6B — Thursday, November 9, 2017
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
BAD MASCOT
They’re coming back!
Hertler & The Rainbow
Seekers to play 2 nights
The Michigan natives return to the Blind Pig for a weekend stay
“You can have these really
crazy, intense shows there. That
kind of grungy environment just
propagates intimacy; it’s a special
kind of intimacy. Some of my
favorite shows of all time have
been at the Blind Pig,” said Joe
Hertler in an interview with The
Daily.
Fresh, funky and a little far-
out, the pop band Joe Hertler &
The Rainbow Seekers is set for a
two-night return to the Pig this
weekend. I’m dancing already.
“We probably met, I want to
say, five, six years ago. We were
all in college. Half the band went
to Central Michigan and half went
to Michigan State,” Hertler said.
“We were kind of just jamming
in college and playing co-ops
and stuff like that, and it slowly
developed into something that
was a little more involving.”
The group consists of Hertler
(vocals, guitar and lyrics), Micah
Bracken
(keyboard),
Jason
Combs
(bass),
Aaron
Stinson
(saxophone),
Rick
Hale (drums), Ryan
Hoger (guitar) and
Kevin
Pritchard
(producer, bass).
Despite
echoes
of Edward Sharpe’s
soul and Vulfpeck’s
funk,
Hertler’s
songs often blossom
from alt-rock. He’ll
write a demo, then
give it to the band,
at which point the
groovier elements
start to bubble up
as they work their
Rainbow
Seeker
magic on it.
“Growing
up
in the ’90s, that
was the music I
connected to. It was the music
that I first engaged with, which is
kind of how it is for everyone from
age 16 to their mid-20s. You know,
those formative years where the
music you listen to
is what you tend
to identify with,”
Hertler
said.
“I
guess that’s where
the
love
affairs
really started.”
Never
having
skyrocketed
in
popularity,
the
Rainbow
Seekers
have been gradually
expanding
their
fervent fan base
over
the
years.
Each show is bigger
than the last, and
the group is driven
by pure passion.
“It’s just really
fun,” Hertler said.
“All of us do other
things, but so much
of it is just part of
your identity.”
On the band’s off-months, he
works for the American Cancer
ARYA NAIDU
Daily Arts Writer
Society and teaches English. To
keep their experiences colorful,
the Rainbow Seekers try to
revamp a couple tracks each year.
“I’ve never been more excited
to play ‘Jetski,’ of all songs,”
Hertler said. “I’m always thankful
that people like certain songs and
respond well to them, but to redo
them — while the core of the song
is still the same — to have some
things that have been changed is a
fun challenge,” Hertler said.
Michigan-bred and Michigan-
based, JH+TRS love, love, love
their Michiganders. They’ve built
a rainbow-seeking family through
the band, and they carry pieces of
home with them wherever they go.
“We’ve had opportunities to
leave the state, and we’ve thought
about it, as every band does … but
this is our home. A couple years
ago, we decided to stick it out
here. If it doesn’t work out, that’s
alright,” Hertler said. “One of the
nice things about Michigan is that
a lot of people leave and go to other
places. When we go to Denver or
LA or NY — just a lot of big cities
— there’s always a couple hundred
Michiganders.”
JH+TRS
radiate
a
certain
warmth that lets them exist in a
lane of their own within the funk-
pop landscape. They don’t take
themselves too seriously, and every
inch of their success is welcomed
with nothing but gratitude. I met
Hertler at the Espresso Royale
on State, and it felt more like
catching up with a friend than an
interview. They’re a groovy bunch,
and everything from their earnest
lyrics to their smooth rhythms to
their name itself is just one massive
bear-hug.
The Rainbow Seekers’s most
recent album, Pluto, is stunning in
its existence as both heartbreaking
and dance-inducing. I’m not a fan
of using the word “real” to describe
music, much less people, but this
album — this band — is real in every
sense of the word. They’re genuine
in their joy and human in their
heartache, and they’re all about
connecting with people through
unsullied authenticity.
“I think the focus of the music
has always been the live show,”
Hertler said. “Music is this form
of communication, and when that
communication is locked in, there’s
a buzz you get. It’s in those tender
moments where the magic is. I
hate to be like, ‘It’s magical! It’s
spiritual!’ But it is, in a way.”
Welcoming Ann Arbor like a
second home, Joe Hertler & The
Rainbow Seekers will play the
Blind Pig this Friday and Saturday.
ARE YOU A POOR
SOUL WHO FINDS
SOLACE AND
FULFILLMENT IN
READING NOVELS
ABOUT YOUNG
ADULTS & THEIR
EXISTENTIAL ANGST?
The Book Review is hiring people like yourself
(or even remotely similar)! Email
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on joining.
COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW
Joe Hertler &
The Rainbow
Seekers
The Blind Pig
Friday,
November 10th
& Saturday the
11th @ 9 p.m.
18+
$15 in advance
/ $20 day of /
$30 two-day
pass + poster
Gr
eg
or
y I
Jo
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n
P
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ul
I
I
Le
o
X
P
op
e
Al
ex
an
de
r
VI
P
o
pe
P
iu
s
XII
I
Maybe
Luther wasn't just a drunk monk
after all?
Hasn't blasting cigs
always been stylish?
People thought his name
abbreviated to Lexi until he got
pissed and poisoned a few
people.
The II
stands for "Two First Names."
Greeeeeeeeeeeeg
OR