The ukulele usually brings to mind Hawaiian beaches, grass skirts and that version of “Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” that movie producers seem to love so much. But for one local duo, the instrument conjures up visions of moonshine and Appalachian mountainsides. Called The Casuals, the folk/country band consists of Kristen Foster, a third-year creative writing graduate student, and Anna Byars, University alumna. Foster is also the nonfiction editor for The New Delta Review, which will host a benefit concert tonight at the North Gate Tavern to raise funds for the publication. The event’s lineup not only includes The Casuals, but also Flatbed Honeymoon, Dixie Donnelly and Field Day. Foster said three of the four bands playing are country/bluegrass and involved with the English department. Faculty and staff members make up Flatbed Honeymoon, and graduates students and an undergraduate compose Dixie Donnelly, she said. “If you want to come cut loose with your English teachers, there’s going to be some playing music,” she said. Foster only started playing music a year and a half ago. “I’ve always been interested in music but never very musical. I’ve always written but never songs,” she said. She said she doesn’t know how it happened, but now she cannot remember life before she started playing music. “It was a planetary alignment,” Byars said. Foster tried her hand at guitar but found her hands were too small, and she switched to the ukulele. “I have really tiny hands, small for a girl even,” she said. “Large for a wood gnome though,” Byars said. Foster does not play any traditional Hawaiian music on the ukulele. She said she grew up in Tennessee listening to country music, a genre that influences her musical style now. Foster described The Casuals’ sound as a little bit country, a little bit folk and maybe a little bit rock ‘n’ roll. “Anna [Byars] wants to be rock ‘n’ roll,” she said jokingly. “[Country] is just the kind of music I was raised with,” she said. “I wouldn’t know how to rock really hard.” Byars is the other half of the musical pair, playing guitar and the banjolele, a banjo-ukulele hybrid. She said their music is melodic and harmony driven. Byars said their sound is hard to compare to the mainstream but named Louisiana band The Figs as a similar group. “Anna [Byars] shreds, and I play rhythm,” Foster said. “I keep the beat … sometimes,” she laughed. Byars said their performances can more closely resemble a comedy hour than a concert at times. “Everything is kind of wryly poignant. You’ll laugh and cry, but at the same time,” Byars said. “You’ll mostly laugh though,” Foster said . The pair co-writes songs about anything from murder to redheads to Internet romance. “We have one about Internet romance that is sure to get the toes tapping,” Foster said. “We bring it. I stomp my boots.” The band has not toured outside of Louisiana and Mississippi yet but plans to tour more extensively once Foster graduates in the spring. Byars said they are just using this year to develop the sound and get a record together. “I’m thrilled. We’re going to tour, and it’s going to be great,” Byars said. “We’ll make literally tens of dollars.”
—-Contact Lauren Walck at [email protected]