Electric Blue Yonder's original music journey lands hometown show at Montgomery Whitewater

Having a hometown band at one of Montgomery's grandest of grand openings ever might seem like a natural fit, and it is. But the band didn't get there without a journey.

"This is a big show for us and for Montgomery," said Johnny Veres of the "space folk rock 'n' roll" group Electric Blue Yonder — Johnny, his wife and fellow EBY founder Beth Veres, and Russell Thomas Bush on bass.

They will perform at 4 p.m. Saturday at Montgomery Whitewater, the new artificial whitewater river channel at 1100 Maxwell Blvd. It's one of a handful of facilities in the U.S. built for rafting and kayaking.

The whitewater weekend music starts Friday with Texas country artist Harper O'Neill at 6 p.m. and soul singer/songwriter Devon Gilfillian at 8 p.m. Saturday after EBY, it's the Soul Rebels, an eight-piece, New Orleans-based brass band, at 6 p.m. and the R&B, funk and rock fusion group George Porter Jr. and the Runnin' Pardners at 8 p.m.

Landing the gig was related to EBY's recent monthlong tour of the Midwest and Northeast, which ended in May.

"I got the chance to speak with (Midwood Entertainment's) president, Micah (Davidson), about their vision for the entertainment landscape, and as fate would have it, we started our spring tour in their headquarters’ home town Charlotte, so they were able to send someone over to see us and meet us," Johnny said. "Micah expressed that they want to connect the local and regional music scene with the national routings that they’ll provide. Having a little touring experience under our belt certainly helped, too. I hope this encourages more bands to put together a solid 75."

So what's a "solid 75"?

"He means 75 minutes of original music," Beth said. "It’s sort of the baseline for being able to perform civic scale events like the ones MWW has to offer."

Along with with Johnny, Beth and Bush, Saturday's EBY concert will also have drummer Timothy George (who has performed with Ruben Studdard), Coleman Woodson III on keys, Sam Williams on flute and saxophone, and Brian Hinton on guitar.

"Since it’s a big hometown show, we wanted to pull out all the stops and give you a larger-than-life lineup," Veres said.

Beth said the opportunity to create and perform original music in Montgomery is growing — events like the Hilltop Public house’s open mic (every Wednesday at 7 p.m.), the Cloverdale Playhouse’s guitar pull, and the Sanctuary’s Songwriter Showdown — and the concerts at Montgomery Whitewater are a key part of it.

"We’re going to see more national acts coming through town, and more local talent blossom," Johnny said. "We’re honored to be the first local (band) on a bill at the grand opening of Montgomery Whitewater. It’s a part of our history, and Montgomery’s."

Johnny and Beth also gave the Advertiser a Q&A session about upcoming projects.

What else has Electric Blue Yonder been up to recently?

Beth: "We’re gearing up for two album releases and are really excited about how both of those projects came together as well as the wildly talented people we got to work with."

Johnny: "For the April/May tour, we toured with Jarrod Dickenson and his wife Claire, who are currently touring with Amanda Shires in Europe, and Chris Kasper, an inspirational folk dude out of Philadelphia. I really miss them all. It was tough at times being on the road, but everywhere we went, we had a little family of musicians around us."

What’s it like out on the road?

Johnny: "I think we did something like 6,500 miles over the course of 27 days. It was mostly enjoyable to see so much of our country, especially areas that we’ve never been to. While we missed our friends and family, we had our two pups with us on this run so we sort of felt ‘at home’ wherever we went."

Puppies on tour?

Beth: "Yes, Sirius and Maki. Our little road dogs."

Any favorites gigs, venues, places?

Beth: "Performing at the Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein Atrium in NYC was an incredible experience, and one that I don’t think I had ever imagined for myself. I also had a great time in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where folks truly live on Tulsa time, and driving across the heartland. Iowa and Wisconsin are beautiful states with very kind people and music lovers."

Johnny: "I think one of the coolest things for me was seeing familiar faces in almost every place we went, even though we hadn’t been to many of them before. The world get a lot smaller when you’re able to see it from our perspective."

And you're back. So what now? 

Johnny: "Well, we’ve tried to keep the energy and work ethic from touring life and apply it to home life. We live in a historic home that was built in 1870, and have pretty much been working on it for the last seven years."

Beth: "Ha. Yes. We are ready to live in our house and stop renovation, but I’ve enjoyed being back and seeing all our home family, friends and a few new friendly faces, and making progress at home."

Johnny: "Yes, indeed. So, yeah, all the things in life we need to catch up on and a little more. We’ve also got one record in the can, and another in the mixing phase not far behind it. We’re getting all the things together to release and set back out on tour this fall."

Two records and a tour in September?

Beth: "Yes, we’ve been working one very special record called 'MicroPARTY' for a few years now. We recorded it in northwest Alabama with some incredibly talented people around us. The music is finished, and we are creating all sorts of art for it, like animated music videos and a stage show."

Johnny: "It’s our best work. Music and fun for everyone. For the young and the young at heart."

Beth: "So now we’re talking with folks about the best way to get that out to the world while also managing the progress on 'Loved and Lost: Live at the Schoolhouse.' "

Johnny: "It’s a very special live performance album where we invited about 40 folks into an old schoolhouse built around 1900 that rests on the outskirts of town. Brett Robinson, (steel player for Whitey Morgan) owner of Alabama Sound Company, engineered the album, and we’re currently working through mixes for Scott Hull to master. It’s a collection of love songs, break-ups, and laments in our string band set up. Recording it live was quite the task."

Any dates you might want to announce?

Beth: "Well, we can announce our next tour. It’s a jaunt from Florida up to Michigan, upstate New York, and back again. It’s kicking off Sept. 6 in support of Loved & Lost."

Johnny: "We’re using our string band trio formation this time, so Russell Thomas Bush will be along for the ride. All our confirmed dates are up on our website and bandsintown."

Anything else?

Johnny: "We want to thank everyone that has and continues to believe in us. We love you all. Come along!"

Beth: "You belong!"

Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel covers things to do in the River Region. Contact him at sheupel@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Electric Blue Yonder lands hometown show at Montgomery Whitewater