Lauren Ostrom – for the Review. An intimate group of Linfield students gathered in Fred Meyer Lounge to listen to Gabrielle Louise and her band, “The Gabrielle Louise Show,” perform Oct. 19. The band came to Linfield to perform as an event for Green Week.
Each member of the group brings its own style to the songs. The band consists of David Rynhart, Ryan Drickey, Carl Sorenson and Louise. The band has a folk or roots sound and incorporates environmental issues into its music.
Louise said she played many songs from her latest album at the performance.
“[It] was the final show in a two-month tour around the United States, from East Coast to West, promoting my newest album, ‘Cigarettes for Sentiments,’” Louise said. “We mostly played songs from that record; however, we also included a single I released last year called ‘Save the Arkansas.’”
“Save the Arkansas” highlights an environmental situation that threatens the health and safety of Arkansas watershed resources.
Louise, who grew up near the Arkansas River, is influenced by many factors, including personal experiences, social issues, love, family, camaraderie, sex and connection with nature.
Louise said her biggest accomplishment has been converting the band’s tour van to run on vegetable oil. Louise spoke to Linfield students about this process earlier in the day.
The band converted its van in the summer of ’07 and has since toured in it across the country.
“The Gabrielle Louise Show” can be described as making a commitmen toward peace and the environment through music, she said
“I’m very proud that we’ve been able to successfully convert our tour van, affectionately dubbed ‘Vita,’ to run on vegetable oil, as it has enabled us to tour nationally, bringing both our music and our passion for alternative fuel options to audiences,” Louise said.
Freshman Mariah Jones said her favorite part of the performance was the band‘s original style and eco-friendly beliefs.
“We have been learning to go ‘green’ since we’ve been at school, so having ‘The Gabrielle Louise Show’ incorporate that into its music really shows the school it is doing all it can to try and get through to us,” Jones said. “They were a great band to have here.”
To learn more about the band, visit www.gabriellelouise.com. To learn more about using vegetable oil as an alternative automobile fuel source, visit www.greasecar.com.