The Athens music scene is filled with original and unorthodox musicians. This week, one such act will be visiting from across the country.
Rence Liam, better known by his stage name Dear Rabbit, will be performing at Casa Nueva’s "Early Show" on Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m.
Liam is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Colorado, and is currently on a national tour promoting his new album, They’re Not Like You.
The album, which is available on Spotify and can be purchased on the artist’s website, contains songs with abstract lyrics, such as in “I Wrecked A Bus” and “Don’t Let South Dakota Spiders Eat You.”
While the guitar is his instrument of choice, he often turns to other instruments to achieve different musical tones. In the song “Beal Leave,” for instance, he incorporates the piano and violin.
Liam got his start as a bassist for a friend’s band before becoming a solo musician.
“My best friend, my buddy — I used to back him up,” Liam said. “There came a point where it kind of got too much for him. I did not know how to write songs, I did not know how to play guitar or anything really, and I really didn’t know how to sing either.”
He has since developed his musical capabilities and is now an established independent act. He said he has been touring for five years, having performed in 47 states and four provinces.
Grace Corbin, a 2006 Ohio University graduate, is the marketing coordinator at Casa Nueva and a longtime friend of Liam’s. The two met while Corbin was living in Colorado Springs in 2007.
“He was opening for my friend’s band, the Haunted Windchimes,” said Corbin. “We met because we had a bunch of mutual friends out there so I sort of met him just in the music scene. He opened for them at this place called the Triple Nickel, which I think is the first time I ever saw him play.”
Corbin said that Liam’s eccentric musical style is perfect for the Casa Nueva music scene.
“We don’t really fit into a niche necessarily here with our music shows,” Corbin said. “We have Americana, sometimes bluegrass, sometimes metal, sometimes hippie jam bands, sometimes singer-songwriter nights. We just kind of book whatever sounds interesting.”
Liam is scheduled to perform a house show in Athens following the Casa Nueva show.
“We’re trying to maximize his exposure here (for) the five hours that he’s here,” Corbin said. “Anyone that wants to just hear something new and different and interesting that they probably have never heard anything like it before should come.”
Liam has performed in large cities all across the nation during this tour, but is looking forward to bringing his act to a receptive small town audience.
“If people are excited about it, then it makes me happy because it probably means I’ll have a pretty good time,” he said.
