MEET THE BAND: Terry Campbell (guitar, harmonica, lead vocals, songwriter), Evan Stone (lead guitar, backup vocals), Justin Chambers (bass, backup vocals) and Steve Deurlein (drums)
A MAN WITH A BAND: The band first come to fruition after local singer-songwriter Terry Campbell decided he wanted to put a band together. “He’s been writing his whole life and started recording in 2012 and in 2013,” says Evan Stone, who joined as a keyboardist and then moved to lead guitar. “We had a great summer playing Cleveland bars and writing new music.” When the original bassist and drummer left, the band continued as a duo and even released Bohemian Nervosa, a full-length album it recorded with a studio drummer. Recorded at Suma Recording in Painesville with engineer Paul Hamann and mixer Jim Stewart, the album was well-received especially by the band’s small fan base. The group did acoustic shows as a duo. “We wanted to wait to get a bassist and drummer, but we found some people who were into the music and were fans of ours,” Stone says. That’s when Deurlein and Chambers joined the band. That version of group initially played “any show it could” and had a “glimmer of success” in 2015 when one of its songs was played in the background of American Idol.
AN ALTERNATIVE/INDIE ROCK/FOLK POP/POP ROCK TYPE OF THING: With its blaring harmonica and folk-y acoustic guitar, a song such as “If It’s Not Too Late” possesses a Dylan-like quality. But the band intentionally defies categorization. “We don’t have a set subgenre,” says Stone. “We just play off our influences. Whatever comes out, comes out. We have one song that might sound like ’90s alternative pop and one that might sound like Jack Johnson and one that sounds like My Morning Jacket. We like all these different styles. We want to be diverse. If the right person heard a song or whole album, we want them to see we can write all these types of songs. It gets boring listening to the same types of songs.”
WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: The band’s latest effort, Pura Vida, is the first of three EPs. The group worked with producer Jim Stewart at Crushtone Studios and recorded the songs live in the studio. Stewart was in the process of moving his studio so the first part was done in his apartment. “Free Tonight” has the rootsy feel of the Band, and “Golden Beach” produces a calypso vibe, particularly with its mix of percussion. The ballad “Free Tonight” shows off Campbell’s crisp voice. The band has about 20 songs and is trying to pick the best ones for the next set of EPs. It will also play a new tune at the upcoming CD release.
WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM: newmoonrising.us.
WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: New Moon Rising performs with Fever Fever, By Light We Loom and Michael McFarland at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, at the Grog Shop.
This article appears in Feb 24 – Mar 1, 2016.
You guys are great! Stumbled across you and LOVE “Child of the Moon”. I can SO relate to those feelings. Very spiritual. Feeling the presence of the Divine Feminine. Love the 70’s guitar sound too as I was a hippie back then. Very reminiscent of Neil Young.
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Clevescene is not big enough for you. It requires you fill in a “neighborhood”. But I live in Maine! You guys need to get ready to go international in a BIG way. Skip the romantic love/hate songs (eeeeveryone does those…so boring) and focus on the spiritual, or stuff that really comes from other strong personal emotions. Keep putting your intense, real, FEELINGS into your writing and you’ll skyrocket.
Read Marlo Morgan’s two books and you’ll get a sense of what’s coming and your part in bringing it in. Meditate and call to your Inner Being.