Local band, The Hasbens, transplanted itself one-by-one to Bend and into its music scene. The group describes itself as a funky, psychedelic jam band, and the group members certainly look the part. The Hasbens consists of an outdoorsy bunch with improvisational, high-energy shows. For over a year, the band has performed at various local venues and will play at the local upcoming Cascade Equinox Festival.
The four band members started out as college friends, playing music at local house parties in upstate New York. Making music was always about having fun and not taking themselves too seriously. Years later, the band still lives by that ideology.
Sam Gibney, the band’s drummer, was the first member of the group to pick up and move to Bend in 2020. He had always dreamt of going West and thought Bend was the perfect place to land. He immediately found that Bend had a “rad” music scene.
“It’s so community oriented and there’s so many different local artists and musicians contributing to that,” Gibney said. “It felt like a good place to call home.”
The rest of the band would often visit Gibney here, performing together at local venues whenever they had the chance. They knew they wanted to keep making music and decided that everyone would move to Bend — it was just a matter of when.
As soon The Hasbens, in its entirety, was in Central Oregon, it immediately put itself out there, playing its first show together just one day after the last band member arrived. The group went on to play every Wednesday at Bunk and Brew and since then, have continued to grow.
According to Gibney, the group puts 110% into every show it plays. It strives to give audiences an exciting and fun performance, making sure no two shows are the same. Gibney attributes the band’s success to meeting great people and performing well and often.
With Gibney on drums, the band includes original members Sam Ralbovsky on lead guitar, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Ben Sparks and bassist Ben Thompson. Once the group was settled in Bend, it added keyboardist Seth Acquarolo. The group’s name, The Hasbens, points out that the group, “has (two) Bens.”
The band has maintained its passion for music and the mountains, and has several upcoming shows to look forward to. With a new addition to the team and a lot more live performances under its belt, The Hasbens are working on a new, groovy album.
This article appears in Source Weekly August 10, 2023.
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