On July 20, The Stripers — an “indie-rock-blues” band founded at Dartmouth — performed at Bones Gate fraternity as a part of their summer tour. Christian Beck ’24, Jack Reilly ’24 and Kieran Norton ’24 formed the band in the summer of 2021 and quickly became a ubiquitous presence on campus.
The Stripers’ tour — which began in late June — includes roughly 23 shows across seven states, according to Norton. The total number and timeline ultimately remain “in flux” as the group adds more shows in August, he said.
The Stripers are a self-described “genreless” band, and how they define themselves “changes on a weekly basis,” according to Reilly.
“We’re trying to do a little twist on the ‘indie band model’ a lot of people are doing nowadays — upbeat stuff you can dance to but that has more dissonant tones as well,” Norton said.
Over the years, the band has rotated through a few additional members, according to Reilly. The most recent addition, Wyatt Ellison ’25, is currently on tour with the band. According to Reilly, Ellison is the “most legendary and stable bass player.”
The Stripers find inspiration from “genre blurring bands like The Red Clay Strays and Houndmouth,” according to Reilly. Norton added that they are also inspired by artists like “Marcus King … and Chuck Berry.”
The Stripers recently recorded a live album that “should be coming out in the next few weeks,” according to Norton. The band is also working on an album of original music that will likely be released sometime this fall. The titles of these projects have yet to be released.
Reilly said he has enjoyed playing new songs for a live audience — including ones titled “Summer Street” and “Carolina” — which will be released on their upcoming album.
The Stripers’ upcoming album heavily features original work. Norton described Beck and Reilly as the “engines” for writing original melodies and lyrics.
“Those guys are really talented and have been doing it a lot longer than me,” Norton added.
At live concerts, The Stripers play anything from covers of pop songs to “latin jams” and blues music.
“We try to avoid playing straightforward covers and prefer to put our own spin on things,” he added.
The Stripers’ “spin” includes curating the setlist to match the venue.
“We custom make the setlist depending on the venue,” Norton said. “For a frat party … people generally want to hear what they want to hear, so we’ll play more covers including some pop stuff. But the direction and the sound we’re going for is this ‘indie-blues-fusion’ thing.”
The Stripers also perform original music, including songs from “Down the Line,” their first EP released last October. “Down the Line” is a collection of “six contemplative, blues-rock ballads.”
Jaya Sharma ’26 said she is a “huge Stripers fan” who was “front and center for their entire show” at Bones Gate.
“I think it’s great to support local artists that you know — I will always be at any live music scene over a DJ set any day of the week,” Sharma said. “The Stripers was especially fun because it was so familiar — it reminded me a lot of my past year at Dartmouth.”
The Stripers got their start playing live music for their friends at their house. According to Reilly, the band was born out of COVID-19 era outdoor “jam seshes.”
“We initially played shows for friends at our [off campus house] and then finally booked our first gig at Collis,” Reilly said. “The first [fraternity] we played at was [Bones Gate] — when we came back to campus we had to play [there], since it’s always been a special spot for us.”
Christian Chantayan ’26 — a member of Bones Gate — said hosting The Stripers was “really incredible.”
“I had previously talked to [Beck] … who said that [The Stripers] wanted to come play at Bones Gate,” Chantayan said. “It’s an honor to be a space that bands and artists like to come to.”
Sharma said she is impressed by the journey The Stripers have taken after Dartmouth.
“It’s amazing that [The Stripers] started at Dartmouth … and super cool of them to come back — it’s a nice homage to where they came from as a band,” she said. “I love their originals … but at [Bones Gate] they also played a lot of really good covers, which catered well to the audience.”
Norton said that it was “very homey” to be back on campus. Reilly added that there is “nothing like the energy of a good old fashioned frat.”
“We’re so blessed to see so much [live music],” Chantayan said. “It is amazing to know that The Stripers — or that any band that performs at Dartmouth — can get to the caliber, skill set and investment level to [go on tour] and have the experience of being a full fledged band.”
Reilly and Norton both expressed gratitude to the Dartmouth community, as well as friends and family, for their support.
“In the cities, we have a good amount of Dartmouth support — then there’s always the friends and family that come by,” Norton said. “Word of mouth is also huge. … We’ll have friends that tell their friends, and then they come. … Then there’s a chain effect.”
Reilly emphasized his appreciation for all of the support shown to The Stripers.
“Shoutout to everyone who has shown us generosity and kindness over the past few months,” he said.
The Stripers’ next show is on Aug. 7 at Eddie’s Attic in Atlanta, Ga. The band also has upcoming shows in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Aug 15 and 16, as well as ones at Coupes Bar and the University of Virginia’s The Hall in Charlottesville, Va. on Aug. 30 and 31, respectively.
