Thursday, April 16, 2015

Band Review: Avera


Avera is a band from Valdosta, Georgia, or at least they have been. Based on a broken link in their Twitter profile and not much recent activity, they may not be currently active. (The existence of another band named Avera that does Latin dance music does not help.)

I started following them when member Will Oliver followed me, so even six months ago the band may not have been active.

The ephemeral nature of young bands is nothing new, but sometimes it seems like more of a shame. This band had it together at least well enough to collaborate with Sleeping With Sirens' Kellin Quinn, get music embedded into their Facebook profile, and create five pretty-good looking videos. My favorite is "Leave As You Came", which with its quiet and earnest delivery becomes an affecting meditation on mortality and identity.

The other thing that stands out to me is that in addition to having some fairly hardcore songs, like  "A Life Worth Living" or "The Surface Beneath", that isn't all they do. They have two videos for "In Motion", including an acoustic version, and it may be that interest in interpreting the same material in different ways that leaves them more open to nuance.

Even if the band is no longer active, it is always possible that the members will end up in new bands. Along with Oliver, that includes Kade Williamson, Brad Singletary, Anthony King, Dalton Page, and Ryland Shipman. Here's wishing them well!



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The band is separated. They paid Kellin to record a track in hopes for more views.