Forlorn Strangers Come to Bel Air High School

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Matt Robertson

On Friday, February 27, Bel Air High School hosted the Nashville recording artists Forlorn Strangers. Forlorn Strangers is an independent Nashville, Tennessee, based Americana quintet leaning heavily on bluegrass and drenched in four part vocal harmony. They have been touring up and down the Eastern Coast for the past year and a half, and have a connection to Bel Air High School. Two of the band’s members, Hannah Lusk and Abigail Dempsey attended and graduated from Bel Air High. Last Friday they hosted a singer/songwriter workshop in the black box theatre for aspiring young musicians.

“I always think about bands that tour as huge arena-selling rock bands, but it was super cool to see this group of people writing music and performing in a way that was so original and thought out. Plus they were from Bel Air!” said Senior Amanda Tran.

“That band made me happy,” said Junior Sydney Peverly, “they were really happy and personable, and you could tell they totally had a great time playing for us.”

The band started the workshop out by playing a few songs and discussing their writing techniques.

“Most of the time one of us writes a melody and lyrics individually and then bring it to the whole group and try to build on it from there. It’s much more collaborative that way. We get to see what each one of us brings to the table each time, not to mention how much fun we have doing it,” said guitarist and vocalist, Chris Banke.

The group then split up and went around to the students and teacher in the audience to hear some original songs written by the students, and to go more in depth on songwriting and what it meant to be a band. It allowed for a more intimate discussion on musical techniques as well as how a band should work. The workshop closed with everyone, students and Forlorn Strangers, gathering around in a circle and playing a group folk song.

“That was my favorite part of the day,” said Senior Dylan Brigden, “just with three chords we all connected to make a song that sounded awesome.”

You can like the Forlorn Strangers on Facebook to see upcoming shows and new music. They are also on iTunes and Spotify if you want to take a listen.