The second edition of Bella Love’s new series LIVE! at Oak Street Mill is this Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7:30pm (Joey Burnett graphic)
By KENYON STANLEY and JESSICA BOYE
Bella Love Inc.
Old Town Cornelius is rapidly becoming the hub for local artists and musicians to showcase their creative talents. This Saturday, Nov. 16, Bella Love Inc. presents the second episode of its Live! at Oak Street Mill series. The event features Trey Calloway and the Night Crawlers, Carolina Runway and Laylo. This is your opportunity experience a diverse cohort of musical wonder.
Doors open at 7:30pm at Kadi Fit, 19725 Oak St., Cornelius. The lineup is an eclectic mix. A common thread for this show is that each of the performing groups has a strong lead player - and they’re all men.
Trey Calloway is the lead man in his band, with fellow Night Crawlers Andrew Russell, John Peer and Jeremy Maher. This country band has been burning up the local music scene for several years. They’re passionate and have a soulful twang. When asked where the name “The Night Crawlers” came from, Calloway replied with a grin, “My lead guitar player actually named the band. He is an avid tournament bass fisher and we’re always up playing music at night. Country roots with a rock-in-roll vibe that is easeful listening for anyone.”
Trey Calloway, lead for “Trey Calloway and the Night Crawlers” sings rock/country style from the heart. (Trace VanGorden photo)
Carolina Runway is also making a name for itself. They commonly play at popular venues around town and always emit a contagious energy. Zach Butts is the lead man on guitar and vocals with Nathan Pitts on vocals, Mitch Moore on drums, and David Gibson playing percussion. Their classic rock and roll appeals to young and old.
Finally Laylo is a great band with an alternative rock flair. Laylo has the unique quality of shifting band members. Clyde Vreeland is the front man, on vocals and guitar, yet can mesh with a variety of other members. Laylo has three alternate guitar players, three drummers, 2 bass players – 9 guys on rotation at any given moment, for any given assignment.
Saturday’s LIVE! at Oak Street Mill will include Clyde Vreeland, Christopher Soentgerath playing guitar, Kevin Stoltz playing bass and Howard Jackson on drums. A set from Laylo is a staple at Bella Love Open Mic nights, and Laylo recently headlined the Halloween party at Lake Town Tavern.
When asked about Vreeland’s process in song writing and how is he able to write songs adaptable to so many members at varying level of skill, he replied, “Basically, I don’t really write songs, I write my life to the music. And I take an approach where I am always trying to express my feeling and how I connect with the world, and try to allow others to share this connection. So basically, when it comes to other members, I don’t expect them to play any particular part. I encourage them to just try and embrace their particular feeling to the songs and the overall message of the songs. Then in turn, interpret it in their own way. I play with guys that I connect with on a personal level, we already have an established friendship. It has never really been about the most skilled or star bound player, it is who I personally trust.”
How is Clyde able to keep Laylo’s sound consistent with the rotating members? It seems an organic process that occurs through intention: “Because our sound is built heavily around improvisation, which relies on one-another. Like a jam band. It all expresses itself through music, ‘it is so not-a band.’ I am not pretentious enough to say it is ‘Clyde and friends’. When actually it is a collaborative group, it is about what we are saying, and how we view the world.”
Members of Laylo with Bella Love emcee/artist Cordell Ferguson at Kadi Fit in Oak Street Mill. From left: Christopher Soentgerath, Clyde Vreeland, Cordell Ferguson and Bryan Frazier. (Serge Skiba photo)
Their creative sound and explosive talent is the X-factor for Live! at Oak Street Mill. “We are in own little world, we are not per say playing what the audience wants to hear, we are playing what we think they want to hear.” Clyde’s philosophy on music can be summed up in how he reacts to feedback.
“Although I appreciate when people say, ‘Man, that song rocked,’ or ‘That chorus sounded so good,’ it is the biggest compliment when people say, ‘That song you sang, I have felt the same way.’ I then feel like I wrote something that actually matters, that people go through, how it relates to their life. That is what music means to me, that’s what life means to me.”
This event has something for everyone.
Live! at Oak Street Mill will run from 7:30-11:30 on Saturday, November 16th, 2013. The event will take place at the historic Oak Street Mill at 19725 Oak Street in Cornelius, NC. There will be three-dollar craft beer and wine available and a five-dollar cover charge. Bella Love builds the platform for music and events to become more than just a show, but an experience.
This article appears as part of the CorneliusNews.net/ DavidsonNews.net partnership with Bella Love Inc.
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