Two members of “Friends with the Weather,” Seth Hendricks and Chris Good, are Manchester graduates.
Photo provided by MU
Band ‘Friends with the Weather’ Play at Homecoming
Ely Cook
Seth Hendricks, Chris Good and David Hupp, the musical trio of “Friends with the Weather,” participated at Homecoming on Oct. 22, 2022, for the returning alumni of Manchester University.
Part of the reason the band came to Manchester University’s Homecoming is because Seth Hendricks and Chris Good are both Manchester graduates. Good graduated from Manchester in 2002. Hendricks graduated from Manchester in 2003. David Hupp, despite not graduating from Manchester, has been a part of the music program as an instructor and accompanist. All three band members are singers and contribute to the writing of their own songs. On top of that, the trio of “Friends with the Weather” also all can play multiple instruments.
In 2016, “Friends with the Weather” released their debut album called “Live from Johnny’s Speakeasy.” They collaborated with mandolin player Jacob Jolliff, The Ragbirds’ Erin Zindle and Randall Moore, and Mutual Kumquat’s Jacob Crouse.
Then, from 2017-2019, they began touring and released music videos of their songs, as well as released a single called “Be the Song.” They also released a series called “behind the songs.” The purpose of this series was to give the band’s fans more explanation of the reasoning and deeper meaning of the songs they wrote. For example, for the song named “Loveliness,” Hupp wrote a description of how the song came to be, explaining that the song, “came to life through some twists and turns and eventually came to be one of my favorite songs, especially as part of our live set.”
Good also contributed to writing about their song and the emotions toward it saying that it feels “fleeting yet timeless. Fateful while full of intention. Intimate amidst the wide open. Contagious in its generosity. Grounding in its steadfastness.”
Good continued: “This was our charge as lyricists and musicians as we set to bring ‘Loveliness’ to life: to capture a drive and sense of urgency but also to relax into a groove, as if falling into a long, unconditional loving embrace.” So, to give their fans a better understanding and better information on the purpose of their songs, the band created the “behind the songs” series to accomplish that.
Then, in 2020 the band launched a project called the Sing Me Home Festival. This festival’s primary goal is to celebrate intergenerational culture and bring people from all around together from different generations for one common purpose, Good puts it: “to restore and inspire the heart, mind, and soul.”
The band has also collaborated and played with bass player Brennan Andes, drummers Julian Allen, Dan Piccolo, and Mike Shea, guitarists Seth Bernard and James Cornelison, vocalists Lindsey Lou and Madelyn Grant, trumpet player Ross Huff, saxophone player Rachel Mazer, trombone player Bethanni Grecynski, and cello player Abby Alwin.
The band performed at Homecoming for two hours, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., between the PERC building and the football field at Manchester University. “Friends with the Weather” will continue to play and have planned performances in the spring of 2023.