The 131ers

Playing their own distinctive style of indie-folk-rock, Torrance, California natives, The 131ers, are frequently described as embodying a new sense of a classic Americana. Since August of 2015 when they took the music out of their basement, Kaleb Davies (guitar/vocals), Ryan Dawson (drums), and Chris Graue (bass), have been gaining steam ever since. In this short period, they have released an EP of originals (Leavin' - August 2015), a Kanye West covers EP (131s & Heartbreak - October 2015) and a full length, self-titled album (January 2016). With a full slate of shows, there's no sign of slowing down.

When Ryan first met Kaleb in high school, he hated him. But Ryan can be that way about a lot of people, so it wasn't surprising. When he finally gave Kaleb a chance, they quickly bonded and became best friends. They tooled around with music as a duo at Kaleb's parents' house, occasionally bringing in other musicians to collaborate with. One of the most frequent collaborator was Chris.

Chris was a teacher at a children's music and theater camp Kaleb attended as a child. He lived on the same block and took Kaleb on as something of a little brother from the time he was 9 years old. He frequently showed up at family events and high school functions as the awkwardly-too-old guy to help Kaleb with his various endeavors. Chris had been touring extensively in his other band, Rock Ridge Music backed pop punk act The Maxies, when a break in their schedule allowed him to team up full time with Kaleb and Ryan. 

The band's name came from an interesting glitch in iTunes music software. When a song was missing a genre in its ID3v1 tags, it generated an error code that it displayed instead. Kaleb encountered this code again and again, as most of the artists he enjoyed were labeled with the same number: 131. As time went on, this became the shorthand code that the program would use to identify indie music. The 131ers grew to merge modern music of this sort (The Lumineers, Conor Oberst) with their love of past classics (Bob Dylan, Tom Petty). 

First and foremost, The 131ers are best friends. If the music went away, they would still hang out every day, play with Kaleb's cat, go on road trips, and bother each other on group chat incessantly. Wherever they go, they bring fun with them, and this quality is best seen in their live show. Rather than the typical, standoffish, too-cool-for-you attitude most bands give, The 131ers invite you into their circle. The audience may come in strangers, but they leave as friends.

The 131ers are in the early stages of development for their next record. On board to assist in the production of this record is Vince Walker of Suburban Legends. Chris had subbed in as a trumpet player for Suburban Legends and made several of their videos, so when he got involved with The 131ers, Vince took notice. There is no official release date in mind, but new material is beginning to work its way into the set. Catch them on the road or keep an eye out for their several music videos that keep making their way onto the web.

For more information, contact the131ersband@gmail.com