Royal Tailor rocks the house at first U-church of the semester
Photo by Megan Jafari
Megan Jafari, Staff Reporter
Capital Kings and Royal Tailor, two Christian pop bands, rocked the stage at the spring semester's first U-Church on Sunday, Jan. 25.
The young duo Capital Kings opened the show, followed by the two-time Grammy nominated band, Royal Tailor.
Friends since the church nursery 23 years ago, Jon White and Cole Walowac formed the modern duo Capital Kings. Originally calling themselves the Capital Kids, White and Walowac were born in Washington D.C. They consider their genre to be electronic dance music (EDM) with a touch of pop and rock.
"We aim to empower people, especially youth, to remind them that they have a voice," Walowac said. "We want to give them a positive alternative to what EDM is usually about."
White and Walowac program and produce the majority of their music as well as co-write songs they have created for their second album. Capital Kings will be going on tour with TobyMac in March 2015, playing at summer festivals and hoping to release a new record this year as well.
Royal Tailor was formed in 2009 after the four band members attended college together at Indiana Bible College in Illinois. The band includes lead singer Tauren Wells, DJ Cox on the guitar, Jarrod Ingram on the drums and Blake Hubbard on the bass.
The group performed 300 shows in two years by themselves when they began their career.
"We moved to Granite City, Illinois, and lived there for a year working with students in a church," said Wells. "That is when the heart of Royal Tailor really formed ' to reach students through music."
The four talented young men hope to not only reach their audience by music but also with one crucial focus in mind "With the name Royal Tailor, we give honor to God who is royalty, the King of Kings, who acts as a tailor on our behalf to fix, mend and adjust our lives," Wells said.
Although entirely separate acts, Capital Kings appeared back on stage during Royal Tailor's set to feature in the hit song Ready Set Go. The bands met three years ago at Winter Jam, playing 44 shows together. They hope to collaborate more in the future.
In addition to Lee University students and faculty, a number of locals from the Cleveland community flooded the Conn center for the show as well. The crowd fed off the bands' energy, and both passion and excitement filled the room.
Sophomore Joyce Pante experienced this energy in the crowd.
"I love the way both bands so boldly glorify God in such modern sounding music," Pante said. "Their music is so lively and made everyone at the show stand on their feet and jump for joy."
Both bands believe that possessing a strong Christian identity and true individuality can help those wishing to pursue music-related dreams.
"Have your own vision before someone gives one to you," Walowac said.