Screaming toward resolution: This, Is a Virtue prepares for final gig

After gigging hard and recording two albums in their sole year as a band, the members of the Cape Girardeau-based rock band This, is a Virtue are parting company.

John Thurman, Josh Keusenkothen, Will Perry, Randy Casey and Lucas Collier will perform together for the last time on Dec. 10. After that, Collier will move to St. Louis to pursue his education and the rest will chase their own endeavors.

The five musicians gained a respectable following during the course of the 30 to 40 energetic shows they put on this year. More than anything, they want to make it clear that there are no hard feelings resulting from the band's breakup. John Thurman, who did vocals, said the fans generally have been supportive, although their reaction has been one of shock.

"A lot of them are like, 'why?'" Thurman said. "Rumor floated really quickly, and since it's negative news, human instinct would lead one to think something bad happened or that we're mad at each other. But that's not the case."

Thurman doesn't think the split is going to break any hearts -- at least, he hopes it won't. In any case, he and his bandmates want the turnout for their farewell gig to be huge so they can thank their supporters and dispel any wrong assumptions -- as well as rock out one last time.

"We want to go out with a bang and let people know what happened," he said.

According to Thurman, one of the hallmarks of a This, is a Virtue show was the synergy between crowd and band that fueled the performances. He described how the band fed off the crowd, and how if the audience felt something, he and his bandmates felt it, too. And as he looked back at the band's whirlwind year, he came to the realization that, as far as virtues go, humbleness and acceptance are just as important as determination and majesty.

"Once, we played at the Creepy Crawl in St. Louis on the stage where a lot of our peers had played, and at the time I thought it was our defining moment," he said. "But honestly, one of the best shows we ever played was one of our last, at the Manhattan Room in Sikeston. There were a lot of kids we knew there, and a lot of energy, great crowd participation -- it just felt really good. Afterward, we were exhausted, but we were smiling."

Perhaps gratitude and peace are the virtues most befitting This, is a Virtue in its last days. The flyer for the final show announces the band will "bid farewell" and depicts a swan stitching up a wound on its chest.

"It was just something I drew on there," Thurman said. "I guess it's a little, I don't know, grotesque? Mainly, I wanted to express that something beautiful can still recover. Like, this band can break up, but we're all going to be fine. We're going to move on and be successful and nothing's going to be lost."

This, is a Virtue will perform at the Enchanted Forest in Cape Girardeau on Dec. 10 at 9 p.m.