Discover music talent on Band Parade

Posted By Tim Zink on Jan 26, 2015

There are talented musicians and artists out there just waiting to be discovered – do you know where to find them? Nicholas Weaver, a rising presence in the community behind the annual Pinestock Music Festival, is a man on a mission to help you discover talent with a new project called Band Parade. The idea for Band Parade is simple – find great bands, give them exposure, and maybe feature them at the next Pinestock event. Band Parade has been doing episodes since fall 2014. “I thought what better way to see if a band has a decent live show than by giving them an opportunity to do an in-studio recording,” said Weaver while preparing to record an upcoming episode of Band Parade featuring the Bloomington, Indiana-based (and Fort Wayne native) band Oferle. Weaver describes Band Parade as kind of pet project that showcases talented musicians and artists on the Internet. This content can then be sent out and digested as conveniently as possible on the audience’s tablets, smart phones, and computers. “I thought what better way to get bands into the city and check them out than to offer them some free promotion, create a platform where people can discover their music and see who they are – just kind of have a more intimate perspective of those bands,” said Weaver. An episode of Band Parade consists of a band performing four songs in-studio with Weaver conducting a casual interview with the band members in-between songs. This recording session is generally recorded in one take to simulate performing for a live audience. “That’s the challenge is there’s a soundtrack, and you play all your songs live, and, if you mess up, we’re not going to go back and re-record it,” said Weaver. “It kind of puts the pressure on them to perform live and get it decent in a first take.” Each episode is video recorded professionally by Colagrossi Studios and audio recorded by Digitracks Recording Studios at its full-service professional studio on Speedway Drive in Fort Wayne. Graphics are by Syndeo Studios of Huntington. Content is distributed onto YouTube as full 20 minute episodes and smaller one song pieces. It is also streamed on Soundcloud and the full show is distributed on iTunes. Songs are also available for purchase on Band Parade’s website. “I try to make the content as consumable as possible,” said Weaver. The band Oferle hopes to get some exposure from their performance on the program. The band consisting of siblings Luke, 21, and Annette Offerle, 23, cousin Jonah Baker, 20, and cousin-in-law Adam Guntle, 27 feel the production on these videos is outstanding. The band...