The band Finn Riggins is made up of Eric Gilbert, Cameron Bouiss and Lisa Simpson, and relocated this year to Hailey. The band, which formed at the University of Idaho in Moscow, tours full time, playing such places as Colorado, the San Francisco Bay area and up and down the West Coast. Now they're headed off to the East Coast for the first time. But first they'll play a gig with the Los Angeles-based band Woven, at the Mint in Hailey at 9 p.m. tonight, Sept. 14.
Bouiss, a Ketchum native, brought Simpson and Gilbert to Sun Valley.
"We were in a variety of different bands," Gilbert said. "Lisa had been doing the solo thing and playing for 12 years. Cam and I have been playing since 1999, but we had all played together. We still play up in Moscow."
Gilbert describes their music as "post-punk, indie rock," but having seen them several times it's safe to say the band could also claim a sound regarded as experimental folk.
"We aren't trying to categorize ourselves," Gilbert said.
Indeed, the music surprises with its twists and turns, unique style and original music. Gilbert plays keyboards and Simpson plays electric guitar, "though we switch a little," Gilbert said. "We have no bass player so that's different. I play bass with keyboards. We all three sing."
On the percussion is Bouiss, who manages to sneak in some great-sounding steel drums.
"We have a new six-song disc that we'll have available at the show," Gilbert said. "Then we have a new CD out in November."
For the East Coast tour, they'll do the front end of the tour with Woven. This will be the first time the bands have played together or even met.
"We've been working with their agent," Gilbert said. "I assume we'll just meet them at the shows. But they're staying with us here so we'll probably get to know them a little. We got the gig through a friend of a friend. It's a random long story. It's someone Lisa knew growing up. He thought it was a nice fit and he was helping them do some booking."
Finn Riggins' tour will last through Oct. 3 when there is a possibility the band will travel to Kenya to play a music festival.
Among the gigs Finn Riggins will play as they journey east is the Elbo Room in Chicago, the Davenport in Cleveland and the Mercury Lounge in New York City, a venue revered by musicians and patrons alike. Because Simpson is from New Hampshire, they will make their way up north to perform in Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire.
On the road, the trio travels in a 15-passenger bus with their equipment. Woven travels in a "green RV--all on waste veggie oil," Gilbert said. "We're pretty excited because we'd like to do something like that. We're curious to see how they pull it off."
Meanwhile, they are still committed to keeping Hailey a home base.
"We're trying to put more shows on here," Gilbert said. "We've got a couple things this fall and we're hoping to get another Boise band up here to play with us. We're looking to do more all-ages shows. The Wicked Spud is really cool in the summer but in the winter finding a venue becomes more challenging."
Time off the road, at home is important. The three band members of Finn Riggins live together in Hailey.
"What makes this groove work together so well is that we know each other really well," Gilbert said. "We know how to stay out of each other's way. Lisa probably has the hardest time because she's always with us two boys, but it's not too bad. We're pretty nice boys."
Cameron Boiuss, Lisa Simpson and Eric Gilbert get ready to go on the road after a show at the Mint, Friday.
Photo by Eric Gilbert.
