What's so wonderfully unique about a group of five men living in an obscure house in Norwich, Vt. with a cat named Nesta and surrounded by deer, moose and thousands of peeping frogs?
Does it have something to do with their dashing good looks, humorous attitude and political ideals of a global society?
Nope. It is the music and the spicy personalities of the Ed Rily Trio, comprised of a group of recent Dartmouth graduates in the Class of 1995.
With their new CD due to be released early next week and a performance scheduled tonight at the Tabard, these guys show that some college bands live on well after graduation.
Despite its name, the band is comprised of five members, not three.
Zachary Finch '95, Brian Hone '95, Dave McHale '95 and Brian Wall '95 met in the fall of 1991. When Enrico Riley '95 joined them in the summer of 1993, the band changed its name to the Ed Rily Trio.
The band's music is influenced by many kinds of music, most notably jazz, funk, classic rock n' roll, Latin rhythm and blues.
This is a change from their style about five years ago, which included many traditional songs from the Allman Brothers, the Grateful Dead and Santana.
Since then, after discovering four songwriters in their midst, they have been composing and playing original music. The style of music reflects each writer's character, and each song conveys a variety of emotions and images.
The Ed Rily Trio's blending of individual voices, the flow of musical chords and instrumental sounds are all quite impressive.
Since their days at the College, the band has played gigs at a variety of spots in New England, recorded a demo tape and garnered more publicity.
Additionally, Brad Byrd '95 joined them after graduation as their sound man and manager.
They have had college gigs and have played in clubs in Portland, Me., Northhampton, Mass., Burlington, South Royalton and St. Johnsbury, Vt.
Their performance at Bates College was their first 'away' gig before a large crowd of 500.
And the future? As far as the band's members are concerned, it is all up in the air.
The Ed Rily Trio's new album, titled "Leaves and Traces," contains 10 songs that balance certain rhythms and capture the essence of each sound and word. Three of the songs are instrumentals.
The title of the album is a play on words, as nouns or verbs. The songs represent a sampling of what the band has been doing this year.
The songs are titled very simply -- examples include "Pennies from Heaven," "Mars," and "Africasa." Each one is filled with energy and a spirit unique in its musical arrangement, the chords and notes, the voices and the rhythm.
The new CD can be found at the Dartmouth Bookstore and Topside next week.
