Sam Saccone / Staff Photographer / ss324006@ohiou.edu

Members of the band The Ghost of Asa Phelps, Ryan Ford, Ben Gibbs, and Tim Carlson pose in the front of their house.

While many Ohio University students are packing up and moving home for the long winter break, members of the band Kaslo are gearing up for a lengthy tour.

“We figured we might as well get out of the fishbowl,” said Clay Flaherty, who plays guitar for the band. The fishbowl that he is referring to is the Athens music scene, and while the size of the town may drastically shrink when the university isn’t in session, the shows still go on.

“It’s pretty much business as usual,” said Scott Winland, the booking manager for The Union. The club usually books fewer shows on weeknights and maybe one or two dance parties because, as would be expected, the number of people who come to shows decreases. But that doesn’t mean that the quality of acts decrease too, he said.  

“We have so many fun events and shows planned that I think we’ll keep folks entertained,” Winland said, adding that he is particularly excited about shows featuring local bands Wheels on Fire and The Never Evers, the annual Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties and Lennon Fest, a Beatles tribute show that is held every December to benefit a charitable cause.

The large amount of down time allows for clubs in Athens to book the different types of shows, but it also enables local bands comprised of OU students to go on tour and publicize their band. Flaherty said that the experience of playing shows outside of Athens is something that takes a lot of preparation.

“When you leave, you really have to make people believe in what you are doing,” he said.

Kaslo’s tour includes venues in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Madison, Wis.

“We tried to book shows where we could hang our hat for the night and we knew people,” he said.

While Kaslo will be using the break to promote itself, other bands, such as The Ghost of Asa Phelps, will use the time to relax and write new songs.

“We’re putting an EP out at the end of this quarter, which we worked really hard on,” said Ryan Ford, who sings and plays guitar for the band. He also said that the individual members of the band will practice and write on their own, and will reconvene for two shows in Cleveland at the end of November.     Ford, a Washington native, said that even though it would take him about six hours to make the trip to Ohio, he would consider playing a show in Athens over break if offered.

“If it came up, maybe,” he said.  “I just feel like it’d be pretty much a ghost town.”