Wezgotsta will headline a rock show at the Ricks Centre this Saturday, the second show in a two-part Hoosier Artist Series featuring local artists. The band features a group of friends who met while growing up in Greenfield, including Ivy Rowe, Blake Kuhn, Levi Barnes and Korrey Glenn.
GREENFIELD — A rock concert featuring three different bands takes the stage at the H.J. Ricks Centre for the Arts this weekend.
Leycia Eclipse, Exotic Species and Wezgotsta will perform as part of the Hoosier Artist Series,Vol. 2.
The two-part series is sponsored by Organic Robot Design, a custom apparel and screen print shop across the street from the theater.
Owner Charlie Vetters wanted to help showcase some of the homegrown musical talent he’s heard here in Hancock County.
Part one of the series — a Songwriters Showcase — took place March 6 when local favorites Keller & Cole and 2 Jasons performed an assortment of original songs.
This weekend’s lineup has a lot more rock and roll.
The headliner is a teenage band called Wezgotsta, comprised of four young adults who either attended or graduated from Greenfield-Central High School.
Korrey Glenn, 18, and Levi Barnes, 19, met at the skate park in Greenfield’s Riley Park about five years ago.
The two soon discovered a mutual interest in music, and Glenn invited his friend, Blake Kuhn, 20, to join in on some jam sessions. The group eventually convinced a mutual friend, Ivy Rowe, 19, to be their lead singer.
The group — which describes their sound as grunge rock — has since developed a sizable local following. At a charity concert at the Ricks Centre last year, the band nearly filled the theater to capacity.
They’re now on the hunt for a studio willing to record a list of 10 songs they have ready to go for their first EP.
Barnes, who plays lead and rhythm guitar, said it’s hard to believe how far the band has come in a relatively short amount of time.
“We just started out with me and Korrey jamming on tiny amps, and Korrey had a really crappy drum set,” recalled Barnes.
“But we started making stuff, and one day we played one of our more emotional songs and made Korrey’s grandpa cry. That really stuck with me because he’s a hard man to break. So it’s a really good memory,” he said.
Glenn feels blessed to be able to be making music with childhood friends he met while riding BMX bikes at the park and skating at his hometown roller skating rink.
“I love the chemistry that we have when we’re playing together,” he said. “Once we get in that zone, I get goosebumps every time.”
Each of the band members brings their own unique sound to the group, he said, and each has been inspired by different bands along the way.
“Levi has a grungy sound to his guitar. He likes Pearl Jam and Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, but Ivy kind of likes the Alice and Chains sound,” said Glenn.
The band’s name came from one of their favorite Sublime songs, which repeats “we’ve got to” pronounced more like “wezgotsta” throughout the chorus.
Barnes picked up his first guitar when he was a little kid, and Glenn got his first drum set when he was just 2 years old.
The band practices at Glenn’s grandparents’ house on the south side of Greenfield.
Barnes writes a lot of the songs at home then sends a recording out to the band members so they can create their own parts. Ivy helps write some of the lyrics.
“It’s all interactive. We all create our own piece,” said Barnes, who works as an electrician apprentice by day, rock and roll musician by night.
He’s looking forward to playing once again at the Ricks, the historic theater he first visited as a kid. It was a thrill to play there for the first time two years ago, he said.
“I just thought it was a super surreal feeling going back and being on that stage rather than looking up at it,” said Glenn.
Wezgotsta will be joined that night by the opening band, Leycia Eclipse.
The band’s lead singer and bass player, Zia Rich — who goes by the stage name Zia — lives in Greenfield. She’s joined by a guitarist, Cam Damek of Lebanon, and a drummer from Indianapolis who goes by the stage name Timbel.
She’s been playing with Damek for five years now, and the two formed the band three years ago.
“We’re all three best friends,” said Rich, who works with her family at the Pyramid of Enlightenment Book store on the east side of Indianapolis.
While she can’t quite put a label on it, Rich said her band has a melodic rock type of sound.
The band’s second album, “Ashes,” just came out last summer and was dedicated to Rich’s son, Lucas, who had died from cancer the year before, just before his 10th birthday.
Rich said she and her bandmates are looking forward to performing on Saturday, which will be their first time playing at the Ricks.
“I’ve driven past it plenty, so I’m really looking forward to playing there,” said the musician, who prefers not to perform in nightclubs or bars.
“I like to be able to have all ages come,” she said.
