By Rich Larson
After nearly a decade away from the stage, Northfield-based band Furia is reuniting for a pair of performances this weekend at the Northfield Arts Guild Theater.
Furia, made up of Meredith Fierke, Steve McKinstry and newest member Aiden Gersky, will perform Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. The concerts mark the group’s first performances in roughly eight years and will combine new material with reworked versions of songs from earlier in the band’s history.
The musical partnership between Fierke and McKinstry stretches back nearly two decades. Fierke first connected with McKinstry through his son Dylan, who was accompanying her for a Martin Luther King Day performance. While rehearsing at McKinstry’s studio, the elder McKinstry joined them on pump organ, beginning a collaboration that has continued for about 15 years.
The partnership soon attracted attention beyond Northfield. An early performance at Cities 97’s Studio C led to Furia’s “Train Song” being selected for the station’s Cities 97 Sampler.
The band’s music is built around experimentation. Fierke said she generally begins with lyrics, melodies and basic song structures before working with McKinstry to develop arrangements designed around the emotions and imagery of the songs. That process can involve conventional instruments or something considerably less conventional, including high-strung guitar, mandola, pump organ, MIDI keyboards and prepared piano. At times, the musicians have created their own instruments or unconventional playing techniques to produce a particular sound.
Aiden Gersky brings another dimension to that approach. McKinstry met him through Gersky’s sister and quickly discovered a shared interest in experimenting with instruments and sound. After the band had tried several musicians to replace Dylan McKinstry, who had moved to the East Coast, Gersky proved to be the right fit.
For the comeback shows, Furia has polished older material, sometimes adding new instrumentation, while also preparing new pieces. The performances represent both a return and a new phase for a group whose music has continued evolving even while it was away from public sight.
Furia will perform at the Northfield Arts Guild Theater Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets are available through the Northfield Arts Guild website at northfieldartsguild.org.
Rich Larson is the owner and General Manager of KYMN Radio. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
