Band members' different influences combine to create The Intention's sound

More than a decade has passed since downtown Cape Girardeau live music staples The Intention began playing together, but guitarist Jesse McAllister said they don't necessarily view it that way.

"Wow, yeah, I can't really believe it's been that long," McAllister said. "I've never really thought of more than just the next time we play. I don't think it really crosses everybody's mind, but ever since we've been keeping track of it, around our 10-year anniversary, we thought, 'Man that's crazy.'"

Although their lineup shifted slightly in the past, vocalist Brad Berry was there from the beginning.

"It was me and one of my best friends; he had owned a studio downtown in Cape, and in that studio, we started writing some music of our own," he said. "Then we decided that we wanted to pursue it more, and we all kind of clicked."

He said the band members' differing musical backgrounds all came together to color the sound.

"Music has always been a big thing in my family. My family always sang; my sister played piano," Berry said. "I ended up being really good at it."

An early affinity for '60s and '70s rock gave way to an embrace of more contemporary mainstream music like that of Dave Matthews for Berry. Drummer Pete DeLuca was drawn more to country music, while McAllister was more into alternative rock, and bassist Sam Godwin was a jazz and funk aficionado.

"As a whole, we all kind of had our musical influences. I think what makes it great is all those influences," Berry said. "All of our influences combined, it gives it a different perspective on the music. We started playing songs that we just kind of liked to play."

Eventually, they settled on a setlist composed of what he calls "party music that people like to dance to, with '80s, funk and current music. I can't really say we have a single genre."

The way McAllister sees it, that's part of the reason for the band's longevity.

"How do you stay relevant and not just kind of play the same stuff over and over again?" he asked, adding that keeping things fresh is one of the greatest challenges of being in a band. "That's probably the main thing, trying to stay with whatever music everybody likes at the time."

But, he added, the band members all know not to take things too seriously.

"We've always been sort of laid-back," he said. "We like to have fun. We're all best of friends and stuff."

Berry said the band's success has more to do with its intimate relationship with its fan base.

"If we know that we're not reaching a particular audience, we can change things up to try and reach that person," he said. "To my knowledge, in this town, other than the Tone Def All Stars, we're the longest-running band; Tone Def has a year on us. ... Basically, we play songs that will get girls up to dance, rather than sitting there just listening to people play music."

You can catch the band playing Nov. 7 at Longshots for a night of "The Intention and Friends," wherein other musicians will sit in with the band, or on New Year's Eve, when they're playing a benefit concert for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at Ray's of Kelso.

tgraef@semissourian.com

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