Young, energetic State College band embarks on spring tour

A young State College-based band with a contagious energy is embarking on an expansive tour this spring.

The Roof started “The Highway” tour Thursday in Youngstown, Ohio, with dates listed on its website through May in New York, Tennessee, New Orleans and more.

“We all have an immense passion for music,“ drummer Skyler Scholl wrote in an email, “and to share that passion and have it develop into a platform for creation that can effect other people on an emotional level, there’s nothing like it.”

I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing three The Roof shows, once at The Cafe 210, once at 3 Dots and once at Zeno’s. I like how young they are, first and foremost, and how they’re situated in the early stages of adulthood but are still easily these super cool, enthusiastic, open-hearted and divergent musicians.

“I would consider us a pretty unorthodox bunch of guys,” Scholl wrote. “It’s not really in our deck of cards to live a ‘normal’ lifestyle.”

Unorthodox as they may be — and I’m thankful they are — they are drawn together for the music and a group consensus if embracing a lifestyle conducive to pursuing their art.

“It just so happens music is synonymous with a way of life that goes against the grain,” Scholl wrote. “We’re going to latch onto that for as long as we can, because it’s all we know.“

Their music is a bit of a revelation, but is more so a big relief, because what they’re doing is unique and original, but the way they’re doing it is a life-preserver for real-deal music.

“On a good night, the only two words I can think of are ‘telepathy’ and ‘magic,’ ” Scholl wrote.

Simply put, these recent Penn State graduates of the college of engineering rock, and they’re pursuing their music with a sense of urgency.

“We knew that if we waited around too long after graduation, we might get stagnant, and we didn’t want to fall into the trap of letting the dream die through fear of societal pressure to ‘fit in,’ ” Scholl wrote.

In the near future, members of The Roof hope pick up the pace, to say the least.

“Our short term goals are to play twice as many shows this year as we did last year, to record and release three singles by the end of summer, and hopefully pick up a booking agent by the end of the year,” Scholl wrote.

Further on down the road, they hope to rise to the peak of their blues rocking jammy genre, with long-term goals including playing the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival.

The Roof is releasing a single called “Highway” in the next few weeks, and a full list of performance dates can be found on www.theroofband.com.