Photos by Mike Batson Photography
HOLLYWOOD, MD — Called a high energy modern country group with a rock twist, local party band Come Back Iris has released their summer tour schedule, including Seabreeze Restaurant and Tiki Bar May 28 in Mechanicsville and Beerfest in St. Mary’s City on June 25.
Members include lead guitarist and vocalist Bennie Skibicki, guitarist Danny Fisher, bassist Steve White, and drummer Matt Callaway, said John Vallandingham, lead vocalist and founding band member.
“I started the group playing rhythm guitar in 2013, but realized that to keep the energy going that I had to put down the guitar and sing,” said Vallandingham. “When I realized that, I was like ‘What am I going to do with my hands when I actually put the guitar down?’”
Come Back Iris performs because it’s fun to get the party started, said Vallandingham.
“We consider ourselves a party band that does Top 40 music, but what sets us apart is that we do new country and high energy country. It’s all newer country, stuff you can dance to. And we throw pop and rock into the mix,” said Vallandingham. “Probably one of the artists we most often cover is Dustin Lynch and Jason Aldean.”
Come Back Iris has a Facebook page to communicate with their followers, said Vallandingham.
“We communicate with our fans mostly through Facebook messaging. They’ll request a new or different song or ask where we are playing next,” said Vallandingham. “We were invited out to Tiki Bar this year and it was so good to be asked back and we enjoyed performing there. We were jumping all over that stage like we were some kind of heavy metal band. We take the high energy part very seriously. We try to stay away from the country band label.”
The band members still have day jobs when they’re not playing music, said Vallandingham.
“I own an engineering firm in Leonardtown, that’s my Monday through Friday job. The bassist is a software engineer at NAS-PAX. Danny owns a concrete polishing company, Benny works locally as a carpenter, and Matt manages the Callaway Property Management,” said Vallandingham.
The name for the band came from an almost tragic incident, said Vallandingham.
“We were having a house party, a barbeque, when my brother brought over his Australian Shepherd, Iris. The music scared her, and she ran into the street and got run over. She ran off, and we spent the rest of the evening looking for Iris,” said Vallandingham.
After they called off the search, the dog came back on her own the following morning with only a scratch, said Vallandingham.
“My brother’s wife was outside when Iris came back. She picked up the dog, and when she saw my brother Iris leapt into his arms. I thought that we should involve Iris in the name of the band and here we are,” said Vallandingham.
Iris is still around to enjoy the band’s music, said Vallandingham.
“Iris is getting ready to have her second litter. I am one of seven siblings, so each of us has one of Iris’s puppies,” said Vallandingham. “We do still play some of the songs that we were performing when Iris ran off.”
The inspiration to put the band together came from experiencing live music throughout his life, said Vallandingham.
“I’ve seen more rock bands than country bands, but any show I’ve been to, I always had the thought that there is nothing more in the world that I would rather do that to be on stage and perform and put on a good show for these people. And there’s no better feeling. I try to see other local bands live as well to support them too,” said Vallandingham.
Encouraging people to come out to their shows is important to the band, said Vallandingham.
“None of us are paid musicians, we all have jobs or companies to run when we’re done rehearsing. So we do everything we can and think of to make sure that we can pack as many fans as possible into our shows because that’s what we’re all about,” said Vallandingham. “Playing to nobody is just practice. So we want big crowds to follow us whenever they can and we want to make sure they have a good time.”
The goal of the group was not to limit themselves to one genre, so they could appeal to as many potential fans as possible, said Vallandingham.
“If you label yourself as a country band, you’re limiting yourself to venues that only accept country bands and limiting yourself to people who like country music,” said Vallandingham. “We want to perform at all of the big waterfront venues all of the big clubs like in Baltimore or Ocean City so that’s why I say Come Back Iris is a high energy modern country group with a rock twist. Everything is more ‘rocked up,’ a little bit faster paced.”
Come Back Iris rotates songs regularly to keep up to date with the latest hits, said Vallandingham.
“We still do a couple of those house party songs, but we rotate music on a regular basis based on what’s playing on the radio. Artists are always coming out with new singles and so we add those to our list as time goes on,” said Vallandingham. “Jason Aldean just put out his latest single and we added that in immediately to stay current because what plays on the radio people are going to want to hear.”
For more information about the band’s schedule, check out their website.
Jacqui Atkielski can be contacted via email at j.atkielski@thebaynet.com.
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