Written by Alana Whelan
This show was the group’s first in a while, as newly minted member and keyboard player, Jared Muller said. However, the band didn’t portray their lack in gigs that day, as they performed a seemingly flawless set.
Some of the songs they performed included a fresh track called “Maria” that vocalist, Nick Davenport described as his favorite, and “Hummingbird”, which Muller said always gets his blood pumping.
“I had a good time,” said Muller. “It was a little rocky, but honestly it was mostly stage presence wise.”
Their seamlessness can probably be attributed to the tight bond all four of them have been building since they attended St. Edward’s High School together, which was when the idea for the band was originally conceived.
The foundation of Suitcase Runaway was formed during Nick Davenport’s sophomore year of high school when he began playing solo acoustic shows and occasionally asking a friend to play drums for back up. As he built up repertoire, Davenport said he felt like he needed a full band.
That’s when Davenport asked his two good friends, Geoff Webb and Luke Condrich, to join his formerly solo project.
“We added Luke on drums and Geoff on bass,” said Davenport. “I basically just took all my old stuff and we revamped it and added parts.”
Then, after a short stint with a keyboard player who ended up moving out of state, they reached out to their long-time friend, Jared Muller, to play keys. Now, the four-piece group has to work around packed schedules to create their original tunes, but they’re more than happy to do it.
“We’re really trying to make a go of this now. We’re locked in,” said Davenport.
With four dedicated members, Suitcase Runaway has been growing into their sound quite exponentially over the last year, as Muller described it, and this was definitely noticeable when they played Brite Winter Fest.
Currently, as the group prepares for their next show at another small festival taking place at Capitol University in April, they’re focusing a large part of their energy on writing new music. In the next few months, they hope to record some of their most recent songs and seem confident about it, and in general, about their future as a band.
“As far as new material goes, we’re in a big writing process right now. We’re kind of still experimenting with how to write as a band,” said Muller. “We’re working on getting studio time as soon as we can for our new set and we’re very excited.”