Orland band just wants to play music

Guitarist Jeremy Lockett wanted to be in a band.

"Guitar alone is like a movie without a sound track," Lockett said.

So, in keeping with the times, Lockett put an ad on Craigslist and waited.

Jeff Skelton was the first to respond.

The chemistry in their first meeting let them know they would make a good team, Lockett and Skelton said.

Not long after that, Steven Nunes was sitting at the drums and his lifelong friend Matt Dyer had picked up a bass guitar — and Seven Days was born.

The four Orland men said they enjoy being in the band because they "love playing music."

In fact, they chose the name Seven Days because "that's how many days of the week we like to play music," Lockett said. The rest agreed.

In just a year, the band has written several songs, recorded a five-song CD and put a video on YouTube.

Lockett and Skelton do most of the song-writing, but Nunes and Dyer "fill in with the writing" to tweak the songs, Dyer said.

Lockett said the writing process usually happens when he and Skelton come together with ideas of their own. Then, they work together to get a good sound and work out the words.

Musically, the songs mainly have a rock feel, though with a folksy, almost country sounding, guitar and soulful violin come out in songs such as "As Long As You're There."

The band's lyrics are thoughtful, heartfelt and focus on universal issues.

"River of Sorrow," their most popular song, asks, "Where do we go from here? Should we all drown in sorrow?" concluding that it is part of the "river of life."

"Don't Give Up," the third track on the self-titled disc, implores listeners.

"You only have one chance in life, so make sure that you get it right. So, all you really need to know. So, don't give up. Don't give in. Don't let all the people in who make you feel like you were wrong for just holding on."

The tight harmonies and solid musicianship give this local band an edge.

The band

Lockett, Nunes and Dyer graduated from Orland High School within three years of each other, and Skelton moved to town with his family as a young man.

Newest to music, Dyer, a construction worker specializing in granite counter tops, said he had talked about wanting to play bass for about five or six years when Nunes suggested the time was right.

"Matt's a natural," Lockett said, recalling that after Dyer had minimal instruction, "he took off."

Before joining the band, Dyer had musical experience, he said.

"I love being a musician because I just love to play music. Music's so soothing," he said. "You can have the worst day and music takes care of it all."

Lockett is the most experienced musician in the band. A house painter and stay-at-home dad, he started playing acoustic guitar when his parents bought him one at a thrift store, he said.

"I would not put it down," he said. "So, for my 12th birthday, they got me a real guitar. I still have never put it down."

He recalls his parents used to find him with his guitar after falling asleep on it.

Lockett, who taught himself to read music, turned to the piano at age 21 after "listening to classical stuff," he said. Self-taught on all instruments, he also plays the drums.

Music "is an outlet for me. However I'm feeling, it comes out in a song," Lockett said.

Even though he moved around the country for a few years before returning to his hometown, he said, "I've had a band everywhere I've gone. But nothing like this."

Nunes, who does iron work on construction sites, picked up his first set of drum sticks at age 15. His music career began at Fairview Elementary School and he mainly played brass and wind instruments through high school, he said.

"I got away from music for a while," Nunes said, but is happy to playing again.

The thing he likes most about playing in a band and performing is "the enjoyment people get out of something you've created."

Skelton came to Orland in 1989 thinking he would not stay long. But he never left, even when he took a job as a mechanic at Chico auto dealership and later went to work at Corning Chevrolet. Recently he got a promotion that moved him over to Corning Ford.

Like the other band members, Skelton would love to make his living writing and performing music, he said.

"I love writing. I didn't realize I had that ability," he said, "but Jeremy brought that out in me. We're a good fit."

"I like making original music, expressing it and sharing it," Skelton added. His least favorite part of being in the band is "learning cover songs just to perform."

Though "singing is my favorite," Skelton said he learned piano and guitar, so he could play in his church band. That wasn't much of a stretch, though. He played bass guitar in a high school garage band.

Seven Days already has performed at venues in Orland and Redding, where there first gig was in a church parking lot.

Behind the scenes, local business owner Dusty Lefdal, the group's manager, said "the plan of attack" is to take the band "market by market."

Also working with the band are Cheryl and Michael Wolfe, who own an Internet marketing business. Their idea is to take the band "viral to get followers" on the Internet.

So far, they have created and put a video on YouTube, though it is difficult to find — it seems Seven Days is not an original band name — and the sound and video quality are poor. It's a cover of Tonic's "If You Could Only See," recorded in Dyer's living room.

Seven Days' much higher quality CD, recorded at After Hours Studio in Redding, is available from iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, at live performances like the Friends of the orland Free Library Ice Cream Social Saturday in Liberty Park and from band members.

KNOW & GO

WHAT: Ice Cream Social Concert in the Park
WHO: Seven Days
WHEN: 7 p.m., today
WHERE: Library Park, Orland