In September 2012, 10 students at Williams College formed a band to pay tribute the gods of hip-hop, jazz, and soul music. Artists like J Dilla, Kanye West, and Stevie Wonder. That band is Homage.
In the seven months we have existed as a unit, Homage has played several shows around the Williams community to an overwhelmingly positive response. We choose songs to learn based on 2 criteria: 1) it suits our instrumentation, and 2) we really, really like it. We know that if we are emotionally and intellectually connecting to our music, our audience will connect to it as well.
This June, 5 of us will graduate and move to different parts of the country, and it is unclear whether or not Homage will ever be fully reunited after our last show on May 10. We all agree that Homage has been the single most meaningful musical experience of our lives. We are recording a 6-9 song EP to preserve the special year it has been, and to share our music (for free!) with a broader audience than those have been to our shows.
Click here to hear some live recordings and get a sense of our sound. The audio quality of these recordings is pretty bad. Vastly improved audio quality -- another reason we are holding a recording session.
The EP will feature a blend of covers, covers we have transformed into something new, and originals.
The people of Homage (check out the geographic diversity!):
Tirhakah (Houston, TX) - vocals
Sevonna (Saginaw, MI) - vocals
Danny (Seattle, WA) - keyboard
Phillip (Birmingham, AL) - guitar
Greg (Cumberland, ME) - bass
Charlie (Mequon, WI) - drums
Noah (Seattle, WA) - trumpet
Andy (Lake Forest, IL) - tenor sax
Hartley (Park City, UT) - trombone
Paul (Chicago, IL) - violin
Recording costs are projected at $640. Noah the trumpeter's father is a music producer who has agreed to master the EP free of charge. We are aiming to raise $800 to also cover Indiegogo's commission and to pay for t-shirts for our most generous donors (see perks!). If we don't reach our goal, the rest of the costs will be paid for members of the bands. We are broke college students.