Over the years, Idyllwild has become the home for many musicians and also spawned a major jazz festival. Now musicians born and raised on the sounds of the Hill are creating and performing their own music. Casey Abrams and Chris Thile may be the most well know now, but several other homegrown groups are building reputations and gaining fans.
This week, two local groups — Throw the Goat and PIE — and a third, CPA, a Hemet band led by Idyllwild native Paul Teel, will perform at the Rustic Theatre beginning at 10 p.m. Friday, June 21.
Just two years old, Throw the Goat is about to embark on a tour in the United Kingdom beginning July 4. The group has several concerts scheduled, including one in Edinburgh, Scotland.
“It’s really exciting. We’ve done everything we can do now but to wake up 8,000 miles away,” said Michael Schnalzer, bass and lead singer.
But the group’s journey actually started in Pine Cove.
Schnalzer and rhythm guitarist Johnny Wilson grew up on the Hill and both have been members of other groups. Joining them were Brian Parnell, who has lived on the Hill for nearly 10 years, on lead guitar and vocals, and Tim Olivier, who has lived in Pine Cove for six years, on drums.
Throw the Goat began one night when Schnalzer and Olivier were playing together. A bass and drums needed a guitarist and so they decided to form a group. Fortunately, both Wilson and Parnell were available and the quartet has evolved into a popular heavy rock band with parts of other genres.
Schnalzer has always loved music and the idea of performing, but he was 21 before getting his first bass. He’s been playing ever since.
Kurt Cobain of grunge band Nirvana was Wilson’s inspiration. “He was having so much fun, I wanted to do that,” he said. One of Wilson’s teachers was Joey Latimer, formerly of Idyllwild.
“No matter how far I try to get away, I always come back to music,” Wilson said.
Parnell, who grew up with a musician father, picked up a guitar at age 5, played the saxophone some and eventually ended up in Idyllwild, although he is an Ontario native.
The idea of a UK tour began as joke, according to Schnalzer. Olivier and his wife were planning a second honeymoon, so the others decided to go along, in the form of a tour.
With the help of a publicist, the band has booked four concerts and will be paired with a local UK group as they travel through England.
While its musical goals are still evolving and growing, the group acknowledges its roots on the Hill. Its first album release is titled, “Black Mountain.” The group’s current music is “more complex” than what’s on the album, Wilson said.
The concert will offer new songs, “not Black Mountain 2,” Parnell said, stressing the evolution of their sound.
All of the rehearsal, the writing and music occurs while each band member holds a full-time, non-musical job. Rehearsals are usually twice a week at a residence in Pine Cove.
“Amazing to me, for better or worse, Idyllwild spawned the band,” Schnalzer said proudly. “Probably, three of us have been in different places in the world trying to figure it out, but we’ve always been lured back home, to the roots we have here.”
Friends and family attend their performances and visit rehearsals. “It’s a big part of why we’re about to go to the UK,” said Parnell.
“We couldn’t go without Idyllwild,” Wilson added.
PIE
And the other homegrown group is PIE, but a much younger vintage. Izaiah and Stefan Carman and Seth Clowers are ages 11 and 12. Their vision of a musical group grew from an evening of playing “GreenDay: Rock Band,” a video game.
But their talent isn’t imaginary. They have been an opening band for Throw the Goat several times.
“We like [Throw the Goat],” Izaiah said. “We’re inspired by them.”
PIE begins playing at 9 p.m.
So Friday, Idyllwild’s native musicians perform at the Rustic Theatre. Tickets for the concert featuring Throw the Goat with CPA and Pie are $12 in advance of the June 21 show and $15 at the door.
