Local Indie Rock group Coopertheband is planning a pop-up show for Union students today at approximately 6 p.m. in the SUB.
The band is comprised of five musicians, four of whom call Jackson home: Cooper Brown, Will Kwasigroh, Joseph Kyle, Phoebe Scott and Matt Hammonds. Until just recently, Union alum Patricia Rhodes was also a member of the group. She is currently taking an extended leave of absence while her husband attends medical school.
Since January 20, Coopertheband has been playing a pop up show almost every day somewhere in Jackson. They are in the middle of a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to record a new full length album, Kingdoms, that is loosely based on the life of David in the Bible.
If they raise $8,000, they will be able to record at Jaxon Records with Nashville-based producer Kyle Schonewill. If they raise $15,000, they will be able to record an additional EP with Mark Hornsby at Sweetwater Studios in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Hornsby is an award winning producer who has worked with musicians like Steven Curtis Chapman and Needtobreathe. If they raise $25,000, they will be able to buy equipment and begin touring.
The pledge amounts on the Kickstarter start at $10, and everyone who pledges will receive a download of the album when it comes out. So far, the group has raised approximately $5300. Cooper Brown, founder of the band, said every bit helps.
“I think the biggest anxiety for this is that it’s a slow process,” he said. “You want it all to happen overnight.”
Brown said Hornsby’s interest in their music caught everyone by surprise. They were invited to play during the studio’s lunch hour one day, but never expected opportunities to come out of it. In fact, they all walked away feeling mediocre about their performance because they drove through the night to arrive on time, and played the set running on countless cups of motel coffee.
Recording at Sweetwater Studios would be a chance to take Coopertheband from the local to national level, according to Brown.
Scott, currently a senior at Lexington High School, said no matter what unfolds in the future, they want to stay focused on loving the Lord and loving others through their music.
We don’t label ourselves as a Christian band, but we want our listeners to see God through us,” she said. “Our main focus is to bring glory to God and spread the things that God is about.”
Angela Taylor, Union Senior and Rhodes’s sister, has been friends with everyone in the band for several years. She loves their blend of indie and rock music, and also loves the thought and depth Scott and Brown put into the lyrics of each song.
One of her favorite songs is “Kingdoms,” and she said she was looking forward to the album’s debut so she’d be able to play the song on demand and no longer have to scroll through videos of their concerts on Facebook.
“It has been stuck in my head for days and days,” she said. “It has a really catchy guitar part and some interesting time signature changes..I feel like that songs is about what happens when all your plans and grand life that you’ve built come crashing down, and you realize how desperately you need the Lord’s mercy.”
Taylor said she hoped students would rally behind Coopertheband, because they were well deserving of the community’s support.
“Local musicians build up the community. They are our friends and family, our neighbors,” she said. “ Everyone knows that it’s hard to be successful in the music industry, so they need our help and support to get attention from the rest of the world. And Coopertheband is absolutely worth their attention. They are whole-heartedly dedicated and let no opportunity go to waste.”
To find out more about the campgain or donate, go to bit.ly/projectkingdoms.
