SMU Fosters World Changers, and Garage Bands
November 10, 2023SMU Fraternity Members Join To Make a Successful College Band out of their Manett Street Garage, the only of its kind.
Electric notes blast through a sweaty, cramped Barley House, a dive bar frequented by SMU students almost every night of the week. Purple and green tinted light beams flash on lead guitarist Jack Poncy as he uses his empty beer bottle to play his electric guitar. Poncy’s golden guitar glistens from the stage lights and the remaining condensation from his Modelo bottle. The wet glass scrapes against the strings of the guitar as it speaks the final notes of “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
“Free Bird” is one of SMU’s original Manett Band’s favorite songs to cover. Southern Methodist University’s slogan and mantra states: “world changers shaped here.” Manett Band has changed the student music scene at SMU by being the first, student-run, performance band outside of the marching band. SMU is a small, private liberal arts university located in Dallas, TX. The band has gained major traction and some loyal fans over the last year. The band’s Instagram @manettband gained over 300 followers and received over 100 likes on almost every post after being active for less than a year. One student, Ellie Sidebottom, is arguably one of Manett Bands most adoring fans and followers. “Manett Band brings the fun and liveliness that we all saw in movies as kids to SMU,” Sidebottom said. “My favorite times I have gotten to watch them perform as a band have both been at the famous SMU bar, Barley. Both times it has been a full house, literally so packed. I know it is because the boys bring something to campus that no one else has. They bring a sense of community. When they sing old throwback songs we all listened to growing up, it brings nostalgia and literally pure joy.”
Recently, Manett Band has started to branch out beyond Dallas City Limits. “Every semester we’ve been a band, we set one goal,” Griffin said. “Whether that be playing at Barley, which we did last semester, or traveling somewhere outside of SMU and performing, which we did with Arkansas last semester and again with Row Fest this semester.” Manett Band’s members also stretch beyond Dallas. The band’s acoustic guitarist, Wes Bender is the only hometown hero. Griffin Vail, the lead singer, and Jay Kynerd drummer, are from Birmingham, Alabama. Nick Simpson, the keyboardist, is from McKinney and Will Goodgame, the other junior, is from Houston. Jack Poncy, another guitarist, is the only Floridian in the bunch. Manett Band exemplifies their differences in what they wear and their performances on stage. As Griffin describes, “any given night we’re performing, you can see one of us in overalls, one of us in business casual, and I’m a big thrifter, so that’s what I wear most of the time.”
Building a band is only half the battle. In order to be successful in this music industry, you have to know how to put on a show, according to music critic and former writer for D Magazine Thor Christensen. Christensen has covered and critiqued music in the DFW area for more than 30 years. While he’s no singing or producing expert, he sure knows how to spot talent. He has watched small artists like a Beatles cover band perform in Denton bars and seen the biggest names like Bruce Springstein at American Airlines stadium. He’s seen his fair share of amazing performances and interviews, as well as disappointing ones. “I had an interesting interview once with the heavy metal star Ozzy Osbourne,” Christensen said. “He was so out of it, because he was stoned on pills or whatever. He could not talk. I mean, you would ask him a question and he was just kind of like, stuttering and stammering for 10 seconds.”
Unique and personable music strikes a chord with Christensen. He doesn’t want to hear what’s already on the radio, and thinks you shouldn’t either. “The more of your own personality, the better,” he said. While he argues that it’s important to write your own music and have a great voice, a great performance can help make or break success. “With the availability of everything on YouTube and streaming, just watch the great performers and watch the Springsteen’s, and watch the James Browns,” Christensen said.
Christensen has written about many up and coming artists like Abraham Alexander and bands in the DFW area. While many of these artists are from the area, Manett Band is the only one with SMU ties. When many people think of the music scene in Texas, they think of Austin, mainly because of the famous music festival Austin City Limits. With headliners like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, SZA, and Miley Cyrus, the live music and performances in a jam-packed three-day weekend can be pretty hard to beat. Austin dubbed itself the live music capital of the world back in 2009. Christensen argues that “people don’t realize how good Dallas, Fort Worth, and Denton combined are. I think the difference is Austin is all kind of compact while Dallas, Fort Worth, and Denton are spread out. And if you squeezed Dallas Fort Worth and got to the size of Austin, it would be just as good or better than the Austin music scene.” Christensen listed off a number of bars and spaces to watch these local bands and soon-to-be-famous names right in our backyard. Granada Theater on Greenville avenue hosts a number of cover bands and independent artists and bands every week and the schedule is on their website. Christensen also suggests going down to the Deep Ellum neighborhood to find great live music. “Any night of the week, you can go out and see a really interesting band and just about any genre,” Christensen said. “Deep Ellum is thriving. It’s so fun to go down there on a Friday or Saturday night and walk around and sample all the different music.”
Though there are thousands of different artists in the industry already, many aspiring artists, along with some of Manett Band’s own, fear that the music industry is already over-saturated. “Who doesn’t want to be a singer?” Griffin said. “I mean, everyone’s got a shower to sing, and everyone wants to do it.” According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are approximately 1.4 million musicians and singers in the U.S. One of them is Manett Band’s own independent and self producing artist. In real life, he’s known as Jay, but on Spotify he’s known as John Melancholy. “It’s kind of a play on John Mellencamp,” he said. “My legal name is John. There’s some personality theory that says that everyone falls into one of four fundamental personalities. Melancholy is one of them. And my mom would always say that that was me. It’s a kind of dreamy, thoughtful kind of personality.” As a member of Manett Band with his own music career, he understands how hard it is to break into this industry. He’s been playing guitar since he was 10 years old and released his most recent song at the end of April. It’s called “Until The Sun Explodes” and can be found on every major streaming platform. It’s about growing up and experiencing life as you grow older. It’s very sentimental and emotional, much like his pen name, melancholy.
As the school year comes to a close, so does the band’s future. As most of the band graduates, it leaves just Griffin and Will behind to carry on the Manett legacy. “It’s been the highlight of our college career playing shows and traveling,” Jay said. “We’re definitely gonna play a few more shows, but hopefully we can continue to enter the future. But, eventually we’re gonna go live our lives.”
Whatever happens to Manett Band after graduation, both Jay and Griffin intend on pursuing music careers. Sidebottom said that when these boys become famous, she wants to become an official groupie, instead of just an SMU fan. Griffin wants to continue including his soul-filled upbringing into everything he does. “I think you’ve seen this kind of birth of a new rise of a rock generation, you know, this kind of rebellious going against the status quo, which I think our generation really embodies,” he said. So I think what we are, [through music], tapping into that current rage, for lack of a better word of our generation.” Jay wants to model his career after the big names, “like how Prince kind of was a solo artist and did everything himself more or less, and others, but he modeled the process of being a solo artist, but also touring with a band. But, you know, now’s the time to try.”
This story was originally published on Medium on May 2, 2023.