What makes a band a band?
This question usually has a pretty straightforward answer, but when it comes to the members of Moscow-local musical group Spotswood Abbey, the answer isn’t so simple. Spotswood Abbey is composed of vocalists Nico Zarate, Ruth Saunders, and Graeme Wilson, as well as Joshua Roberts on keys, Tom Miller on drums, Connor DeVries on electric guitar, and Jay Niemeyer on bass. The group evolved over the course of six years, their zig-zag timeline notched with a college talent show, a friend’s wedding, and a pattern of packed-out gigs at Bucer’s Coffee House Pub in Moscow.
“The first two years, we weren’t a band at all,” says keyboardist Roberts. “It was really just jam sessions. Anyone could show up, and that was the design. In 2019, we became more of what we are now.”
These original jam sessions were hosted at “The Abbey,” a house on Spotswood Street where Roberts lived at the time. Hence, the group’s name.
Nico and Josh were two of the initial jammers in 2015, with their friends Graham Sommers and Karl Kvale playing drums and bass. Saunders arrived on the scene in 2016, and Wilson officially joined the group in 2019. That year, Miller, DeVries, and Niemeyer also joined the party after Sommer’s and Kvale’s departure.
“Nico told me he had this thing—‘kind of a band,’” says guitarist DeVries, “and he said the band had a Britney Spears cover that they played on an accordion.” DeVries was skeptical but curious enough that he had to check it out for himself, and he’s been jamming ever since.
The group’s energetic setlist began with a repertoire of oldies played for a friend’s wedding, as well as songs the jammers all knew. Their collective tone has since shifted distinctly into funk and groove. The group cites Vulfpeck, Stevie Wonder, and Allen Stone as their primary influences. Their favorite songs, as well as their audience’s, change with every performance. Their renditions of The Beatles’ “Come Together,” Mr. Juke’s “Somebody New,” and Vulfpeck’s “Christmas in L.A.” are a few major ones.
Wilson’s gritty blues growl on “Voodoo” (Allen Stone) fills any given room with electric energy, and their rendition of Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie” is a long-standing favorite.
A recent live performance shone the spotlight on the group's newest original, “Know Better,” which was enthusiastically received.
Spotswood Abbey plans to keep performing and writing and hopes to record an album in the future. When asked if they are a band, the chorus of responses ranged from a contemplative “not really” to an enthusiastic “NEVER!” They describe themselves as having a very “not-a-band band vibe,” and have resisted becoming a band in the official capacity of the word.
Their history is just a bunch of friends jamming out and experimenting together, and none of them want to forget this.
Try as they might there is an inescapable band-ness to the group. “When I came in [to the group],” Niemeyer says, “I was immediately like, 'If this isn’t a band, it has to be a band. I want to be part of this band.'”
Saunders responds, “You can be part of this not-band.”
Regardless of whether they identify as a band, Spotswood Abbey continues to deliver performances that leave their audience looking forward to future gigs, and yes, that long-awaited EP. Perhaps the album will establish the group as an undeniable band, once and for all.
In the meantime, let the not-band band rock on.
“Not-Band” Bios:
Nico Zarate (vocals) started singing as a chorister in college. "The school days were very confusing because I would have to sing in a very particular way for the choir director, and then go to Spotswood jams and throw it all out the window.” Rather than being drawn to a vocal style or genre, he likes experimenting with specific songs. Zarate is a guitarist as well as a singer, and his stylistic flexibility in both realms contributes to the versatility of the group.
Ruth Saunders (vocals) grew up playing guitar and singing primarily back-up harmonies in her family’s folk band, Saticoy. Her voice found a natural, exhilarating home in funk and groove. “When I started jamming around, that was the first time that I kind of stepped over into the funk zone, and I loved it. I was like, ‘Yes! This is what my voice was made for.' ...It felt really good, it fit, and it was music I had always enjoyed listening to growing up.” Her golden warm timbre is essential to the band’s funk sound. Her seemingly effortless yet precise vocal control blows away those who hear her perform.
Graeme Wilson (vocals) was always musical and was singing regularly before he learned to play guitar or piano. “It was easy to work on my voice because I would just get in the car, put something on and just belt it as hard as I could. I wasn’t ever satisfied with the first time that I would do something, so I would rewind whatever I was trying to replicate, which was either hard rock--very hard rock--or some kind of soul.” He also attended vocal school for a year, which mainly helped with the theory side of things.
In Joshua Roberts’s (keys) words, “I’m not a pop guy. I’m not even a funk guy. I’m a choral guy.” Joshua started learning piano when he was seven, taking lessons off and on until he was seventeen. “I fell in love with choral music in college, and started composing and conducting at that time,” he says. Although his background lies in sacred and classical music, he does, in fact, “enjoy some music from the past century,” and draws from classical, pop, soul, and jazz styles when he plays.
Tom Miller (drums) started playing drums in 1971, and may very well have more years of experience than the rest of the band combined. He’s played in many different types and styles of rock, blues, jazz, and funk bands. He says, “I tend to draw on almost all of them to play for Spotswood Abbey.”
Connor DeVries (electric guitar) started playing guitar as a kid, his dad teaching him the basics. “I didn't take it very seriously until I listened to the Stadium Arcadium CD by the Red Hot Chili Peppers right after it came out.” He has played primarily hard rock in a few bands in the Spokane area, as well as with L.A. the Earthquakes in Moscow, and shows himself to be a wizard in funk and groove as well.
Jay Niemeyer (bass) has been playing bass for about thirty years, been in ten bands, and is currently in four different bands, playing a variety of styles including rock, blues, soul, and funk. “Of all of these [experiences],” he says,
“none have proven to be a better fit, or have provided more fun and satisfaction, than Spotswood Abbey.”
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