It’s a Wednesday afternoon in early summer, and Birmingham’s brightest musicians are gathered to talk – and play – rock n roll. The energy among the kids is palpable. Ranging in age from 11 to 14, they’ve been in tune since meeting one year ago as students of Birmingham’s Mason Music, where each one signed up for Rock Band League. The program groups kids around the same age and skill level, and for these five, it was quite the serendipitous arrangement.
“We figured out that we’re terrific together as a band,” says guitarist and singer Maggie Harelson, age 14. “We performed so well together, we decided to keep working together.”
The kids have different backgrounds and interests and attend different schools, but music is their unifying factor, and all five agree that music was already shaping their lives long before they met. Lead singers Maggie and Falynn Duggar, age 11, both began working on their voices at a young age. Trey Lockhart, age 13, the band’s drummer, first perfected his rhythm on coffee cans while listening to the band 21 Pilots. “I drummed on some coffee cans, my mom saw that I liked drums, and I got my first drum set,” he says.
In some cases, choosing an instrument took trial and error. Grey Rains, age 12, began playing the piano until a friend of his grandmother’s offered him a guitar. His hands couldn’t quite fit around the guitar’s neck, so he pivoted to a ukulele for a while and is now the band’s lead guitarist. Similarly, Finn Nunnelley, age 11, started with a ukulele as well – “my sister got one, and I was jealous,” he admits – and currently plays bass.
The five bandmates share musical tastes you might not expect from kids of their generation – Falynn readily named Weezer as one of her top artists, along with the Beatles and Nirvana. Other influential artists for the group include the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, The Doors, Radiohead, and Queens of the Stone Age.
“My tastes span every genre except jazz and country,” Trey declares, to the amusement and delight of his fellow musicians.
“The band has ignited my passion for music,” Grey remarks. “I was playing the guitar as a side hobby before, and now I enjoy playing and listening – I’m more inspired.”
The name Iron City Revival is credited to Maggie, who says the word “revival” reflects the band’s desire to energize an audience. Though the kids were nervous at their first live show – Finn had a broken arm from football practice and Falynn was recovering from the flu – they are seasoned performers at this point, playing at multiple venues through the Mason Music Rock League program, such as Woodlawn Theatre, Saturn, and Workplay, as well as on their own at Irondale Pickers, Vulcan Park, and in the Rocky Ridge Battle of the Bands, which they won.
As you read this, Iron City Revival has released a second single, Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good,” on major streaming platforms, following the success of their first single, “Come Together,” in the style of the Beatles. The group takes practicing seriously, either in the studio space available at Mason Music or in Trey’s basement. “At Mason, we usually practice on Sundays, and we meet at my house before concerts for extra practice,” Trey says.
In addition to growing as music performers, the five bandmates are growing in friendship, bonding through the experience of being part of something bigger than themselves.
“I feel like I have a lot more friends now,” Finn muses. “I’ve got all these guys and girls now. And I work harder on my music.”
Maggie agrees. “I’ve had a hard time making friends,” she shares. “But then I met my band, and I feel like they’ve become my best friends. This has changed my life.”
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