Nashville-based band The Brook & The Bluff will perform 10 p.m. Wednesday at the Bluebird Nightclub.
This alternative group didn't exist in its current state until 2016. The band is comprised of drummer John Canada, lead singer Joseph Settine, guitarist Alec Bolton and bassist Fred Lankford.
Settine, Bolton and Canada attended Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, together. In 2015, Settine and Bolton formed the acoustic duo The Brook & The Bluff after another cover group they were in disbanded.
Canada, who had met Settine in choir at Auburn and was a high school friend of Bolton’s, attended one of their acoustic shows while at Auburn, . After watching the performance, he expressed interest in being a part of the group.
“I was kind of just going to check them out because I knew the guys and they were so good,” Canada said. “And then I just offered if they ever needed a drummer and someone to sing a third harmony to hit me up.”
In spring of 2016, the band began to play more regularly, and by May of 2016, the band members decided to fully commit to their group.
At that time, Settine and Bolton were already living in Birmingham, Alabama, and attempting to pursue a music career full time. Canada, however, was about to move to Nashville, Tennessee, for an accounting job when he decided to instead join his friends in Birmingham.
“I ended up talking to them and was like, ‘Hey, I would love to do this full time,’” Canada said. “If you guys are all in, I am also all in.”
About four months later in September, the group released its first song “Masks.”
Lankford, the newest member of the band, joined about a year after the song’s release.
The group moved from Birmingham to Nashville, Tennessee, to have easier access to components of the music industry in 2018. Starting in Birmingham, however, allowed the band to develop their own sound and get their feet in the ground before they moved, Canada said.
“I think if we had moved too early it would have been bad for us because we would have kind of just blended in with a lot of different Nashville bands,” Canada said.
A part of this distinct sound is the group’s focus on vocals. Because all of the members can sing and have backgrounds in choir, their strong vocal arrangements are what make them stand apart from other four-piece groups, Canada said.
“When people come to shows, that’s the big takeaway is like the harmonies, the vocals,” Canada said.
One of the songs where the vocals really stand out is “Are You Lonesome?” the song that typically ends their set, Canada said.
Other songs that have been featured in its recent performances is “Off the Lawn,” a song from its album that will be released later this year, and its most recent song “Halfway Up,” that was released Jan. 25, 2019.
For their performance, the group hopes the audience enjoys its music, including the great guitar solos from Bolton and the band member's vocal arrangements, Canada said.
“We really just hope that people leave and then can’t wait to come back and see us the next time,” Canada said.
The Bloomington-based R&B group Huckleberry Funk will also be featured in Wednesday's performance.
Tickets for this show are available online at the Bluebird Nightclub for $5.
