What happens when a group of songwriters join forces and learn to play each other's songs? The Vineyard Collective (TVC) is an ongoing, nearly accidental attempt to answer that question.

In the Winter of 2019, Eugene, OR-based singer-songwriter Kristin Bond was asked to participate in a songwriters’ showcase event by playing a few of her original songs. She asked guitarist and songwriter Luke Lillard to join her, and they performed as a duo. It was going to be a one-time pairing.

But they enjoyed playing together too much.

After the event, they pulled in Luke’s roommate, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Israel Bloodgood, and started attending a weekly open mic to hone their sound. It was at this open mic that the fledgling band met Cory Briar, a songwriter and virtuosic mandolin player looking for collaborators.

It was a perfect fit.

The lineup is consistent, but the players switch parts frequently---often from one song to the next. They swap instruments and they take turns singing melody and harmony. Everyone writes, and everyone works hard to learn each other’s songs. No one “fronts” the band. They decided early on that it was more fun to play together than individually.

Writing songs about life, love, heartbreak, community, mental health, and so many other topics, TVC aims to engage the mind and heart; using unusual keys and chords, playing with time signature and rhythm, and taking turns singing melody and harmony, they aim to engage the ears and the imagination.

The original members of TVC now live in different parts of the country (and even world). Israel is pursuing acting in England. Cory is an economist in Washington. Violinist Christian Li was added to the band to make up for the roving bandmates, but he has since moved back home to be a bio-chemist in the Bay Area. Luke and Kristin are still in Oregon and are playing as the duo “13th and Louis.” However, they are also working on putting together TVC’s first full length album, which will feature all the members of the band. They still get together and play out live when they can, keeping the band alive.

So. What happens when a group of songwriters join forces? The short answer: a whole bunch of creative stuff.