It’s a Friday evening at Fred’s, and the spotlight shines on the stage as Few Blue kicks off their performance with Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie.”
Few Blue formed in 2022 while they were students at LSU. While the group started as a whole in college, it all leads back to guitarist Brad Boozer and drummer Rob Schexnayder starting a band in their hometown, New Orleans.
The two went to high school together at Holy Cross, and the original band went separate ways when they started college. That’s when rhythm guitarist/keys Jake “Jit” Lamy, bassist Christian Liang and lead singer Camryn Wisniewski joined the mix.
“This fall is pretty pedal to the metal,” Schexnayder said. “The plan right now is to play these strings of shows until December. We’re doing the live shows, and then we’re in the studio to record a record.”
Their first outing in public was at Uncle Earl’s. Lamy knew the manager, Drake Rothele, from home and said that he not only got them their first show but “nudged them in the right direction” by getting them other gigs at venues like The Revelry.
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“The little connections are what matters,” Schexnayder said. “It might take you 10 or 15 shows just to get at Fred’s or to get to these big venues, but if you stop before you can even get to that, you’ve stopped the train.”
With an overall classic rock vibe, Few Blue is looking to bring back the sounds of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Wisniewski said that one of the first songs they performed together, “The Chain,” she was “too shy” to sing at the time.
“Brad would take over, and that’s how we really got to know each other as musicians,” she said.
An important aspect of the music industry is understanding your audience. The Baton Rouge scene is a competitive college one compared to other places like Austin, Texas, Lamy said. He explained how other scenes have bands that play more originals, while here, there’s a lot more paying attention to what other people want to see rather than what they want to play, Wisniewski said.
“If you love playing music, then you’re going to find a way,” Schexnayder said. Starting a band as a college student may be intimidating, but the group agreed that if you just put yourself out there and “roll with the punches,” you’ll end up where you’re meant to be.
“You’re not always going to mesh with the first person you find, so it’s going to take a lot of hard work. So I think we got lucky with this group that we get along so well,” Boozer said.
Wisniewski said that since they are all close friends, they are able to excel. Little nicknames and funny stories from the first time they made “big boy” money show that, at the end of the day, they are more than just a band.
“I like it because they came up with it,” Wisniewski said on her nickname, “Cam Jam.”
