There’s something very natural about bands that feature multiple members of the same family. Maybe growing up in the vicinity of a sibling who also enjoys playing music makes starting a group, if not easier, at least a logical progression. If two such musically inclined siblings also work together with a third bandmate, then the band might be Lentner.
Hailing from the hill town of Chesterfield, Lentner features brothers Jacob (guitar, vocals) and Joseph (drums, vocals) Lentner along with friend Cortland Watson (bass). The trio works as part of the Look Park maintenance team by day, but, according to Jacob Lentner, the band’s musical roots sprouted years ago.
“We’ve kind of been playing for many years, since we were kids,” he says. “Joe and I have been playing in our living room for years, but it wasn’t until our teenage years we actually started doing real stuff. We’ve only been an official band under our official [name] for about 18 months, so since 2011. Before that, we’d play random places as ‘The Jacob Lentner Band,’ ‘Jacob and Joseph Lentner,’ and other random names.”
Despite Lentner’s short lifespan as an official group, the band has already developed a reputation for performing energetic and interactive live shows. Yelling, dancing, and plenty of stage banter are par for the course at a gig. But at the heart of everything is the music.
Jacob Lentner says, “Our most recent material is very punchy, choppy, and groovy. We want people to move and keep moving when we play, so our recent tunes have been sounding very rhythmic and heavy, but also in your face.”
Future concerts may be a little tamer, considering Jacob recently tore his ACL and will be taking to the stage on crutches for at least the next few months. However, the young guitarist seems to be taking the setback in stride.
“We’re pretty much doing what millions upon millions of musicians have tried before, and that’s to make it in the business,” he says. “Yes, of course, we’d love to wake up every day six months out of the year and go play in front of 20,000 people that night, but for now, we are young. We’ll take it day by day and see where the hell it takes us.”
The next step for Lentner will likely be building on the recordings the band recently completed at Music Studio 307 in Stafford Springs, Conn. After that, it will be back to “going through the motions,” Jacob says—playing out as much as possible.
He says, “We can’t wait to see what the future holds for us. So let the critics critique, let the industry people keep being the way they are, let the beer keep flowing, and, in the words of Bon Scott, ‘It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll!'”
For more information on Lentner please visit http://www.facebook.com/lentnerband and http://www.reverbnation.com/lentner. Or follow the band on Twitter @lentnerband.
