy, light-hearted atmosphere, fused by a proportional mix of guitar, bass, drums, keys and percussion. Their rock-inspired jams will lift you off your feet (no substance needed), and they’ll put on a show you’ll never forget.

Event organizer Trevor Quillan chose Fourth River to headline his festival because it’s a band he holds dear, as did his father. Quillan organized the festival in honor of his father, David M. Murphy, who died Dec. 6 from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a degenerative brain disorder. In previous years, Quillan worked with band members Aaron Bennett, keys, and Bill Smith, bass, on other musical endeavors. Quillan and Bennett’s former band, Speak Easy, organized the first FurtherMind Music Festival in 1999 at the former Chadagans Restaurant in Mercer, Pa.

“The reason why Fourth River is the headliner is because of the friendships I developed during the early days of my career,” Quillan said. “My dad always thought Aaron [Bennett] was a stellar keyboard player and co-writing songs with him throughout the years has helped me become a better musician.”

He said Fourth River has the complete package of improvisational music, which will bring the “booty shakin’” to his festival.

“They’re bringing the total live element of a jam band,” Quillan said. “People are gonna be gettin’ down.”

To him, Fourth River sounds like “the loudest thunderstorm on the sunniest of days.” Basically, they’re so rock and roll to him, that there’s a dark side and a light side — there’s a mysterious creepy stuff, but there’s still a happy statement being made, he said.

“As Aaron Bennett would say, ‘Put your ear goggles on and get funked,’”

The name Fourth River derives from Pittsburgh mythology. Bennett says many people believe there is an underground river below the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers that’s said to be the source of water for the fountain at Point State Park.

“I thought it was kind of metaphoric for what we’re doing,” Bennett said. “As a local band, we thrive under the radar. I thought it was kind of fitting, kind of the idea that things start from the bottom up.”

Bennett said he’s excited to introduce Fourth River’s sound to Youngstown, and is honored to play in a festival being held in Murphy’s honor. He said as a teenager, he remembers Murphy always listening to music.

“He loved music and he loved finding the live tracks,” Bennett said. “He loved digging for the stuff you can’t easily get to. That’s what his dad loved.”

When Fourth River takes the stage at midnight, Bennett said to expect the unexpected. Hopefully, things go really good, but with extreme instrumental improvisation, sometimes things get ugly, so you may see a little of both during the two-hour jam session, Bennett said.

“When something clicks, that becomes our sound at the moment,” Bennett said. “That’s happened a number of ways, so our sound is diverse. We try to infuse everything we can. We’re rock players trying to do new things, but things always come back to that. “

Bennett said he couldn’t be more excited to play in a new area, and on an outdoor stage. He said Fourth River is going to show up with their “A-game” and he hopes Youngstown’s ready to get down.

Smith is also looking forward to playing at his friend’s festival, not only to support Quillan, but because Fourth River is trying something new.

For this show, they’ve recruited two members from Pittsburgh-based band, CK9 and the Old E Allstars, drummer Dave Varasse and keyboardist Tiky Batis. The two bands play together frequently and trade off members for songs, but have yet to play an entire set together.

“We’ve never done this for a whole show before, so we’re interested in trying new things,” Smith said. “We’re fun, that’s all I can really say. We’re not the best band you’re ever gonna see by any means, but on any given night, we’re always having a good time and I think that comes through. We’re up there having fun for ourselves and I think that translates to the audience.”

Smith said he’s “freakin’ excited” for Saturday’s event, because Fourth River doesn’t always get invited to play large festivals. Since they’re not the best promoters and tend not to push shows on people, the band considers themselves unnoticed, Smith said. He said they can’t wait to break into a new market and share their sound with Youngstown.

“Really, the only people who know we exist are the people who see us live,” Smith said. “...It’s the highlight of my summer, not just to play there, but to be there.”

Guitarist Pete Belski and percussionist Patrick Stehley share Bennett and Smith’s excitement for FMMF. Belski said the headlining slot is the most favorable for the band because that’s the environment they do best in. They start with people who are already having a good time and take it a step further, he said.

“What people can look forward to with Fourth River is some original music with a lot of improvisation,” Belski said, “I mean, we try to write all our songs rock ‘n’ roll-esq, but they turn into psychedelic kind of jams. Every song has it’s own entity... we just kind of let everything happen.”

Stehley said he’s anticipating a lot of new faces in the audience, since this is their first time playing in Youngstown. With adding a different drummer and a second keyboardist, Stehley said the show will be “funky and spaced out.”

“We’ll be a new flavor up there,” Stehley said. “We’re a band that you could see one time, and the next time you see us, it’ll be completely different. We do weird things all the time and introduce new elements.”

The all ages festival starts at noon Saturday at the B&O Station on Mahoning Avenue. The event is free, but donations are being accepted on behalf of the CJD Foundation Inc., based in Akron.