Culture
Rochester, NY-Based Band Headed To Casa Jan. 14
By: Emily Votaw
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Rochester, NY-based quartet The Mighty High and Dry (MHD) are headed to Casa Nueva Saturday, Jan. 14, with their unique brand of sophisticated Americana-infused rhythm-heavy garage rock in tow.
That may read like a roundabout way to describe the band, and, in a way, it is. But an attempt to put words to the MHD’s sound is a little like trying to catch granules of sand in your hands – requiring the writer to sieve through the music trying to pinpoint specific influences, when, in fact, it seems this band has been touched a little by everyone from Steely Dan to The Band and everything in between.
In fact, the MHD’s latest release, The Next Waltz, which came out last year, is a direct nod to The Band’s iconic performance The Last Waltz.
Nov. 23, 2016, MHD played alongside a slew of other Rochester-based acts at the Historic German House, recreating The Band’s star-studded 1976 performance with entirely local musicians. Sloping through classics like “Up On Cripple Creek,” “The Weight,” “The Shape I’m In,” among others – it’s clear that MHD members Alan Murphy, Alex Cote, Eric Katerle and Kyle Vock are all at once entranced and completely romanced by the tunes they are playing.
“I started the band with Kyle (Vock) and Chris (Teal) six years ago started as trio,” said Alan Murphy, who said that the initial incarnations of MHD were pretty loosy-goosey. “In the beginning of 2011 I was sharing a lot of my compositions and my songs with Kyle, and we decided to make a record – that’s how it all started.”
Eventually the group grew to encompass members Chris Teal, Kyle Vock, Murphy and Mike Frederick. It was with this line-up that the group recorded their debut self-titled album in 2013 and their more recent release last year.
In the past year, both Teal and Frederick have moved out of the Rochester area, which led to Alex Coté and Eric Katerle coming on board the MHD train.
“It’s sort of a genesis occurring with the group right now, even though we have a lot of material that has already been recorded,” said Murphy. “We’re playing a lot of brand new things at our show because there’s no real expectation to play old material, we’re seeing which way the music is going for us.”
Murphy said that he is excited to bring the band to Athens, OH – a region of the country that the band has yet to travel to.
“We’re hoping that people are excited back to in school at beginning of new semester,” said Murphy. “We look forward to putting out a lot of energy and getting a lot of energy in return.”
