By: Hallie Horton
A divine something-or-other brought together Sam Melo (lead vocalist), Darrick “Bozzy” Keller (guitar, backup vocals), Ethan Goodpaster (electric guitar, backup vocals), Jess “Smiley” Haney (drums), and Charlie Holt (bass, backup vocals) at Appalachian State University in 2013. It was love at first sound so far as I can tell, as the band wasted no time laying roots for what would grow to become Rainbow Kitten Surprise, genre-defying icon of the 2000’s, 3000’s, and beyond (dramatic pause).
I remember learning about RKS in 2016. I’m a supreme hype woman, so shortly after I fell in love with their first album, Seven + Mary, I did my thing and introduced their music to my mom and a few of my friends. I exclaimed, “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. You have to listen. This is the best music you’ve ever heard. You’ve never heard anything like this. This is so wonderful and beautiful and all of the other shiny and head banging and crying things.” I quickly came to find that “Rainbow Kitten Surprise” is a questionable and somewhat off-putting name to some. Nevertheless, I persisted, and now we have an entire fan group of Rainbow Kittens who are all about two seconds away from tattooing the RKS symbol on our tushies.
I’ll tell you the origin of their name you will giggle your pants off and it will all make sense and you’ll love them just as much as we do – that is, if you don’t already love them just as much as we do. So I’ve heard, the band had a friend who’d just gotten out of surgery and they were paying him a visit before an open mic night. They were in dire need of a band name and asked their friend for ideas. In his childlike post-op haze, their friend proposed the band name themselves “Rainbow Kitten Surprise.” Laughs were had, and so it was, and so it remains.
Since the 2013 release of their first album, Seven + Mary, the vibrancy and courageousness and uniqueness of RKS’ music has brought in nearly 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify and 163,488,047 total streams on their top five most popular tracks alone. In addition, the band has secured spots at shows across the country, including Electric Forest, Hangout Music Festival, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Firefly Music Festival, Forecastle Music Festival, and Bonnaroo, to name a few. I’m telling you, these guys are incredible – their music, their hearts, their everything.
Much of their music is about living a life that’s true. They sing about mental health and religion and addiction and heartbreak and love and longing and everything else it means to be fully alive. Melo and Holt both are members of the LGBTQ+ community and some of their music talks about the delicate, treacherous, rewarding adventure of navigating sexuality, so for other members of the LGBTQ community, listening to their music and attending their shows is a safe haven. This alone creates a welcoming atmosphere to the greatest degree. Their transparency is magnetic and their will to do good for others is the cherry on top.
In a recent chat between fellow indie/folk/rock bands Mt. Joy, Wilderado, and Caamp, the band’s inherently good nature was commended, essentially saying that whoever RKS takes under their wing is sure to soar. RKS is just as invested in the success of others as they are their own, and this goodness extends far beyond friends.
As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, RKS teamed with Live Nation to host a live stream intended to raise money for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Tennessee. Their ultimate goal was “to heap as much food as they can onto as many plates as possible.” In true RKS fashion, Holt, Goodpaster, Keller, and Haney strung together some quirky home videos to introduce Melo, who flew solo, to live stream attendees. Melo sang a collection of tracks we Rainbow Kitten Surprise don’t often hear at their live shows as it was a total treat.
In addition to the stream, RKS teamed up with Propeller to host a virtual tea party with bass player extraordinaire Charlie Holt. Charlie is an avid tea drinker, so they’re taking their passion and putting it to a great cause. It won’t be just anyone sittin’ and sippin’ with them, though. Prospective attendees were asked to donate to the PLUS1 COVID-19 Relief Fund or take action to civic causes in lieu of submitting email entries for the contest. Participants received points for each donation and signature, with each action getting them one point closer to chatting with RKS’ beloved Charlie. What an organization. What a human.
In a world wherein I am a band member, I ask you to spend just one hour with our music with a 100% satisfaction guarantee or your time back. Unfortunately, that I know of, this world does not exist and I am not a member of the band and therefore am in no position to make executive decisions on behalf of the band. In all seriousness, these five are pure gold in human form, and I urge you to take a peek at their music if for no other reason than to say you tried. I promise you won’t regret it.