Jack_07272016

THE BAND BE EASY DOES
“
As a minority
— an allblack
band
— sometimes
you get in a
situation where
you get a little
uncomfortable
... People are
people, [it]
doesn’t matter
what color,
and we all just
wanna have a
good time. The
city has played
a huge part in
allowing us to
be ourselves,
watching and
helping us
grow.”
4
jack | JULY 27-AUGUST 9, 2016
Will Montgomery
Drums
BY COURTNEY CLARK
jack
The Band Be Easy
has experienced a
growth in popularity
over the past three
and a half years that
its members would have been
hard-pressed to imagine. At One
Spark 2015, Jacksonville’s annual
crowdfunding festival, it was
voted #1 for music.
Although Aaron Thomas, one
of the lead vocalists, doesn’t like
Gregory ‘Soulo’ Lyons
Lead Guitar
to stamp the group with any one
genre, he says the band produces
soulful sounds.
“We blend different genres,
and we’re a soulful type of Rock
‘n’ Roll and Blues and Motown
and Reggae; just a blend of all
these different styles that we kind
of created as our own,” he says.
Thomas is joined by Soulo
Lyons, Arthur Jones (A.J.), Will
Montgomery, Rick Benjamin
and Jonathan Johnson. Not all
members are from Jacksonville,
Rick Benjamin
Bass Guitar
but they have come to enjoy the
city’s burgeoning music scene and
their local mates.
“I love the city,” Thomas says.
“We’ve reached out to all different
sides of town [and we’re able] to
be a part of great communities
throughout. We wanna come
in and socialize and meet new
people.
“As a minority – an all-black
band – sometimes you get in a
situation where you get a little
uncomfortable. There’s a lot of