Elgin-based band plays its first Chicago show

The Elgin-based band The Reverends had a big night a few weeks ago.

They played their first Chicago show at Reggie’s Rock Club on May 1, part of a concert that featured 11 local bands. And just before going onstage, one of their songs got airtime for the first time on the rock radio station WXRT-FM.

“It was very cool. We ducked out, we went to the car in the parking lot to listen,” said drummer Wyeth Bednar, 18, who also plays piano and trombone. “We opened the windows and blared it — sort of.”

The band also includes Wyeth’s younger brother, Tanner Bednar, 16, a sophomore at Elgin High School who sings and plays harmonica; bass and guitar player Brandon Couture, 19, a freshman at Elgin Community College; Chas Sirridge, 18, who plays guitar and is a senior at Larkin High School; and bassist George Rapidis, 18, a freshman at the University of Chicago.

When The Reverends formed in the summer of 2006, they were just kids ages 11 to 14 fooling around in the top floor of Wyeth and Tanner’s parents’ house.

Their first show was a few weeks later, across the street in a barn during a neighborhood party.

“I’m not gonna lie, when we started we sort of sucked,” Wyeth said.

But the crowd of family, friends and neighbors cheered them on, and the kids persevered with their music.

At first, they played covers of Green Day and AC/DC, but over the years migrated toward the bluesy, soulful sounds of Otis Redding and Ray Charles.

The Reverends also compose original songs, and their self-titled debut album came out in December.

“We always want to keep it fresh, always learning new covers and writing new songs because we get bored,” Brandon said.

Over the years, the band has played many shows at the now-defunct Mad Maggies in Elgin, and now often appear at Douglas Streets Sports Bar in Elgin.

The band’s name comes from the line “the reverence of euphoria” from a Jimi Hendrix song, which Chas mistakenly heard as “the reverends of euphoria,” they said.

After five years together through the trials and tribulations of high school, the band’s future is uncertain. In the fall, Wyeth, now a freshman at Elgin Community College, will be transferring to Berklee School of Music in Boston to study music composition.

“We will probably keep it around, to some extent,” Wyeth said.

Tanner is the only one who admitted he still harbors a dream that The Reverends “will go big and then tour around.”

As for their digs, The Reverends are still practicing at Wyeth and Tanner’s parents’ house.

For details on the group, visit its pages on MySpace or Facebook.