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?

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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

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VI

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iu

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XII

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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