The Thirsty Hippo showcased local and regional bands with varying styles and powerful melodies on Saturday, March 3. The lineup consisted of local dream pop band Goth Dad, New Orleans emo rock band Hand Out, Delta’s own Schaefer Llana and local jazz- soul band Brotha Josh and the Quickness.
Brad Newton, owner of The Thirsty Hippo, said he is deeply involved in the local music scene.
“We at The Hippo love and appreciate music and want to support as many people as we can in that effort,” Newton said. “I’ve been doing this for 17 years, and I still feel the same way as I did in the beginning, which is [that] it is important to have music culture.”
This was Goth Dad’s first 2018 performance because the group added a new bassist and guitarist. Ryan Sherrer, vocalist and guitarist for the band, believes the two new band members rounded out their sound. Goth Dad has plans to kick off a tour and travel across the country during spring break.
Colin Cameron, senior communications studies major and bassist for Goth Dad, showed support towards the other music groups performing at The Thirsty Hippo. “Brotha Josh is another super great band from Hattiesburg. Schaefer Llana’s band and their music is just so solid. The guys in Hand Out are really great friends too. They are extremely talented,” Cameron said.
Christian Raby, a pre-med student at William Carey University, said she enjoys coming to The Hippo to watch Goth Dad and knows Sherrer from guitar lessons. “It is interesting to know a person [and] then hear the music they write. It is something I really enjoy,” Raby said.
Christian Raby, a pre-med student at William Carey University, said she enjoys coming to The Hippo to watch Goth Dad and knows Sherrer from guitar lessons. “It is interesting to know a person [and] then hear the music they write. It is something I really enjoy,” Raby said.
Schaefer Llana and her band are from the Delta, and Llana herself is an audio engineering major at Delta State University.
“The band is me, and they, my dudes, help me out with shows and on the album to make it bigger than just me,” Llana said.
Llana met guitarist and mixer Starlin Browning met in school when they were tasked with producing a song Llana had written. From there, they found that they worked well together.
“Schaefer’s stuff is really cool because it was her solo, and we kind of brought in an A-team and just really got to unpack all of her songs and make them into something a little more realized,” Browning said.
Brotha Josh and the Quickness have been a group for about a year with an interchanging cast of musicians. Joshua Holt, singer and guitarist for the group and senior communications major at Southern Miss, said that they take inspiration from old masters of funk, jazz and soul.
“I felt like when I joined, I could be myself,” Jamarquez Park, pianist for Brotha Josh and the Quickness, said. “I didn’t have to conform or be something that I wasn’t. They accepted me for who I was, be it my personality or my play-style.”
Holt said that being on-stage awakens his personality. “One thing I don’t think people know is that I am a very shy person. When I get on stage [though], my personality is a lot more enthusiastic and out there.”
Holt accredited the success of the group’s music to his bandmates. “I had an idea of what the band would be before I got them, but they exceeded my expectations of how it would sound,” Holt said. “In my head it sounded okay, but they took itandgotthebestoutofit.Ican just thank them for doing my wildest dreams justice.”
