Robert Dinkins, Jr.
Viewpoints Editor
Part Time Uncle, a rather unique name to describe a very distinct group, recently released their first EP, “Drunk at Lowry.” If you haven’t heard of Part Time Uncle, now is the time to jump on the hype train. Containing eight of The College of Wooster’s very own, Part Time Uncle is a group of students dedicated to creating beautiful music. With Jeremy Smucker ’19 on guitar and vocals, Finn Schneider ’19 on keyboards, Will Courtney ’19 on drums, Joe Vickers ’18 on bass, Brendan Lemkin ’19 on synthesizer, Adam Hirsch ’19 playing trumpet and Eric Guberman ’19 playing the alto saxophone, Part Time Uncle is a well versed group offering a balanced sound.
Smucker ’19 said that the process of creating “Drunk at Lowry” first started from a house party. “Our bassist, Joe, recorded us playing a house show earlier this year on his phone. We were pumped after hearing the recording, but we decided if we were going to release music it should be put down in a studio. We had written a few new songs that we wanted to record really bad, ‘Wait’ and ‘On the Porch,’ and we also wanted to record some of the music we had written a while back last year, ‘Tommy’ and ‘Catch Me if You Can,’” Smucker said. From there they decided to book studio time at Central 8 Studios, which is in Northeast Ohio.
Their EP, “Drunk at Lowry,” contains four tracks: “Wait,” “On the Porch,” “Tommy” and “Catch Me If You Can.” All of the songs contain beautiful lyrics that are clearly articulated over a sobering melody.
I appreciate Part Time Uncle starting off with “Wait,” which allows the audience to hear the energy from the vocals and especially through the beat. The chord progression on the song is amazing. “On the Porch” is a love song with Jeremy singing about a lover and how he wants to drink on the porch all day with only them. “Tommy” talks about the growth of a close friendship between a person named Tommy. “Tommy” definitely reminds us that we are all different from our middle and high school years. We should reach out to our friends especially if we see them going through a lot of stress. “Catch Me If You Can” reminds me of romantic college experiences. Oftentimes we run away from those we care about the most.
This is not the first time that the members of the band have gotten together to create music. “All seven of us have played with each other in different arrangements at the Goliard event, Covers,” Smucker ’19 said. “Additionally, we are all good friends, so we had jammed together a lot over the years. I can’t point to a specific moment where we “officially” became a band, Part Time Uncle just emerged naturally since we play so much music together.”
To support the group you can purchase the album on Bandcamp and iTunes for $4 and listen on Spotify where their bio reads, “Just a bunch of bums from The College of Wooster.” They will be performing at Bonnawoo tomorrow, March 3 at 8 p.m. in the Underground. They also have an event at Spoon Market & Deli coming up on March 30.