Greenville Scene

by: Daniel McCord

By’r Lady is a three-piece out of Clemson, SC with Dwight Hutchenson on guitar/vox, Ben Shealy on bass/vox and Jason Walter on drums.

GS: Describe your sound in one word
JW: Good.

GS: Who are your biggest influences?
JW: Television, David Bowie, The Velvet Underground, and the Kinks.

GS: What is your creative process like?
JW: Although most of the group’s songs begin with Dwight, Ben and I put our stamp on every song. Dwight purposely leaves tunes unfinished when he presents them to us. He feels that a song is going to turn out the best when it’s a reflection of all three members.

GS: What other bands have you guys played in before?
JW: Dwight and I were in The Lavernes.

GS: Why do you play?
JW: Ideally, this is what we all want to be doing for the rest of our lives

GS: What do you think about playing in Greenville?
JW: We played a show at Gypsy G’s with Leslie a couple of months ago and had a great time. We were introduced to a shot called the “Lunchbox,” which became the shot of choice for the weekend. The bar stayed open past 2pm which was rather surprising for us Clemson folk. Also, the Gypsy has one of the best sound systems and soundmen around. We’d really love to play at the Handlebar especially with some of the bigger out-of-town indie acts like The Whigs and The Noises 10.

GS: What do you think about the local scene?
JW: There’s really two things going on musically at Clemson right now. The downtown scene is saturated with acoustic “dudes” who only know how to play songs that they THINK girls like and jam bands that cover songs that they THINK they know how to play. Farther down College Ave, you get to the Blue Heron and you’ve got Clemson bands that have been regularly playing there for the past year or so; like GoodE J vs. Nieltown, the Wildlife Series, and Heart Monster; and these bands are not only playing their own songs (what a concept), but the audience actually pays attention to the band! The main thing that would really give Clemson a legitimate music scene is if it had a venue in which underage kids could get in but that still served alcohol. Then, the ball would would really start to roll.

GS: What’s the toughest thing about getting a local gig?
JW: All of the bars in downtown Clemson want one thing and one thing only: cover bands. Most of the bar owners aren’t willing to take risks and book bands that might actually become famous someday.

GS: What do you absolutely love about music?
JW: Listening to it every chance I can possibly get.

www.byrlady.com