Up the creek

Three Rivers Jackson are tired of playing for their friends.\nIt's 9:30 p.m. on a Monday night, and Pablo Svirsky, Sean Donnelly and Dustin Koester are setting up for a rehearsal in the basement of the music annex. Speaking above amps sputtering feedback and the feet of a drum kit scraping the floor, Svirsky tells a story about one of his acoustic gigs played with Donnelly.\n"We played at a little French café on Fourth Street," Svirsky said. "It was a random gig for the Individualized Major Program graduation. The two of us were playing for, let's see, two of our friends and the IMP director.\n"There was this cook I saw the entire time in the back just rocking out," Svirsky continues. "You could tell his manager was like telling him to come back and work. After the gig, he came up and was like 'Oh, I loved you guys.' For us, that's the biggest thing -- people that couldn't give two shits about our band actually caring."\nLast Thursday's Live From Bloomington concert was the first time Three Rivers Jackson have played a major Bloomington venue, though it helps to know that they've only been together for three weeks. However, Svirsky and Donnelly have been collaborating since they were students at North Central High School in Indianapolis. If their band name is familiar, it's because Svirsky also makes and sells beer pong tables under the same name.\nWeekend had the opportunity to catch up with the band and listen to them rehearse some of their original material. It's both familiar and unique -- comparisons could be drawn between Sublime at times, but Svirsky and Donnelly also manage to incorporate stripped-down, strummed-out rhythms and chord progressions resembling '20s stage acts. Svirsky pounds out mode-laden solos from his personally defretted bass. Meanwhile, Koester keeps time with one hand and one foot while simultaneously playing keyboards.\n"We played around so much in high school," Svirsky says. "I was in the jazz band and we were both in the show choir, so we got a lot of weird influences, I guess. We'll play rock, but we like to throw in a lot of jazz and bluegrass, too."\nSvirsky and Donnelly started out playing acoustic shows for friends without drums. Donnelly says the band learned to keep things stripped-down and rhythmic during these shows. Their friends took notice quickly.\n"It's great when we get compliments from people who are music students and professors," Svirsky says. "People who know a lot about music tell us that they like what we're doing, and it means a lot."\nSvirsky says the two of them subtly recruited Koester over the course of a year. Knowing they needed a drummer, Svirsky and Donnelly looked without result for someone "who could actually play." A friend told Svirsky of Koester's ability, and he signed up for IU Sing to play interludes with him. The insinuation and ruse played off when Koester agreed to join the band. Though he's a brand-new addition to a duo that have been playing together for years, he says they fit together fine and he's looking forward to what's ahead.\n"This (show) will be my first time playing in front of people in a large venue with something I helped develop," Koester said. "I've played in other bands, like for church, but nothing like this. I'm really excited about it."\nHe's not alone in his enthusiasm, though there are other reasons for Svirsky and Koester being excited.\n"Neither of us are 21," Svirsky said, "So it's cool to be able to play in a bar. You feel like you're sneaking in."\nThere are concerns, however. Three Rivers Jackson is well aware of the difficulties that bands playing original material face in a city quite fond of cover bands. They're going to play eclectic covers, Svirsky says, but they're not going to be playing "Sweet Child O' Mine."\n"All of us are the kind of guys who've played in bands for like eight, nine, 10 years," Svirsky said. "We're really looking forward to making progress.\n"You always think about getting to the next step. But, for the first time, we're actually taking that step. It's time to step forward and do it"