High Bank Boys Hit the Opera House in What Cheer

 

Based out of small town Deep River, a town full of rich history, Tyler Geiger traced back the history books and read that the town wasn't named after the actual river but the overly "High Banks" which the river ran through at nearly twelve foot tall from top to bottom! It seemed fitting to name the band as such so therefore making the decision easy for a band name, "The High Bank Boys".

Their musical inspiration comes from any country musician who produces genuine heartfelt lyrics that entertain and make the listeners feel. Main influences include Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Cody Hicks, George Strait, Jon Pardi and other real musicians.

The band started just a little less than a year ago after Tyler had pursued multiple music ventures and wanted to branch off into his own thing because he had written his own songs and had been told that they were good by some significant people in his life. He went to Forte Studios in Boone, IA and recorded two original songs to start off with and see how the response was locally. They played a full summer of shows before school started up again and stayed busy by playing at least two shows every month. This became harder to do as one of the members had moved to college and was making very long drives to make the shows work. However, they continued to play around, mostly Poweshiek County and Mahaska County, for the entire winter and through the end of the school year.

Now that school is out again, the boys are in full swing and have two shows booked every weekend through the end of July. Tyler says, “It is going to be a fun-filled summer and we also are planning on returning to the studio to produce a full album which will include twelve or more original songs which I have written. We are very excited to say the least!”

 

 

Individual Member Biographies:

 

Kale Latcham, 17, just finished his junior year at Montezuma High School. Prior to the formation of the band, Kale had never touched a guitar in his life. However, he played trumpet for many years and continues to do so today. I began to teach Kale bass guitar which was a challenging venture, but sure enough he picked up quick and was rolling smoothly in no time. Kale is a very enthusiastic member of the band otherwise known as "the life of the party".

 

Jude Teumer, 16, also just finished his junior year at Monte and had never played guitar before joining the band. He joined at the beginning of 2016 and has been learning and helping out ever since!

 

Sid Roorda, 19, just finished his freshman year of college at Iowa State University and has been playing drums for most of his life. He has made some real sacrifices for the continuity of our group and we're happy that he's a part of it!

 

Tyler Geiger, 17, has been playing guitar since his sophomore year of high school and singing since then also. He began songwriting when he was involved with the Cody Hicks Band which is also form Montezuma, IA. His first song "I'm Goin' Home" is about the troubles of life on the road and just how big of a toll it takes on the family life.

 

Ed Henning is a fiddle player but his musical abilities don't stop there. He is skilled in so many different areas that it is head spinning! Viola, Bagpipes, Piano, and Guitar just to name a few! We are very excited to have Ed on board and we hope he adds that extra little bit of showmanship that is going to put us over the top and help us reach our goals!                                                               

 

Ultimately the band just loves making music and playing some good old country songs to anybody who wants to stop long enough to listen. They are always trying to get their name out there so that they can share our love for music with anyone and everyone.

 When asked about the opportunity to play at the Historic Opera House Geiger said, “When we got offered to play the What Cheer Opera House I was extremely hesitant to confirm. I knew they had large and traditional bands in there regularly, but probably nothing like us in quite a while. Thankfully, Keith Fisch was extremely accommodating and he worked with us and our schedule to make sure we booked a show. We were obviously excited to know that they were interested in us! Such a historic place. What an honor! So my bass player (Kale Latcham) and I went down and toured last Monday and we were left speechless. When we went backstage and saw that names such as Ernest Tubb and Porter Wagoner had played there, we didn't know what to think! We were beside ourselves. So, needless to say we are extremely overjoyed to be playing this show and we hope everyone has a great night so that they ask us back! We also have a new element in the band which will be unveiled in this show and we think its going to make our performance ten times better! Bring on the Opera House!”

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