PHOTOS: AMANDA DEERING | It was a happy homecoming for Seryn last week. Nashville transplants originally from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the band has experienced its fair share of challenges in recent years—from leaving its label to acquiring new management, to losing several members, adding several members, and moving to the fiercely competitive Music City itself. And with a new album in tow, their first record in four years, the sextet might have a lot to prove.
But despite change, and fans’ high expectations, one thing was certain to the Fort Worthians who packed into The Live Oak on Wednesday night—these hometown heroes we know and love are still very alive and well.
The thing to know about Seryn is you can’t truly grasp the mystical nature of their sound through headphones. With members articulating a vast range of instrumentation—from guitar to ukulele, banjo and violin—and harmonies composed of all six voices, the band wields the rich sonic power of an orchestra, more than a folk group. Songs rise and fall like tides, sending you out to sea one minute and pulling you back to shore the next. Impassioned shouts and hard-hitting percussion build up and billow over one moment into ethereal harmonies and subtle strings the following—swelling and exploding and then finding peace all over again.
When matched visually by members’ honest and reckless performances—sweaty long-haired heads thrashing and guitars breaking as songs crescendo, then bodies still and eyes closed as the sound subsides to a haunting calmness—their music becomes larger than life on stage. It’s wild and beautiful and strikingly authentic. It’s more about the human experience than anything; on Wednesday night, it brought together plaid-clad hipsters and Cowtown conservatives alike to share in one joyous, harmonious event.
Highlights of the night included the band’s unplugged version of “Sideways,” a song you won’t find on either of their albums, and their encore performance of the 7-minute-long beauty “Beach Song,” a fan favorite off their debut record. The fact that these folks can bare it all at the front of a stage with a raw, acoustic performance of a track most haven’t heard, then end the show with a cinematic execution of one of their most instrumentally intricate songs—and move you in equally powerful ways during both—is a true testament to the depths of their artistry.
The show was only made better by its opening act, Austin-based band Friendly Savages. Disclaimer: these guys look more like a club of friendly young dads than a band of folk rock savages. Well, some of them may have actually been young dads. But nonetheless, these guys blew us away with thoughtful lyrics and melodies that need to be heard.
Ultimately, it’s rightful to say that the night was host to some of the best talent in Texas. Both bands make you damn proud to live in the great Lone Star State—where a motley crue of hipsters and cowboys alike can cram into a small venue to enjoy what is simply, good music.
SERYN
FRIENDLY SAVAGES
