What: Tara Terra, Hotbed, Victoria Armstrong
When: 9 p.m. June 4
Where: Be Here Now
Tara Terra, a group of college students and graduates who come from the University of Illinois in Champaign – Urbana, will be performing June 4 at Be Here Now along with Hotbed and Victoria Armstrong.
The group consists of Nick Soria, bass; Colin Althaus, guitarist; Joey Buttlar, drums; and Emily Blue, singer.
They started off as a backing band for Blue, and it was their intent to therapeutically help her express herself. But they later decided to come together as one group and share the ability to express themselves.
“A big part of our evolution as Tara Terra has been chimed to find ways to express ourselves. Each of us has a voice, not just [Blue],” Althaus said.
Though Blue writes a lot of the songs, the whole band finds meaning within the lyrics.
“The more we play certain songs, even if [Blue] wrote it about a specific experience, I find my own personal meaning in those songs,” Soria said.
The four will be performing a free show June 3 at the Hi Fi in Indianapolis before arriving to Muncie, which will be their first time visiting. After that, they will be performing in Illinois, New York and Tennessee.
They’re eager to be playing in Manhattan since their album will be coming out around the time they perform there.
They’ve been working on the album with Rick Fritz, a senior audio engineer who has worked with the Beach Boys and The Soil and the Sun.
“Working with someone who has been at it for a long time will definitely bring a different quality to the sound,” Althaus said.
While on tour, they come in with little expectation on what the show and experience will be like. Their main goal is not to be “big” or famous. They believe that if their music reaches the audience in any way that relates to them, then that’s a sign of success.
“As long as [our] music has positive impact to the world, that’s the goal,” Blue said, “Once you reach [fame], there's no room for growth.”
The band members, who are just coming out of college or still balancing their workload with school and music, are passionate about making a difference in the world through music and wonder where the road will take them.