Show Preview: The Summoners, Shamantis, Milksop Rabble
Casa Cantina / Thursday, April 10, 2014
By Sammi Nelson, Contributor
One of the best attributes of Athens is its illustrious local music scene. While several bands and artists pass through the area and contribute their sound to the music culture, it’s the local bands that give the area its flavor. On Thursday, three local bands are set to rock the night away at Casa.
The Summoners are an Athens rock band who played at their first show during a benefit concert last fall, followed by their second public performance on March 22 at Nelsonville’s Insea Sound Shop. Although the band is relatively new, the musicians that make it up have various degrees of musical experience.
Shamantis’ Facebook page describes the band as “Von Lyonson’s electrified sidekick.” Von Lyonson is also an Athens band, but its folk sound is quite different from the psychedelic rock Shamantis produces.
With Milksop Rabble as the third piece of Thursday night’s show, it appears as though Casa will be featuring three relatively new groups in the Cantina. Milksop Rabble could honestly be referred to as the Casa band, as all five of its members are employees at the restaurant.
Bassist Dillon Green explained how the band formed back in January in a sort of unplanned way when a friend needed a space filled for a show. The group had only played together acoustically in simple backporch settings without any official title beforehand.
“We figured we could pull a performance together, and after that we just kept it going,” said Green.
After that moment, the rest was history--well, recent history anyway. Green is accompanied by drummer Ethan Bartman, lead guitarist Nick Riggenbagh, rhythm guitarist Matt Clouston and mandolin player Devin Metzler. Each member contributes his vocals, often creating harmonies and at other times selected members take leads.
Though the band doesn’t identify with a specific genre, it has a primarily acoustic sound with what Green described as a “folky-twang” that comes from the mandolin element. He explained that each member has different musical background and contributes their own interests to shape the musical aspects of the band. Green sees this as an advantage as it helps to bring a variety of musical influence to their sound.
“We try to make everything sound unique, but we’re not out there to take it seriously. We’re trying to have fun,” said Green.
The band has played around two shows a month since their formation. After Thursday night’s show, the band will be playing their first out-of-town show over the weekend at King Avenue Five, a restaurant and bar in Columbus.
Tuesday night was also a stepping stone for the band, which began recording a few songs in an OU studio for a student class project. The band plans to release a song demo within the next month.
All three bands are all well on their way to becoming known throughout the local area. The combination of their past musical experiences have created three young groups that will undoubtedly emulate the various music tastes that color Athens and give the town its esteemed musical reputation.
The Casa show starts at 10:30 p.m. Thursday with The Summoners set to play first, followed by Shamantis and Milksop Rabble.
