Elora/Guelph based band The Boo Radley Project will be taking to the streets of Guelph and Wellington County as part of their Walking for a Porpoise 24 hour concert walk on July 21.
Proceeds collected from the walk will go to support the Wild Dolphin Foundation, based in Waianae, Hawaii, an organization that works towards the worldwide conservation of dolphins and porpoises.
“The first song we ever wrote was called “Save the Whales” and our band has a weird obsession with marine life,” explained drummer/percussionist Haydn Watters.
“So we wanted to do something marine life related. It’s a non-conventional charity to do this for, but this is a cause that’s near to our heart,” he said adding, “Walking for a Porpoise just came together.”
Describing their sound as “alterna-funk,” Watters explains, “We’re all over the map genre-wise.”
The band consists of Watters and band mate Daley O’Keeffe on drums and percussion, Eddie Hernandez on guitar, Scott Rippon on bass and vocals, Leon Obrascovs on violin and keyboard, and Emmett Watters as lead singer, guitar and synthesizer.
“We all met at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic school,” Watters explains, adding three band members are still in that school, while the other three have begun post-secondary studies.
“We’ve been talking about doing this walk since last year and we finally decided this is the right time, because we are all back together for the summer.”
Carrying their instruments and playing as they go, the six-piece alternative funk band will kick off their fundraising walk at 7am on July 21 in downtown Guelph’s St. George’s Square.
“It’s crazy, but we’re going to do it. We’ve had honey-tone amps donated to us, so we can carry them while we play. We’ll use bongos and a hand-drum for percussion,” Watters said.
“We’ll take breaks, but we plan to be playing most of the time.”
The band will be walking and playing throughout Guelph during the morning and then make the trek to Elora, meandering over to Second Line East through Ponsonby, a safer, less busy road.
“We would just love to raise any amount of money and all our proceeds throughout the day, on the route and at the show will go to the Wild Dolphin Foundation,” he confirmed.
“We would like donations and we’re also looking for in-kind sponsors for people to power us along the way.”
One thing the band is looking for is a contribution of water, to keep everyone hydrated throughout the journey.
Businesses who sponsor the band along their route will get a short performance played at their location, as the boys make their way past.
“We are playing a couple of planned shows around Elora,” Watters said. “KIPP Elora is hosting an event that night in Bissell park, so we’re going to swing by there too.”
A highlight of the walk will be an all-ages fund raising concert at the Shepherd’s Pub in Elora, beginning at 9pm on the Saturday.
“We’re going to give it our all at the live show,” Watters assures, adding he knows they will be tired but determined.
A film crew, called Flip Artists, made up of Lourdes students, will be accompanying the band to create a documentary film.
Continuing through the night, despite being unable to play due to noise bylaws, the band will end their walk at the intersection of Mill and Metcalfe Streets in downtown Elora at 7am on July 22.
“We’re excited to do this and we we’re excited to get this going,” explained Watters.
“Once we contacted the Wild Dolphin Foundation, they were thrilled that we would help them out. They’ve never had an event like this.”
That’s music to the band’s ears and inspiration to carry forward into the recording of their second album, following the debut release of Renaissance Men in December 2011.
To make a donation to Walk for a Porpoise 24 hour walk, or to follow the band’s events on July 21, visit Facebook.com/booradleyproject, or Twitter.com/brap_music.
For more information on the foundation, visit wilddolphin.org.
