On stage at Richmond venue The Camel, the 12 members of The Fall Line looked into a crowd of 200 people and readied themselves to play. The Fall Line, MLWGS’ jazz band senior seminar opened for local brass band NOBS! on Friday, January 30, after a great deal of preparation.
“We wrote five songs in a month, practiced on weekends, during exams, and on days off,” said guitar player Connor Farrell (’09). “It was a great experience to open for a bunch of very, very experienced musicians like NOBS!”
Taylor Barnett, the former MLWGS jazz teacher, is a current member of NOBS!, and he set up the Fall Line to open for his band at the Camel.
The idea for a band as a senior seminar came when a few students were surprised there was no music seminar offered.
“I thought it would be something people would be interested in, so I submitted a proposal after talking with Taylor Barnett,” said Peter Askin (’09).
“He helped make my idea more concrete with sweet ideas about composing, recording, and the music industry.”
In a typical day in the jazz seminar, the class discusses event planning and the logistics of managing the band. Then, the class splits into smaller groups to introduce individual ideas for music and collaborate on songs for the band.
Bringing together the musical talents of 12 people to create a cohesive piece of music can be difficult for the band, but members say that this also lends to what makes The Fall Line unique.
“By far, our strength is the variety of our music,” said Askin. “Everybody brings in ideas with their own tastes, and we thus get a repertoire with jazz, Latin, swing, rock, funk, fusion, and reggae songs.”
When the band writes music, sometimes one member will come up with an original composition that he or she adapts to the rest of the group, while other times, the entire group shares in the composition process.
“It can be difficult—think about a guitarist trying to write a horn line—but we work together to bring the music to the whole group,” said Farrell.
Askin and his mom were discussing band names before the seminar began, and Askin said he wanted the name to represent something about Richmond. His mom suggested “The Fall Line,” since Richmond is built along the geographic fall line.
“Everyone in the seminar seemed to like [the name], and it stuck,” said Askin. “My mom originally told me not to tell anyone she came up with the idea for fear it would be labeled as ‘lame’.”
The Fall Line played their first public concert at MLWGS’ Fall Festival in October, and they have recently been booking an increasing number of gigs. The band played a lunchtime show in the student commons in December, and in January, they performed on-air on the The Elder Young Show, a local radio broadcast.
“We’re eventually hoping to sponsor our own gig—maybe get a few other bands, maybe play at a club,” said Ferrell. “But that’s what we’re looking at now—to do our own thing.
Next year, the jazz seminar will again be offered, and those taking it are looking forward to exploring new instruments and styles of music. To allow students to pursue their own direction in music, the focus of the seminar will shift to smaller collaborations in the seminar.
“I’m excited about getting the chance to write, play, and record music next year,” said Brennan Dolson (10’), who is planning to take the seminar next fall.
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