Saturday, Oct. 25, Keene State College’s Campus Ecology Club hosted their annual Harvest Festival on Oya Hill, right outside the Zorn Dining Commons.
The festival included a tie-dying table, henna tattoos, and the bands Roz and the Rice Cakes; The HoneyBears; Jake McKelvie & the Countertops; Forget, Forget and TheColorOrange.
Member of the band TheColorOrange, John Remmetter, said that his band has played at Harvest Fest just about every year since 2012.
Olivia Schiaffo / Equinox Staff
TheColorOrange is comprised of John Remmetter on vocals and guitar, Eric Walker on bass and Zac Johnson on drums, according to the band’s Facebook page. Remmetter stated that the members came to know each other at KSC.
“My old band broke up and I was trying to make a new band,” Remmetter explained, “I gave up and then I met those guys at a party and then the next day we jammed and then it worked and now we’re here.”
TheColorOrange has traveled recently to play gigs in Portland, M.E., Verm. and Mass. Remmetter explained that the band was leaving right after Harvest Fest to play in Allston, Mass.
“We play a lot in Keene — we have a following here now and it’s cool — but we like to see new faces now so we’re trying to get out as much as we can,” Remmetter said.
The Harvest Festival Facebook page describes TheColorOrange as “a three-piece Indie band based out of Keene, N.H.,” stating, “They have released one album titled ‘Sprinting’ (that you can download for free on their band camp page). The band has been playing together since the spring of 2012. Starting out in the basements of Keene, now the boys are starting to spread out and collect miles on their tachometer.”
According to the Facebook event page another Keene-based band, The HoneyBears, also performed at
Harvest Fest.
The event page described this band as “Blending funk, blues and good old rock & roll, The HoneyBears are a four-piece groove-fest. Playing both covers and originals The Bears offer a familiar feel with a whole new sound.” The HoneyBears bandmate and KSC Senior, Gregory Lloyd Moosejaw Fisher, explained how he got into playing music, “I just wanted to play some music with anybody.”
According to The HoneyBears’ Facebook page, the band consists of KSC seniors Greg “Honey Bear” Fisher on guitar and vocals, James “Chocolate Bear” Gosling on guitar, Ethan “Funky Bear” Holbrook on bass guitar and Aaron “Grizzly Bear” Taub on drums.
Fisher discussed how he met fellow bandmate James Gosling, “We met in Owl’s Nest — we were neighbors – and he heard me spinning Bob Dylan records and Led Zeppelin records and he was like ‘Hey! We like the same music!’”
“We got together and jammed and we just kept jammin’,” Fisher explained. Campus Ecology Club member and study abroad student from York St. John University in England, Katie Smyth, stated that the club listened to a song from each band and voted on who would perform during Harvest Festival. Smyth said, “The next focus [for Campus Ecology] is Solar Fest in the spring.”
Georgina Howitt, a fellow member of the Campus Ecology Club and York St. John University exchange student, expressed her impression of Harvest Festival and Keene State College as a whole, “Everyone’s so friendly. There’s a really nice community feel. It’s very different from our university at home. Everyone just gets so involved, which is just really nice.”
“My favorite part of Harvest Fest is people getting together to listen to some music and bands play,” Fisher concluded, “I love things like this.”
Caroline Alm can be contacted at calm@keene-equinox.com
