Four of all kinds

What’s with the viola?

“Well, usually people confuse it for a violin,” says a laughing Christian McNamara. The Busking By Moonlite member’s chosen instrument is an unusual one to see outside an orchestra or string quartet.

Busking By Moonlite is a four-piece band, which along with McNamara is composed of Kenny Shepherd on bass, Nico Telles on drums and Mason Frey on guitar and vocals.

The group began earlier this year as a project among Frey, Shepherd and Telles. McNamara joined Busking By Moonlite in the last couple of months, adding a line that creates a richer aural experience and dances in the licks between the guitar and viola.

The quartet pulls from a diverse pool of influences, from the early metal legend Led Zeppelin to bands like The Black Keys and Eric Clapton. There are even some local artists like Moondog Matinee.

In a confluence of the chord progressions of the blues, the energy of rock, and the candid simplicity of folk music, Busking By Moonlite reflects each member's individual tastes, abilities and experience.

While the structural underpinnings of Busking By Moonlite clearly show the impact of blues and rock, the lyrical content is one of the biggest indicators of the band’s folk influence. An air of sincerity comes through in their songs about life, love and even growing up in a small town, like Frey’s home, Yerington.

Even as 20-something musicians, all four band members have worked for about a decade to hone their skills.

Their performing experience and background in classical music theory allow the group to push musical construction to its utmost limits, with a heavy emphasis on dynamics, adept shifts in tempo, and masterful harmonic constructions and countermelodies.

Yet what sets Busking By Moonlight apart most strongly is the lack of a drive to be different or to reinvent genres. Instead, the four allow the naturally distinct characteristics of different musical realms to speak for themselves, creating a heterogeneous, yet effective synthesis of sound.

Even with the band’s wealth of experience, breaking into Reno's long-established music scene has proven to be a bit difficult.

“A lot of times, when you get hired at a venue, they want you to sound like another [local] band,” says Telles.

With many Reno bands having years, even a decade or two underneath their belts, younger groups are apt to struggle on the path to success.

But for Frey, who hails from a town of just over 3,000 people, Reno provides great opportunities to thrive.

“You can be a musician anywhere,” says Frey. “But if you want to perform, you have to go to a bigger city, like Reno.”

Busking by Moonlite isn't most of the band members' first musical venture. But now they have a special opportunity to work with musicians who constantly challenge not only their ideas, but also their abilities.

“These guys play like they’re 50,” says Shepherd. “But the real difference from Busking by Moonlite than other bands is the level of practice. It challenges me to be a better musician.”

Now, he and his bandmates are focusing less on performances and more on solidifying their collections of songs, namely to fine tune a number of them for when they are ready to begin recording an EP, a goal they hope to accomplish sometime this winter.