Bank the Band
Stepping down from the stage in a syncopated rate to the sweat dripping off their faces, Boise, Idaho based Bank the band looks as at home here as they would in their native desert residence. Playing shows every night in 100% DIY fashion, the “eck brothers”, Dan Keck, Andrew Keck and Steve Pecka, have kept their 1998 Ford Clubwagon, dubbed “the green monster”, on the road from Billings, Montana to San Diego and Seattle to St. George, Utah, and everywhere in between. Guitarist frontman Daniel Keck saw the band as a vehicle for the ideas set forth by Jack Kerouac’s “On The Road” and started booking shows on weekends with friends in Seattle and Salt Lake City. The book portrays the beautiful ideas of freedom and independence that has been a motivation for other songwriters. Even Ben Gibbard, which Dan admits is a contemporary influence, cites Kerouac as one of his early catalysts to tour. From humble beginnings to weekend outings, the band saw that they could book full tours using the same principles set forth by networking with other regional bands. “There is a brotherhood among unsigned touring bands,” says Dan. “You are out there together on the asphalt and in smoky bars and you figure you can work together and have a chance at making it.”
A mind set to work hard no matter what the obstacle has made this quartet work. It seems cliche to talk about overcoming hardships like member changes and lack of funds, but in this day where the fuel prices are enough to make a band crumble, sticking together is the hardest part. The thing most people don’t know is that this band, noticing a sizeable increase in fans at shows everywhere they play, has been around for over four years. In that period of time they have self released an E.P., a full length that was self produced in Nashville just off of Music Row with Donny Boutwell and most recently “The Hope Inside Your Sleep” with famed producer Ed Rose in Eudora, Kansas.
It is a long road ahead but a long road is all right when following the footsteps of Dean Moriarty and Sal Paradise. So far, freedom and independence have been the lifeblood of this band. Those inalienable rights give Bank the chance to make it big.
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