Casey Smith Project and The Jephries Are a Rollickin’ Good Time at The Pub
By Manny Melendez
Saturday night at The Pub tends to always err on the side of fun or stellar. Still, this past Saturday’s double-header concert with Casey Smith Project and The Jephries, who finally made their debut at UAF’s long-loved establishment and one of the venues for music in all of Fairbanks, was undoubtedly one of the most high-octane performances all year. The Jephries also returned to Fairbanks this weekend for the first time since pre-Covid!
Casey Smith Project began with their usual mix of slick, cool, and already revved-up, pent-up kicks. This group of musicians doesn’t just know how to play well together— they also know how to intuit and bridge each other’s shifting moods with just the right chord or key change and flow. They alternated between slow jams and more rambunctious drum-happy bops. Casey’s vocals were crisp and energized, shining clearly across the audience and showcasing his distinctive timbre.
The psychedelic rock of Casey Smith also seemed to really come through tonight, with extended guitar and keyboard passages feeling quite at home in vintage ‘60s performances. The Zombies, for starters, came instantly to mind more than once. Casey Smith Project is not unafraid of a little levity, either— one of their showstoppers slipped in the first few chords of The Pink Panther theme. Something else that really sparks up during their live performances is Casey Smith’s invigorating blend of minor key notes with major key feels, adding dimension to each song and retaining a nostalgic quality that lingers after they’re done.
“Confess My Love,” Casey Smith Project’s latest single, one of the final songs in their set, proved as propulsive and dynamic live as it does in its recording— the bridge and finale, especially, really translated well to a live venue. In almost every song, there is the chance for catharsis— a beacon to some inexplicable chemistry between the body and the sound, the music and the spirit. Is that not what all live music strives for?
The Jephries, hailing from Anchorage, really brought the humor to the stage, cracking jokes and settling in the crowd for an unserious time. That said, their sound was as uninhibited a good time as Casey Smith Project’s, with vocals that at times hailed back to Rage Against the Machine, really pumping the audience up— who was already trickling in closer to the stage for their set after being energized by Casey. They knew when to milk a solo for twice as long or oscillate between stadium-worthy thrash or more heartfelt, even soulful, lyrical passages.
The crowd appreciated the volatile nature of the performance by the Jephries— there was just no knowing what was next! Like Casey Smith Project, the Jephries favored extended instrumental passages, allowing everyone to get caught up in their hypnotizing ability to stretch simple rock music structures into experimental and euphoric fuzz. This vibrant jam session wanted to last forever— something no one in The Pub would’ve minded, especially with the raspy but crystalline vocals from the Jephries’ vocalist, Sid Conklin. Their bassist, Jay Straw, played a six-stringed bass, uncommon as it was. It proved to have a lingering and clearly defined sound even among the raucous noise they made– raucous noise brought full circle by their drummer, Logan Rooney, and his nonstop kinetic drumming, absolutely the heartbeat of their set and a metronome for the audience’s enthusiasm. Suffice it to say, that heart never stopped beating, and as the night progressed and the Jephries started tuning in to their audience’s frequency, they had them eating off their hand, jumping from ska-like rhythms to mosh-pit-worthy head-bangers.
The Jephries first started playing in Fairbanks at The Marlin and Ivory Jacks. Playing inside loud, busy establishments eventually forced Sid to adjust his vocals to be heard above the thrum, something he acknowledged even after the show when he admitted that sometimes he’d go a day without speaking to protect his voice. They originally came to Alaska with Austin Miller, a Florida artist, and eventually landed in Fairbanks. Sid reveals that The Jephries came together as a band when they condensed into a three-piece, and their musical influences stretch from Creed to Puddle of Mudd to Beef Heart and Bob Dylan.
No matter where their music comes from, they were right at home in The Pub, and alongside Casey Smith Project, proved why Saturday night is always all right for rockin’!