DIY musicianship at its best
The Scottish funk southern rock band, High Fade, is on a busy North American tour throughout the U.S. and Canada, including a stop in Bend at Volcanic Theatre Pub. Their sound is described as a blend of hard rock, funk, jazz, metal and soul. The gravelly voice of lead singer Harry Valentino, backed by bass player Oli Sentance and drummer Heath Campbell, is at times hard rock and at times a feel-good jam.
High Fade just released a new album, “Twice as Nice,” in May. It’s their second full-length studio album released independently under their own label, RPN Records. Valentino says they decided to take the more challenging road of staying independent to maintain their creative freedom. He’s an outspoken advocate for DIY musicianship, encouraging emerging artists to build on their own terms rather than surrender control.
“I think for us it’s incredibly difficult but extremely rewarding.,” Valentino says. “Our fan base knows and appreciates our grassroots approach, and I think it resonates a lot with people in the industry who see us coming from afar.”
Valentino started the band in Edinburgh, in 2018 with the original members busking and gigging on the streets. Sentance joined a couple of years later while Campbell signed on last year. The good-natured musicians had fun when describing one another to the Source. Sentance says Valentino is “speedy, fresh, organized, sharp, can’t walk into him.” Valentino describes Sentance as participating in the “world’s strongest mustache game, plays bass the proper way, organized, always up early, coffee connoisseur.” Valentino and Sentance both describe Campbell as “precise, speedy, wholesome, funny and inappropriate most of the time.” They create the music together, with Valentino initially writing lyrics, but everyone contributing to the finished song.
High Fade has been to Bend before, performing in front of a small crowd. “We actually played a set supporting ourselves, too, since the support band pulled out!” Valentino says cheerfully. Since then, they’ve built a following on social media and launched a whirlwind tour with performances scheduled nearly every day through July.
High Fade
Sun, June 28 6pm
Volcanic Theatre Pub
70 SW Century Dr, Bend
Highfademusic.live
$26.77
An overflow of creativity spun into funny videos
Ginger Molasses is a unique blend of soul, funk and rock. The five-piece band came together in 2023 in Nevada City, California. Married musicians Galen Krumel (bassist/keyboard) and Lessley Anderson (keyboard/songwriter), moved there from San Francisco during the pandemic. They were looking for a new project and placed an ad on Craigslist where they met singer Tawnee Kendell. Eventually they met Nick Overhauser (drums) and Bohdi Dulac (guitar) and the band was complete.
“We have elements of funk and soul, but are not a jam band, as we are songwriting-driven, with intentional arrangements,” Anderson told the Source. “We have been compared to classic bands of the 70s, like Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac.”
Anderson says the group had instant chemistry and bonded over Bob Seger and homemade ginger molasses cookies, thus the band’s name. This is their first summer on the road, with a July stop at Silver Moon Brewing on their schedule. “We are very excited to play Bend, and hope that people take a chance and come check us out,” Anderson says.
Ginger Molasses’ has a retro vibe that will get listeners off their feet. Their lead singer has a powerful voice. “We are regularly hired to play raucous street fairs and afterparties,” Anderson says. “Our front woman, Tawnee, is like a force of nature, fun and lively. It’s hard to take your eyes off her.”
The band gets along so well, and has such a bounty of creative ideas, that they spend their spare time recording quirky, fun video skits. Their most recent is a series called “River Rats” which is also the name of one of their songs. While the “River Rats” song has its own music video the “River Rats” video series is more akin to movie shorts with a plot. Overhauser and Dulac star as vice cops tracking the River Rat gang, played by Anderson and Kendell. Krumel plays a crawfish who helps crack the case. Yep, a crawfish helps crack the case! Not the typical type of video you’d expect from a musical act but it certainly adds to the charm of this group.
“We have an absurdist sense of humor, and sometimes the rock band cannot contain it all,” Anderson says.
Their songs each tell a tale as well. Many of the songs Anderson writes for the band are based on real stories she came across as a feature journalist in her previous career. “I am really inspired by stories about people living outside the margins of what’s “normal” or legal,” she explains. “The song “Heidi Fleiss” was written after I read a weird New York Times story about how former Hollywood Madam, Heidi Fleiss, was operating a laundromat in Pahrump, Nevada while trying to raise funds to open a whorehouse for women.”
It’s not a typical theme for a song but it works in a way that only Ginger Molasses can rock.
Ginger Molasses
Thu, July 30
Silver Moon Brewing
24 NW Greenwood Ave, Bend
Bendticket.com
$14.38
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