Collegiate Times

The Golden Butter Band

Band names are often quirky, but they aren’t usually decided based on a game of beer pong. Enter: The Golden Butter Band.

“We played a game of beer pong and whatever team won decided what the name would be because (the band) couldn’t agree on it,” said Alex Kerns, a guitarist and vocalist in the band.

In the end, Golden Butter Band beat out Golden Butter Jam and ended the dispute. Where exactly either of these names came from isn’t quite so clear.

“I believe Willy, our lead singer, came up with Golden Butter Band,” Alex said. “I think it had something to do with butter being smooth, but really it’s just one of those things where somebody just thought of it.”

The Golden Butter Band is venturing down to Blacksburg this weekend to play at 622 North. This Saturday, Jan. 28, they’ll be cranking out music from all three of their albums from 9 p.m. until midnight.

While this will be the five-member band’s first trip to this area, they are all natives of Virginia. The band members knew each other growing up in the small town of Berryville, Va.

In 2006, Rick Batka, Cameron Gorman and Willy Matthews founded the band, with Alex joining shortly after. There was also a fifth member, a drummer, who was replaced about a year later.

“It was tough to kick out the old drummer because he was a close friend,” Alex said. “It was the toughest thing we’ve had to do as a band.”

Alex’s brother Riley Kerns, who also played the drums and already knew the other members, soon filled the void, becoming the fifth member. 

From there, the group began perfecting its eclectic sound to match its equally eclectic name.

“If I had to sum it up in a genre, I always like to call it rock-reggae or reggae-rock,” Alex said. “It’s hard to describe it. It just mirrors what we grew up listening to.”

Riley expanded on the band’s characterization.

“People have compared us to bands like 311 or Incubus,” Riley said. “We’ve also really been inspired by older bands like The Beach Boys and The Beatles. There’s a little bit of everything in there.”

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A version of this article appeared in the Jan 26 issue of the Collegiate Times.