There are constantly opportunities to hear all genres of music through events like the porch series at Midnight Oil, or the many concerts the Campus Activities Board plans throughout the school-year. Recently, a new band named Four West has made its appearance the university’s music scene and made quite the impact.
Last February, junior Austin Lowery asked his friends and fellow students junior Mariah Swisher, junior Adam Dell and senior Sam Morris to get together and play with him at the Catfish Farmers of America Convention. After the success of the convention, the four of them decided they played really well together and proceeded as a group.
“It was so much fun, and our harmonies were so good,” Swisher said. “We all just got along really well.”
All four of the members are long time musicians on Harding’s campus. Swisher and Lowery are members of the campus group For Certain and Dell and Morris are also in the band, Belles and Beaux. Members of Four West said it only made sense for the four to join forces and create something completely new — a mix inspired by country, southern rock and roots music, they said.
The group decided to call themselves Four West, Swisher said, because there were four members of the band, and their idea was that once they become famous they plan to move out west to a horse ranch in Montana.
After forming Four West, the group decided to stay in Searcy over the summer to work on their music and to play more shows together. This August the band entered the Texaco Country Showdown and were voted as one of the top 10 up and coming country bands within the Little Rock area.
“At first I didn’t really wanna stay in Searcy for the whole summer, but I’m really glad I did because it’s crazy how much we’ve accomplished,” Swisher said.
Of course, for its members, Four West is not simply a hobby. While all four are still finishing college it is difficult to do much, but ideally the band will become successful enough to make it a career and full-time project for the four hopeful students.
The band seems to show no signs of slowing down now. Swisher said she believed their performance during CAB’s “First Week Free” series here on campus was their largest audience they have performed in front of so far and they are excited to continue performing for increasingly larger crowds. They already have a healthy list of shows booked in the Jonesboro and Little Rock area within the next few weeks, with several others also coming up in Searcy as well. Some of these dates include a Sept 1 performance at Juanita’s in downtown Little Rock as well as a performance with Rigoletto at Mt. Zion Rock Climbing on Sept 2.
The band also has plans for an album to be released in the next few weeks, which will include nine original songs. Swisher said they are just waiting to receive the final mixes before moving forward with the next stages for the band.
