She's With Us!
Local band enjoying uptick in popularity
September 9, 2021
If dedication counted in the Billboard Charts, She's With Us would be topping the rankings.
The band with ties to Everly and Royal has cultivated a loyal following in northwest Iowa and beyond. Created in 2015, the foursome has grown from playing gigs in local haunts to traveling as far away as Mason City, Sioux City and Lakefield, Minn.
For band members Iesha Toft, Whitney Thiessen, Dane Zittritsch and Nate Shaughnessy, it's all about putting in the time.
"If you don't play, you don't get good," said Thiessen. "We rehearsed for a solid three years before we got good enough and confident enough to jump on stage and play in any situation."
She's With Us was spearheaded by Toft, who was inspired to create a band six years ago after attending a concert that strummed her heartstrings. She contacted prospective members and the rest is history.
"Before long, we were practicing in Dane's basement in Royal," recalled Shaughnessy. "By the end of that first practice we may have all been deaf, but we looked at each other and realized we might have something here. We played our first gig that November and have been building momentum ever since."
Toft handles lead vocals while Thiessen strums the bass and Zittritsch rocks the guitar. Both men back up Toft on vocals and Shaughnessy pounds the drums.
The group considers itself "experts in B-sides." She's With Us' repertoire features blues-based classic rock and pop with more modern music peppered throughout each set.
"Our goal is to add more Motown, because everyone loves Motown," said Thiessen. "We have a good handful of originals and are on track to record a solid EP this fall."
The band members have become a tight-knit group over the years. They all come from different backgrounds but unite around making music.
According to Zittritsch, each member brings something different to the table during every practice and performance.
"We challenge one another, and what unfolds is something we all can get behind," he said. "All of us are very creative in our own right. Someone starts with a riff, then we change it up, or move it a fifth or a third and then
before we all know it, we have a song."
Toft loves practice most.
"All of us get to laugh while honing our gifts. We have a lot of fun and truly enjoy what we do," she said. "Not to mention the release we all get when playing music together and taking the focus off of our daily stressors."
Thiessen and Shaughnessy are just grateful to meet new people and create music on a regular basis.
"When we're playing and everything is clicking and the crowd is enjoying what we're putting out there, it's one of the best feelings in the world," Shaughnessy said. "The free drinks are cool, too."
The band's success didn't happen in a vacuum. All four members said people don't realize how much time, effort and dedication goes into each performance. They all have families and have sacrificed time away from their loved ones to play in the band.
"It's a big commitment, but as the investment of time goes up, so does the reward of a successful performance," Shaughnessy said. "Just like anything in life, the more time you put into it, the more you get out of it."
Toft, who runs an in-home daycare in Royal, noted everything is a balancing act.
"We are thoughtful in how many gigs we allow ourselves to take on, always conferring with family before booking anything," she said. "Even though our summer schedule has been a full one, you may be surprised to know we have turned down an equal amount of shows just to keep our sanity."
She's With Us plans to keep debuting original music in the near future. The band already has a song call "The Moves" available on all streaming platforms. Another original titled "She Is" is on YouTube.
The next step is a studio-recorded EP. With time and effort invested already, nobody in the band has plans to hang it up.
"The next step for us is to actually start singing more of what is on our hearts versus covers. The guys have a lot of rhythms and riffs in their pocket, as do I lyrically," said Toft. "Life is too short to not let those songs be heard. We are all artists and have a lot to say with our artistry."