From left: Vocalist Kelsey Veillette, bassist Joe Eichstaedt, drummer Brian Morris, and guitarist Tanner Watson make up “The Screaming Hearts.” (Photo submitted)
WESTFIELD- A local Pioneer Valley band will be performing a live show on Saturday, April 20th at 8 p.m. at Hutghi’s at The Nook on Franklin Street.
“The Screaming Hearts” will be the main performers in a night that they hope can be used to promote local performers and businesses in Westfield.
“It is going to be a really cool night supporting local music and local business,” said Kelsey Veillette, the lead vocalist for the four-person band.
Veillette is joined by Guitarist Tanner Watson, Bassist Joe Eichstaedt, and Drummer Briand Morris. Although the four of them have been making music for most of their lives, they only recently joined up to become “The Screaming Hearts.”
“I released my first solo album in 2013, and another EP in 2016,” said Veillette, “Shortly after that I realized I wanted to play with a band.”
Veillette had released, “Into the Night” in March of 2016. At the time, she was a guitarist in addition to her skills as a vocalist. After Tanner Watson contacted her asking if his group of three called “Tangled Web”, consisting of himself, Eichstaedt, and Morris, could back her up, Veillette became mainly a vocalist. The four then decided to become “The Screaming Hearts.”
“There is something more satisfying about sharing the stage with people you can connect with,” said Veillette.
The group typically plays a few shows a month. They have travelled across the Northeast and East Coast to play shows. Recently, however, they have been playing more shows locally while they record their next album, which will begin it’s release coinciding with the April 20th show. Rather than releasing the entire album at once, they have decided to release one song at a time. At the moment, the final product of the album is expected to contain 10 songs, but Veillette said it may contain more.
The group has been recording the upcoming album with Andy Casella at Shape Recording in Northampton. The main lyrics are written by Veillette while Tanner writes the backup lyrics and the rest of the music.
Veillette said that her band is hard to be labelled when it comes to a specific genre. The closest thing she could think to call it was “soulful alternative rock.” She added that the band’s sound has changed a lot since they formed in 2017, and they have since created their own unique sound.
“That is always a tough question for us because our music is so diverse,” said Veillette, “we really play a variety of types of songs.”
The opening bands for the April 20th show will be “Lexi Weege and the Wonder Twins” and Andy Gould.
