Fayetteville band The Odds to get second chance to play Riverfest
Posted on Sunday, May 7, 2006
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Living/40397/
When Fayetteville band The Odds unwittingly became the odd men out while opening for Robert Randolph and The Wallflowers at last year’s Riverfest, it had nothing to do with their comparable lack of fame.
It was all Mother Nature’s fault.
Because rain ruined the chances that festival-goers would want to stick around to hear an unfamiliar band, their performance, the grand prize for winning the Arkansas Musicians Showcase in March 2005, didn’t feel like much of a prize at all. Organizers told them they’d make up for it, but The Odds, whose repertoire includes an equal mix of originals and cover songs, weren’t optimistic. "We said, ‘Yeah, whatever, ’" said Derek Van Lynn, the band’s keyboardist and lead vocalist.
To their surprise, Riverfest officials kept their word. Not only will The Odds be performing again at this year’s event, but they’ll be playing on the main stage between Morris Day & The Time and The Doobie Brothers. It’s a gig Van Lynn calls "a cherry of a slot." "We’re a good ’tweener for those bands," he said. "We can make people dance."
Van Lynn attributes their success in the 2005 contest to their likability: Even people who have never heard them play start singing along with their songs by the second or third chorus, he said. The group’s performances feature a lot of solos, making them "a jam band with stuff you can sing to," he added. "Going in, we were confident that we have really solid songs," he said. "We’re all fine musicians. We’re not exactly beautiful men, but it’s not about that."
In addition to Van Lynn, the group includes Matt Perrine on guitar, Keith Hollingshead on drums, Kevin Grimwood on bass and vocals, and Rick Erke on percussion and vocals. They have released one album, "Stick it in Your Pocket," and have multiple Northwest Arkansas Music Awards and Ozark Music Awards under their belts. In 2004, they advanced to the finals of the nationwide Take a Shot at Cabo contest that took place at the Hard Rock Cafe in Memphis, Tenn., where they won a guitar signed by Sammy Hagar, among other prizes.
The group has been rehearsing twice as much to prepare for the hour-long May 28 gig, during which they will perform all original songs, including several from an as-yet-untitled upcoming album. As for their stage presence before a new crowd, they plan to let the music do the talking, Van Lynn said. "We try to tell a few jokes, but I don’t know if that’s going to go over in front of thousands of people," he said. "So we’re just going to try to say ‘ The Odds’ a bunch of times."
Because of last year’s rain, about the only people who stayed to watch their set were a small number of raincoat-clad family and friends. But this year, if the weather is good, they expect an audience of 6,000 to 8,000. "It’s going to be totally wild to look out and see the gigantic crowd," Van Lynn said. "It’s going to make me feel like David Lee Roth in the good old days."
THE ODDS AT RIVERFEST When: 6:45 p.m. May 28 Where: Budweiser Stage, Julius Breckling Riverfront Park and North Shore Riverwalk, Little Rock Tickets: $15 at the gate, includes all three days of the festival • The festival runs May 26-28. For details, visit www. riverfestarkansas. com.