Indie band Bad Bad Hats to perform at Zeno’s

Minneapolis indie band Bad Bad Hats was among bands slated to play the now-defunct Karoondinha music festival, but it will still make the trip to the area this weekend to perform at Zeno’s Pub in State College.

Zeno’s General Manager Dave Staab said he was more than happy to offer the band a spot to perform.

“When the news about the cancellation hit, I figured that at least a few bands would try to keep their routing through central Pa.,” Staab said.

Bad Bad Hats singer/guitarist Kerry Alexander said the band lives beyond its “indie” definition.

“It’s rockin’, but sweet,” she said. “We try to write songs that are melodic and easy to love.”

The band got together, as many do, while the members were in school.

“I met Chris (Hoge) and Noah (Boswell) in college,” Alexander said. “Chris and I had been writing songs and recording demos on our own and when we became friends we started exchanging song ideas. Our senior year, we decided we wanted to form a band and put some of those songs out into the world. We met Noah and invited him to play bass with us.”

The band’s goal was to perform at the Battle of the Bands. They lost the battle, Alexander said, but after being named one of Spin magazine’s top five indie bands to watch, the band has certainly recovered.

Bad Bad Hats is no stranger to Happy Valley — the band has been here one previous time at a slightly smaller venue.

“We played a house show in State College that was a lot of fun,” Alexander said. “Our host made us tasty ravioli.”

In 2015, the band released its first full length LP, “Psychic Reader.” The band had previously released EPs and were ready to make the jump to a full on debut album.

“We’re really proud of (‘Psychic Reader’) and it’s an honor to travel around and hear people sing the words to the songs,” Alexander said.

Bad Bad Hats are ever looking to the future, and the band will soon release its second full album.

“We’re hoping to do a few more shows before the end of the year,” Alexander said. “We also just finished recording our second full-length album. It’s still getting mixed and mastered and all that, but we can’t wait to share those songs soon.”

Alexander thinks the Zeno’s show is a special opportunity for attendees to view a unique performance.

“I like to think a Bad Bad Hats show is a joyful experience,” she said. “We have fun playing — I like to tell jokes, plus we’ll be playing some songs from the new album.”

This story was originally published July 20, 2017 at 12:13 PM with the headline "Indie band Bad Bad Hats to perform at Zeno’s."