Top College Rocker Comes Home
July 8, 2006
GREENWOOD, SC - Although Andrew Rieger and his band, Elf Power, have built a worldwide fan base and cemented themselves in college radio charts around the country, this weekend they will return to Greenwood for the first time in seven years to play for a hometown audience that is largely unaware of their success.
Elf Power is headlining the Homemade Genius concert in Uptown Greenwood this Saturday, July 8.
The casual observer might think that Greenwood’s only musical claim to fame is the legacy of the Swingin’ Medallions. Such is not the case. Kids across the country who are hip to what’s happening in new music know Elf Power by name, but Rieger doesn’t make much of a fuss over all the recognition.
“We’re not selling a million copies of our albums,” Rieger offers unapologetically. “But people all over the world are seeking out our music and making it possible for us to see the world.”
In fact, Rieger and his Athens, Georgia-based band have literally circled the globe and played for countless thousands during their 12-year career.
“We’re just now returning from six weeks of touring. We did two weeks in the U.S. and four weeks in Europe,” Rieger says, and in his voice there is a hint of intangible excitement, the residue of adventure on the road.
On this most recent tour, Elf Power promoted their seventh full-length album, “Back to the Web.” Rieger and company played venues from coast to coast and border to border here in the states. While in Europe, they performed in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. In support of previous albums, Elf Power stopped in Japan and Brazil.
These days, Rieger makes his home in Athens, but his roots are in Greenwood.
“I think I got my first guitar when I was 14, and I started taking lessons at Newell’s Music,” Rieger recalls. “I played in my first punk band not too long after that. It was me, Chip McKenzie, Colby Lanford and my brother Chris. We were called…” Rieger pauses to recollect an almost forgotten moniker, “Silent Minority. Gosh, yeah. Silent Minority. It was short-lived. I think we played at a couple of parties in people’s back yards.”
Rieger’s family still resides in Greenwood and they are among his biggest fans. His 93-year old grandmother, Karla Rieger, will be in attendance on Saturday, and will hear her grandson’s music for the very first time.
Rieger’s father, Branimir, is an English professor at Lander University, where many of his students know him as “Andrew’s Dad.”
“I am so happy for them to come home and play a show,” says the elder Rieger. “They have evolved so much as a band and Andrew has matured in his role as a songwriter, singer and musician.”
Rieger’s father keeps tabs on his son’s achievements and is ready to share them with fans on the Lander campus. He recently noted that “Andrew’s album is up to number four in the college charts” and then quickly produced the most recent issue of Rolling Stone to prove it.
Elf Power’s music is cerebral, literate and at times quirky. Not coincidentally, these are traits that also aptly describe both father and son.
“My wife and I always read to our children,” Rieger says. “We taught Andrew and Chris the names of all the dinosaurs, we read many books to them like ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and they just became fascinated with words.”
Rieger’s other son, Chris, is now an English professor himself.
As Elf Power prepares to make the short hop over from Athens, it’s worth noting that the road that takes you home often covers a great divide.
Regardless of the reception or recognition that Greenwood affords his band, Rieger is ever thankful for his good fortune.
“You know, I’ve gotten to share the stage with the bands I listened to growing up like R.E.M and Dinosaur, Jr. and that has been a great experience,” Rieger says. “ Those guys were my heroes. It’s an honor to be associated with names like those.”
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