As college nears end, bandmates readying Morgantown soil, and hoping to sow a forest of new fans
Fletcher's Grove -- (from left) Taylor Pratt, Ryan Krofcheck, Adam Greene, Wes Hager (sitting) and Matt Marion -- was formed four years ago while the bandmates were in high school in Putnam County. Now, the band is looking past college graduation and toward the future.
WANT TO GO?
All Good Music Festival
WHERE: Marvin's Mountaintop, Masontown
WHEN: July 14-17
TICKETS: Advance 4-day pass $199, at gate $239; advance 3-day pass $169, at gate $209
INFO: www.allgoodfestival.com
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- On July 16,
Fletcher's Grove plays the All Good Music Festival in Masontown, one of the largest rock, pop, funk and folk music festivals in the region. The band will play on the same bill with some of the best-known names on the summer music festival circuit, including Bob Weir and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead, guitar great Warren Haynes and the rock band Primus.
It's a big step up for the West Virginia jam band, which began a little more than four years ago, formed by a group of high school seniors from Hurricane and Winfield.
"Before we even started playing out, we used to go to all of these festivals," vocalist and guitarist Ryan Krofcheck said. "It was kind of what inspired me to want to do what we do."
"If we weren't playing All Good, we'd still be going," lead guitarist Wes Hager explained.
"But this is so much better," bassist Taylor Pratt said. "We get to go and play for an hour, then, for 72 hours, we can check out everybody else."
"Plus we get paid," percussionist Matt Marion added.
Fletcher's Grove started as two bands in different towns. Marion and Krofkcheck founded Fletcher's Grove as an acoustic project, while Hager, Pratt and drummer Adam Greene were in a band called Funk Pumpkin. The five of them came together in the garage of Greene's parents.
WANT TO GO?All Good Music Festival
WHERE: Marvin's Mountaintop, Masontown
WHEN: July 14-17
TICKETS: Advance 4-day pass $199, at gate $239; advance 3-day pass $169, at gate $209
INFO: www.allgoodfestival.com
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- On July 16,
Fletcher's Grove plays the All Good Music Festival in Masontown, one of the largest rock, pop, funk and folk music festivals in the region. The band will play on the same bill with some of the best-known names on the summer music festival circuit, including Bob Weir and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead, guitar great Warren Haynes and the rock band Primus.
It's a big step up for the West Virginia jam band, which began a little more than four years ago, formed by a group of high school seniors from Hurricane and Winfield.
"Before we even started playing out, we used to go to all of these festivals," vocalist and guitarist Ryan Krofcheck said. "It was kind of what inspired me to want to do what we do."
"If we weren't playing All Good, we'd still be going," lead guitarist Wes Hager explained.
"But this is so much better," bassist Taylor Pratt said. "We get to go and play for an hour, then, for 72 hours, we can check out everybody else."
"Plus we get paid," percussionist Matt Marion added.
Fletcher's Grove started as two bands in different towns. Marion and Krofkcheck founded Fletcher's Grove as an acoustic project, while Hager, Pratt and drummer Adam Greene were in a band called Funk Pumpkin. The five of them came together in the garage of Greene's parents.
"Adam is totally responsible for getting us together," Pratt said. "Without him, we wouldn't be a band."
Greene met Krofkcheck through his father. Krofkcheck knew Marion. Hager and Pratt went to school with Greene.
"Ryan and Matt had vocals," Hager said, "and we had instrumentation."
The five began playing together as high school seniors, and then managed to keep the band together when they parted ways for college. Marion and Krofcheck went to West Virginia University, while Hager, Pratt and Greene went to Marshall.
Most long-distance relationships don't work out, but the band members said being split into two locations probably helped them. During the school year, they spent weekdays in different parts of the state, and then met up for shows on the weekends.
"We practiced together on breaks and stuff," Marion said. "Ryan and I could represent in Morgantown while the other guys kept things going in Huntington."
Not being around each other all the time, they said, means they don't really get on each other's nerves. That might be changing, though. Hager and Marion graduated this past spring. Krofcheck has another semester or two at WVU. Pratt is back in school but might be considering a transfer to WVU, and Greene doesn't feel like his job delivering pizzas has much of a future.
"Everybody is moving to Morgantown," Marion said. "We're going to really give this a go."
"I think, it's what all of us want," Hager added.
Morgantown is a good jumping-off point to the clubs in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, D.C. and Richmond, yet it still allows the band to keep a presence in West Virginia. Being in close proximity, its members said, also would help further songwriting, making the process a little more efficient and effective.
Fletcher's Grove plans to return to the studio in August, once its members decide where to record. The record should be out sometime in 2012.
"Well in advance of the end of the Mayan calendar and the forthcoming apocalypse," Pratt joked.
However and whenever doomsday turns out, the band members hope to be playing.
Reach Bill Lynch at ly...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5195.
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