Six students came together last Thursday at Cahootenaney’s in Johnson City from 11:30 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. to display their musical talent in front of over 100 people, about 90 of whom were Milligan students.
The Shoreline Poets, as they call themselves, is made up of junior Mike Hewitt, freshman Alex King, sophomore Ted Macpharlan, freshman Hannah Beth Potter, junior Josiah Potter and freshman Andrew Roberson.
“One of the coolest things is that we’re all different in our personalities and styles of music that we just mesh together,” H. Potter said.
J. Potter and Hewitt, both juniors, talked about forming a band for the last two years. The other band members came into the picture in the fall of 2003 when they arrived at Milligan as freshmen. The group played at Vespers a few times before J. Potter approached each member about being in the band.
The members bring different musical abilities to the group: Hewitt, drums; King, bass guitar; Macpharlan, lead guitar and vocals; H. Potter, keyboard; J. Potter, lead vocals and guitar; and Roberson, bass guitar.
The group, which classifies itself as alternative/Indy-rock, has “a feel that stretches out among many genres,” said King. The band credits many different artists as their influences including Coldplay, Dave Matthews Band, Counting Crows, Bob Marley and AC/DC.
The band has composed nine songs, written mainly by J. Potter with help from Hewitt and Macpharlan.
The Shoreline Poets are hoping to perform at Cahootenaney’s a couple times a month and eventually on a weekly basis. The band also hopes to play at Milligan events. One possibility is the upcoming Winterfest during the week of Feb. 23.
The band plans to produce two albums this month, one secular album and one worship album.
The band members are unsure of what the future holds for The Shoreline Poets.
“(Being a band is) just something we want to do for now,” H. Potter said.