Valentiger // Photo by Amy Carroll

By Jena Tiller

The Internet, for better or for worse, has changed the way that we listen to music. The relationship between ‘fan’ and ‘musician’ has taken on an entirely new dynamic in the age of Web 2.0, and it goes without saying that bands have had to adjust to this new paradigm or be left behind to toil in obscurity within the vast digital sea of the almighty interwebz.

Grand Rapids-based trio Valentiger knows first-hand the effects that the digital age has had on musicians: Up until two years ago, they were known as Happy Hour, a seemingly innocuous enough name in the pre-search engine days.

“In 2002, it wasn’t such a huge deal to have a band called Happy Hour,” said front-man and guitarist Brent Shirey. “But as the Internet progressed, it became impossible to Google us and be able to find us.”

The non-Google-friendly name also caused confusion when the band played out of state or at most bars, for obvious reasons.

“When we would be advertised to play, people had no idea that we were a band. They just thought it was the bar time,” said Shirey.

And so in 2008, Shirey, along with bandmates Scott Rider on drums and bassist Eric Kehoe, became Valentiger and released their “debut” album “Power Lines to Electric Times”, a collection of mellow indie folk-rock tunes tinged with 60s inspired melodies.

“We really like the melodies and harmonies of that era,” said Shirey, who names The Kinks as a main influence, as well as Wilco and Pavement.

Though Valentiger may draw from the 60s sonically, there’s no doubt the band is operating with 21st century sensibilities.

Grasping the need to interact with fans beyond just posting songs online, while on tour for “Power Lines” Valentiger started what they call “field projects,” in which the band scouts for unique locations on each individual tour stop and films a live acoustic version of every song on the album.

The response from fans was overwhelmingly positive.

“People really enjoyed seeing something different as opposed to a really budgeted music video,” said Shirey.

The popularity of the field projects assured they will be carried over to the band’s upcoming tour for their second full-length album “Oh, To Know!” set to be released March 5th.

Included in the latest tour is a coveted three day set at the Mecca of indie rock festivals SXSW in Austin, Tex. as part of the Flying Dog Brewery showcase, a gig the band landed in a purely old school fashion while on a tour stop in Washington, D.C. To kill some time before their show, the band stopped in at the famous local chili-dog haunt Ben’s Chili Bowl, known as a favorite to comedian/Jell-O pudding enthusiast Bill Cosby.

“We were just eating at the counter at this chili-dog place, and we just happened to be sitting next to a guy, so we said ‘Hey, check out our music’ and gave him one of our promotional CDs,” said Shirey.

The fellow chili-dog patron turned out to be a PR rep for the Maryland-based brewery in charge of setting up their SXSW showcase. About a month later, the band received an email inviting them to the festival March 18-20.

For a band that has been able to reap the benefits of the new era of cyberspace savvy, it’s ironic that Valentiger’s pivotal opportunity arose from a chance encounter offline.

“It’s funny how effective [face-to-face communication] is now because of all the Internet stuff,” said Shirey. “It’s so easy to blow someone off when you’re just one in a million in the internet world, but if you actually talk to someone face-to-face, it’s interesting how much more meaningful that is.”

Standing out in both the online and offline worlds hasn’t proved to be difficult for Valentiger, who have met the challenges of the new musical landscape with renewed vigor and a vision of what it means to be a successful band in digital age.

“I’m not sure how labels work anymore, I’m not sure people sign contracts or record deals; I think that’s dead,” said Shirey. “It kind of comes down to someone wanting to back your project and funding you to see what you can do. And that’s what I see happening, someone really enjoying what we do, whether that’s a company or a person and just wanting to get behind us.”

Valentiger’s record release show and tour kick-off starts March 5 at Bar Divani in Grand Rapids, and you can catch a preview their new album “Oh, To Know!” at http://www.download.themusebox.net/valentiger.