You Might Know Them, You Might Even Love Them, But You Have Definitely Heard Them: Rash
During the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year we have had the pleasure of hearing music from NM’s very own Metal/Alt. cover band Rash! This group of talented students has come into the spotlight for a few school events, such as, NM’s first pep -rally, NM’s homecoming craft fair, and flex block performances scattered throughout the 23-24 school year. They have lots of amazing plans for the rest of the school year, and I have been lucky enough to interview the band members to find out just what Rash is all about.
Where Did Rash Start?
The idea of Rash (originally a Rush cover band that has since moved on to other artists as well) first occurred when Donovan Daniels, the lead guitarist, had the idea of putting some kind of group together so that the music department could get more representation. Daniels also stated that he was looking to create a place where musically interested people could get together and create something of their own. As Daniels reached out to the people around him, he was able to find William Hanson (drummer), and Bretton Johnson (keyboardist), Mr. Umstead (bassist), and Mr. Lundstrom (vocalist). With a group together and tons of motivation Rash was formed.
Tom Sawyer
Rash’s first performance was set to take place at the 2024 TriM benefit concert, the song of choice being Tom Sawyer by Rush. As most of the band members put it, Tom Sawyer looked to them like a mountain of a song that was going to be too hard to climb, but with teamwork, motivation, ad many hours or practice, they climbed the Tom Sawyer mountain that once seemed insurmountable. As was explained in the interview the band members were very moved by this Tom Sawyer performance and they felt they had all progressed to new levels they didn’t think possible, they found that their musicianship had increased and as stated by Bretton Johnson, they had learned the important skill of being able to play with other people.
Xanadu
After Tom Sawyer the band found themselves in need of a new challenge, so they took on the 11 minute song by Rush, Xanadu. With this new song also came a new vocalist, Liberty Nemeth. Nemeth had offered to do vocals for Rash and lucky for her they were in need of a new vocalist at the time. With that Nemeth was brought into Rash and quickly realized that this would give her the opportunity to learn how to sing different styles of music, and like Johnson previously stated, teach her how to perform with other people. With Xanadu underway the band took almost a year to learn this song, 11 minutes of music and one year to learn it all, it had become even more of a feat than Tom Sawyer seemed. (During the performance of Xanadu the band was also joined by Gavin Doak on rhythm guitar)
A Goodbye Song
After almost a year of practice and more hard work, Rash was ready to perform Xanadu for their peers, they performed this song both at a flex block performance and at the last band concert of the 23-24 year. As expressed by the band Xanadu was not only a marker of how far they had come, but it was also a send off for a valued band member, Mr. Umstead. Mr. Umstead, NM’s previous band director was leaving NM for better things, and his band mates wanted to use Xanadu as a way to say goodbye and “look how far we have come”. Although Rash was sad to see Mr. Umstead leave, this opedned up the spot of bassist to Bretton Johnson who had formly played keyboard/synth.
A New Crew
With Johnson now playing bass, Hanson on drums, Daniels on lead guitar, and Nemeth on vocals they were only missing one piece, a rhythm guitarist. Luckily for rhythm guitarist, Oliver Dewey, the spot seemed to be made just for him. Dewey joined Rash for his first performance in Hanson’s backyard for a family party and from then on he was in. Finally the last member to join Rash is Kate Babine, the audio technician. Babine joined the band for their pep-rally performance and has since been helping to balance their sound and manage equipment. Rash had become a space for these talented individuals to share their passions not only with each other but with anyone who gets the pleasure of watching them perform. Rash has become a close knit group of friends to have come to respect and love one-another for not only their musical abilities but their qualities and traits.
Meet The Band
From left to right: Kate Babine (Audio Technician), Liberty Nemeth( (Lead Vocalist), Donovan Daniels (Lead Guitarist, Vocalist, Drummer), Oliver Dewey (Rhythm Guitarist, Drummer), Bretton Johnson (Bassist, Keyboardist), William Hanson (Drummer, Vocalist, Guitarist)
Where to Find Rash Next?
Patriot Pagent on October 23rd in the NM PAC 6-8pm
Flex performance October 30th in the NM PAC
Flex performance November 26th in the NM PAC