Erica von Kleist, other locals form new 'party band'
THE MAC Band, featuring Erica von Kleist and a handful of other Flathead Valley musicians, will make its debut Saturday, June 10 in Whitefish. (Brenda Ahearn/This Week in the Flathead, file)
Whitefish’s Erica von Kleist is teaming with a host of other local artists to create the MAC Band, a top-40 wedding and party band that will make its public debut Saturday, June 10 at the Great Northern Bar and Grill in Whitefish.
The June 10 show will be a fundraiser for the Whitefish Jazz Camp, put on by von Kleist’s nonprofit, Groovetrail, and Whitefish High School. Tickets to the show are $10 at the door, with the music beginning at 7:30 p.m.
“I’ve had my booking agency (Northwest Artists Syndicate) for the last three years and the number one thing that wedding planners and brides as me is ‘do you have a top-40 wedding band?’” she said. “I’ve strategically decided to fill a need with this band.”
The Montana Artist Collective (MAC) Band is a 10-piece group featuring several other prominent Northwest Montana musicians, including drummer Jeremy Reinbolt (Alpine Theatre Project), Dave von Kleist, Erica’s father, bassist Matt Seymour and singer Dixie Riddle.
At the June 10 show, former “American Idol” contestant Sanjaya Malakar will appear as a special guest performer. Malakar sang on the sixth season of the hit TV show as an 18-year-old and finished seventh.
The band’s founder, von Kleist, is a Juilliard trained musician who has played throughout the country. She said she is excited to be able play “fun,” crowd-pleasing songs for the masses alongside a group of stalwart musical talents.
“We call ourselves a party band,” she said. “We have so much fun. We get to experiment with our different instruments and different sounds; the singers get to sing songs that they love to sing and people hear songs that they love to hear.
“It’s so much fun. I never thought I would learn so much by transcribing Lady Gaga.”
This year’s Whitefish Jazz Camp will feature guest instructor Richie Barshay, a drummer who has played with Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Esperanza Spalding and the Klezmatics.
For more information on Groovetrail and the Whitefish Jazz Camp, visit www.groovetrail.org.
To find out more about the MAC Band, visit www.macbandmontana.com.
[Ed. note: this story has been amended to identify Malakar as a guest performer on the June 10 show, not a member of the band]