Beats, Brews & Buddies

Tune into our 21st episode featuring Roanoke-based percussionist Darnell Rose!

Brach Rauchle has lived in the New River Valley for the past decade performing in groups such as Urth, Chupacabras, Ripejive & Lazy Man Dub Band as well as in horn sections with many different groups. He is principally a guitarist, saxophone player & vocalist & likes to build strange things to hit with his feet & other appendages.

A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Brach spent most of his musical career in the Los Angeles area prior to his life in Virginia. While on the West coast for about 15 years he performed & recorded with many groups on both guitar and saxophone. His funk / progressive trio, Urth, performed their original music regularly at venues such as the Knitting Factory, the Coconut Teaser & the world-renown jazz/fusion nightclub the Baked Potato while also working as the rhythm section of a jazz quartet, performing at many weddings, casuals & various events where he wouldn't normally be allowed to loiter like the Johnathon Club in downtown LA. During his college years Brach began to develop his multi-instrumental approach which led to the formation of the band Urth in it's original trio format in which he played guitar & bass simultaneously on a self modified 7-string guitar while also incorporating his first instrument, the alto saxophone. By building an elevated stand out of some drum stand, guitar stand & sax stand parts, he was able to play the sax along with the 7-string. Some years later, he would ultimately build the world's craziest solo rig in the pursuit of true spontaneous improvisation of form. It was very very heavy... and big. Nowadays Brach is loving playing music with his beautiful brothers and sisters in Chupacabras, Lazy Man Dub Band & Ripejive as well as enjoying working with and getting to hear the music of so many other fantastic musicians in the NRV area, all while carrying as little gear as possible whenever he possibly can.

Jeff Midkiff is mandolin virtuoso based in Roanoke, VA. He’s also a clarinetist, and between reed and strings, he has performed with opera companies and symphony orchestras. And that is symphony orchestras, plural: Milwaukee, Knoxville, Shreveport, Champaign-Urbana, Jacksonville, Williamsburg, Northwest Florida, Southeast Texas, Ohio Northern, and Cal Poly Symphony Orchestras, the Rochester and Boulder Philharmonics, and the Yale Concert Band. And speaking of Yale, they gave him their Distinguished Music Educator award in 2017. It was for his work as a music educator and Orchestra Director for the Roanoke City Schools – Midkiff holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Education and a Masters in clarinet performance.

Matt Browning is a musician and singer-songwriter. He's been working to put words and stories to music for over 20 years. Matt's current band, The Floorboards, have released two albums of original music and are preparing to record the third.

Kenny Seay, life long musician and music teacher, established The Rock with Kenny Seay in 2021. Jesus Christ is the ROCK, the foundation and the one responsible for his gift of music. He uses his love of music to witness to others the gift Christ has given us all, if we only call on him. His mission is winning souls for Christ by explaining the unexplained and supernatural through a biblical reality and worldview. His podcast The Rock with Kenny Seay is now available on Anchor, Spotify, and YouTube.

We are so excited to premiere our DRUM ROUNDTABLE! Featuring JT Fauber, Bruce Wall, and Mason Jennelle.

Jake is a Roanoke, VA based bass player, live sound engineer and recording geek. He currently plays in The Floorboards, The Dead Reckoning, Issac Hadden Project, The Darkside Experience, and various other pick up gigs and projects. You can find him behind the console at 5 Points Music Sanctuary and on various venue and festival stages in the southeast. In his spare time he likes to hang out with his kids, wander around in the woods, and cook.

Jody Ensor is a guitarist specializing in finger picking like James Taylor but enjoys playing all kinds of music from oldies to modern day pop. Along with being a solo act, he has been a member of The Fat Daddy Blues Band and The Key West Band.

Dan Keeley, a native of Roanoke, is a singer, songwriter, and composer and is one of Bob and Nina Keeley’s 15 children. He has been the music minister at Our Lady of Nazareth Catholic Church in Roanoke for the past 28 years where he directs choirs, composes and arranges. Dan has performed all over the world in the international group ‘Up With People’ and has played in several bands in California and Virginia. He has also performed many times locally in the Roanoke valley at Festival in the Park and at numerous churches and civic functions. Dan has recorded two CDs which are entitled, “Internal Progression” and “Straight from the Book”. Dan’s compositions range in style from soft ballads to energetic contemporary Christian.