Triple feature at NGT

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By Travis Leeper

Three Louisiana bands, one location, one great night. On January 30, Northgate Tavern will be hosting a triple feature with some of Baton Rouge's finest young musicians, featuring Prom Date, Della Smith, and The Acadias. If you haven't had the chance to see these bands live, now's the time to see something truly new around here.

Prom Date, Baton Rouge's premier indie rock band, consists of David Fuller and Bret Burke on vocals and keyboards, James West with guitar, Zachary Bourque on drums, and bassist Nick Boudreau. With a thick sound, rife with vocal harmonies and danceable beats, Prom Date will have you acting up like the high school days. And even if you've seen them before, Prom Date's got something new up their blue tuxedo sleeves.

"We've actually re-worked and re-written a ton of our songs," said David Fuller in an interview with Tiger Weekly. "Our lineup has changed quite a bit, so we've kind of had to make the older songs catch up. We're spending a lot of time now doing new things, so everything, even the old songs, are gonna be fresh. We're really happy with it."

Della Smith, also known as Laura Smith, is a singer and pianist from Alabama who has garnered quite a following with her involvement in the Delta literary scene at LSU. Drawing on everything from rock to classical to folk, Della Smith's piano style serves as more than just an accompaniment to her voice, it joins with it to create something that's sometimes doleful, but always profoundly beautiful.

"I've been friends with Della for a while," said Cory Vogel, indie promoter and part-time manager for various Baton Rouge acts. "She has blown me away time and time again with her awesome piano abilities and song structures. And at the show, she's going to be playing with a double bassist, so it's actually going to be something really special."

The Acadias, featuring Blake Stephens with vocals, guitar, bass, and piano, Mary Truxillo with percussion, vocals, and guitar, Andy Lade on percussion, and Rob Speyrer with guitar and banjo, are something that any Louisianan will love. Formerly consisting of only Blake and Mary under the moniker of BlaMary, The Acadias have since expanded their sound as well as their lineup. Songs echo the great paradox of Louisiana: a down-home, folk simplicity mixed with brilliant compositional complexity and instrumentation to create songs that are a far cry from the commercial-country that permeates Southern airwaves.

"Unfortunately, Baton Rouge's scene isn't really organized for new music," said Vogel. "Part of what could be limiting Baton Rouge is the lack of venues. There is a huge underground of venues that bands can play at in New Orleans, but Baton Rouge just isn't as robust yet."

"But in my opinion, the Baton Rouge music scene has a room to grow, which is a great thing," Vogel continued. "It offers musicians the ability to put their own stamp on things. The students lead in this area; they're the ones making all the music and turning crowds with exceptional sound."

The show is currently scheduled for 10 p.m. on Saturday, January 30 at the North Gate Tavern on Chimes Street. So if you're looking to see three groups of bona-fide Louisiana students creating something that sets this city apart, head down to the Tavern after the Pub Crawl and check it out.

Originally Published: Issue 862 - January 27, 2010

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