Alts & Featt JTPS
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
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Page 9
Now You See Them plays with Holy Ghost Tent Revival at Music on the Mountaintop in Boone during the summer.
Asheville band returns to Grey Eagle with Holy Ghost Tent Revival
Katherine Waiker
. ^walker(®unca.edu
assistant news editor
Now You See Them, self-proclaimed
as Asheville’s hardest working band,
will play a show with Holy Ghost Tent
Revival of Greensboro at the Grey
Eagle.
“There aren’t a lot of bands that we
are that elose with, and I think it makes
the show a lot more appealing because
we are always playing together dur
ing the show,” said Shane Conerty of
Now You See Them.
According to Conerty, the Grey Ea
gle is one of the band’s favorite venues
to play.
“The hope for this show is that it’s
our last local show of the year, it’s at
the best venue in town to play a show,
in our opinion, and it’s with our favor
ite band to play with. So, it will be fun
for us, regardless. We’re just hoping
people come out and join us for a spe
cial night,” he said.
Guitars in the comer, their promo
tional poster on the wall and an amp
that doubles as a chair all adorn the
house of band members Dulci Ellen-
berger, Jason Mencer and Conerty.
When the band moved to Asheville
two years ago, they collectively de
cided to give up their jobs and focus
solely on their music.
“There was doubt and it’s a risk, but
it feels so much better than risking
anything else,” said Ellenberger, who
plays the acoustic guitar, melodica and
sings vocals.
Ellenberger described her time in
New York City, where she worked as
a bartender, as unfulfilling.
“I got really good at bartending for
six years in New York. That does not
inspire me. That does not make me
feel good,” she said.
While in New York City, Mencer
also said he grew tired of his job at a
restaurant.
“I was miserable, just working trying
to support my dreams. I figured it’d be
better to live my dreams to support
life,” said the djembe drum and tam
bourine player.
Conerty said when he lived in Van
couver and Australia, he could make a
living simply on busking, or street per
forming, like many people in down
town Asheville.
“It was possible for me to just busk
and roll up a bunch of change and get
by at the end of the month,” he said.
Accordiilg to Conerty, this period
of his life taught him that he could do
without working a real job.
“We can do what we love to do and
make a living from it,” Conerty said.
Ellenberger said although it’s not a
traditional job and not what most peo
ple do for a living, they work at least
40 hours a week.
“We’ve only been in town for 2
years, almost 2 and a half years, but
we’ve done a lot of stuff that a lot of
bands that have lived here for a long
time haven’t done, because they’re
working these jobs,” Conerty said.
The band members said their dedica
tion and lack of outside jobs helps their
music careers in Asheville.
Not only does Now You See Them
work hard and have positive attitudes,
they also have honest ones.
“We’ve got this set up that, not forc
es you, but it makes you more inclined
to listen to the words and meanings of
the song^s, which is a huge part of our
band,” Conerty said.
Conerty plays the acoustic guitar and
ukulele, and the band said they prefer a
stripped-down sound.
“We walk in with our instruments
on our backs and that’s all we have,”
Mencer said.
A bass or huge drum kit never
drowns out the matter-of-fact lyrics.
“We don’t ever want to be showy. I
think if any of us were faking it up on
stage, we would hate that. So that’s im
portant, so long as the music is staying
true,” Mercer said.
The members of Now You See Them
said they all want to stay true to their
art and that the lyrics are very impor
tant to them.
“There are bands that we love that
are in a great position that haven’t
compromised, and they’re popular be
cause their music is good. I think that
should be how a band judges their suc
cess. Not by how big you get or how
many gold records you have, but by
staying true,” Conerty said.
See SHOWPage 101