Electric Rock Band Goes Unplugged

Long Island band Silent Generosity recently played at the sixth annual Live at the Lobby music series at Patchogue Theater. 

The show was part of a prize package awarded to the band by radio station WRCN after it won the Rock Idol competition. 

Silent Generosity's sound is hard rock and alternative, with inspiration from bands such as Tool and Dream Theater. However, the Live at the Lobby acoustic format required the band to change its play style to conform with the unplugged theme.

Singer Ryan Parise was first brought out alone to sing and play acoustic, with the rest of the band joining later in the show. A more extreme change was made for bassist Charles Shada, who had only 14 hours to learn his music on an upright bass as opposed to his electric instrument.

Silent Generosity competed against 150 bands in the Rock Idol competition in March, according to Dave Musser, a radio personality from WRCN's morning show Dave and Glenn. 

The competition continued until June, when Silent Generosity beat the other three finalists at the Bolton Center in Bay Shore.

Parise said the exposure the competition has given the band is the best part of winning the local gig.

In addition to the show, the band won three months of having its song in rotation on WRCN. 

Fan Jen Monteleone, who claims to be the band's number-one fan, recorded the song from its radio rotation and put the recording on YouTube.

Monteleone has a tattoo of the band's logo on her arm and has been friends with Parise and fellow band member Jason Buswell since she was in ninth grade with them at Sachem High School.