If there’s ever a biopic about A Quarter Short,
their television debut will surely be played up
into a mixture of fate and divine grace as the
band is pulled out of the hallway and into the
studio to share their gifts with the world (or
at least TV 24’s broadcast range). Gillian snickers at the somewhat less divine reality behind
the debut.
“They wanted a smoke break and needed
someone to fill the time,” she said, laughing.
But it was enough to cement the idea of officially working together into the trio’s heads.
Within a year they were officially a band, starting as “Megan and the McCarys” and later A
Quarter Short, inspired by a wayward bassist
leaving the then-quartet short a member at
performances.
In the ten years since forming, the trio has become intimately familiar with one another’s
playing styles, building into a harmonizing,
INSIGHT
folky trio that makes what they do look easy,
slowly turning into a local live fixture and soon
to serve as a quarter of the live entertainment
at Oxford’s upcoming Legend of Lickskillet
Music and Heritage Festival. Their style is freewheeling and carefree, which they describe
as a hippie-folk sort of philosophy, with bare
feet on stage, dancing through songs and
harmonizing without microphones though
loud enough to hear. It’s designed to be a joy
engine; Joe calls it music therapy, while Gillian takes making people happy to heart as
the band’s main bullet point on the agenda.
“If I can make my corner of the world a happier place, I feel like I’m contributing,” said Gillian. “Playing our music is a big part of that.”
Check out A Quarter Short on Facebook and
see them live May 16 at Zoe’s on the Lake and
at the Lickskillet Music and Heritage Festival
May 30 in Oxford. ❉
May 2015