River Whyless brings new music to Songbirds

River Whyless (Photo by Shervin Lainez)
River Whyless (Photo by Shervin Lainez)

If you go

› Where: Songbirds Guitar Museum, 35 Station St. (North stage), 41 Station St. (South stage)› For more information: 432-531-2473RIVER WHYLESS WITH ADAM TORRES› Where: North stage› When: 7 p.m. Thursday, July 19› Admission: $15CECIL ALLEN MOORE WITH DALLAS WALKER› Where: South stage› When: 9 p.m. Friday, July 20› Admission: $12CHATTANOOGA GIRLS ROCK SHOWCASE› Where: South stage› When: 2 p.m. Saturday, July 21› Admission: $10JESSE GOGGANS BAND PRESENTS A TRIBUTE TO JANIS JOPLIN› Where: South stage› When: 9 p.m. Saturday, July 21› Admission: $12 in advance, $15 day of show

After becoming friends and playing music together while students at Appalachian State University, Ryan O'Keefe (guitar/vocals), Halli Anderson (violin/lead vocals) and Alex McWalters (drums) moved to Asheville, North Carolina, where they met Daniel Shearin (bass/vocals). Together, the quartet became River Whyless - a name McWalters describes as an amalgamation of their love for nature with a word from an e.e. cummings poem that captured his imagination: "whyless."

Songwriting was their forte - all were strong writers in their own right; all owned their perspectives. But by the time 2016's "We All The Light" was released, the four were following personal paths that were pulling them away from the band. O'Keefe had married, Shearing was engaged. McWalters was enrolled in grad school; Anderson moved to Oregon.

Even though Anderson had agreed to shuttle back and forth between Oregon and North Carolina, McWalters admits when the guys dropped her off to catch her flight, "we were uncertain as to what would happen. It was a worry of ours. When you are our age, it's a reality we may end up going different directions, but we love each other enough to make it work."

And they did.

When the four finally gathered to write their next record, they poured into it their convictions and concerns about what they saw happening in the country during the 2016 presidential election along with events in their own lives. The result was "Kindness, A Rebel," just released in June.

Chattanoogans will be among the first to hear River Whyless play the new music live when the band performs at Songbirds Thursday, July 19, at 7 p.m.

McWalters said in a phone interview that the band didn't enter the writing/recording process with a particular goal or message for this album. The result was an organic flow of respecting each other's perspectives, compromising, working together and learning to disagree.

"The 2016 election had a lot to do with what was on our minds at the time," he says. "We didn't discuss any particular direction for the record, it just came out of us."

The album's name reflects their answer to the divisiveness happening in American society.

"It's cheesy to say we should be kind to each other, everyone knows that. But in practice, that's harder than it seems, especially in times like this when so much seems to be at stake," he explains.

"To say, 'Kindness, a Rebel' is to say we should all rebel against the lesser parts of ourselves such as greed, selfishness and unkindness. It's much harder in a tough situation to step back and be kind."

Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.

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