Wes Swing aims for sustainable touring

Wes Swing hasn’t followed the traditional path.

He made a CD and then he built his band around that recording.

He went on tour, and now he is looking for a van.

Last year Swing’s tour included some 70-some dates across the U.S. (plus a trip to Europe). But sometimes the whole band just didn’t fit in his car.

“We have five band mates and all our instruments,” Swing said, “and right now we are touring in a Honda Civic.”

Did I mention that Swing’s instrument of choice is not small? He plays a cello.

Not only does he need a van, he wants a van — so that he can transport his whole band in a manner that would be friendly to both the environment and his wallet. He wants a van that can be converted to run off bio-diesel fuel and waste vegetable oil.

Wes Swing is a singer, a songwriter, a cellist. He’s a musician who is going about creating a path that he hopes other musicians may want to follow.

Tonight, Wes Swing will bring his First Fridays Experience of Art, Music and Sustainability to the Southern Café and Music Hall.

The concert is the finale in his Kickstarter Sustainable Touring Project.

“We are raising money through the Kickstarter website to buy a bio-fuel van,” he said. “We travel thousands of miles across the country on tour, and we want to do it in the most environmentally friendly manner possible. We are excited about touring, but we want to do it in a more environmentally sensitive way.”

Right now, Swing and one, possibly two, band mates can fit in his car with their equipment. That means the band has to either double or triple its carbon footprint by taking two or three cars, or else leaving the other band members home in Charlottesville.

Through the fundraising efforts on Kickstarter, Swing said, they hope to purchase a van that can be converted to burn both bio-diesel and used vegetable oil from restaurants.

Both, he explained, produce 75 percent less emissions than traditional fuel. And it’s much cheaper, especially with the cost of gas going higher and higher, he said. “With a conversion you can add a separate fuel line and separate tank; one is for diesel and other one for vegetable oil. You have to stop and start on diesel, but for about $2,000 you can convert it to run on vegetable oil the rest of the time.”

Unless it’s too cold.

“If it drops below 50 degrees, the vegetable oil gets thick and cold. So that’s why we need the bio-diesel. The first and most important thing is to get where we are going.”

Swing also wants to share what he learns with other bands who are starting out down a greener path —  a business model.

“We created a website, www.biotouring.com. Other bands can go there and learn about greener ways to tour or using recycled paper or getting T-shirts made of organic cotton.

“We want this to be a hub where they can go and learn. Right now, there is a lot of information out there, but it is scattered and not all in one place.”

Some restaurants are willing to give away or sell their used cooking oil, and the new website hopes to provide a link to these musician-friendly eateries.

“We want to show that there are creative solutions. We want to show how you can tour and be environmentally sensitive, and it doesn’t have to cost too much,” he said.

First and foremost is the music.

Here, too, Swing followed his own unique path. He began playing violin at age 4, but didn’t consider the cello until he went to college. In fact, he didn’t major in music at William and Mary; he studied Latin.

After teaching for three years, Swing decided to take his cello playing full time. So he made a record. He played just about everything on the album, with some backup vocals added by Devon Sproule.

“Through a Fogged Glass,” a collection of 14 cello-infused, rocking folk songs, was released in January 2011.

Swing then decided to form a band.

Bassist Jeff Gregerson has performed with Swing for years.

“We have been friends since high school,” he said. “The other members of the band have been with me for about a year. I pretty much handpicked people that I respected. They are very talented, and I feel very lucky.”

Brian Caputo plays drums and percussion and Anna Hennessy is the violinist, while Sophia Brunner and Nelly Kate help out with vocals.

But getting them all from point A to point B hasn’t been easy.

“Since I can’t always tour with the whole band, I took the cello and looped it and layered it on a machine that allows me to do all the different parts live,” he said.

Tonight, they all will be in one place hoping to close in on Swing’s Kickstarter goal. It will be funded only if the band can raise $12,000 by Sunday. As of Wednesday morning, 89 fans and friends have helped collect more than $7,300 on Kickstarter.

“It’s all or nothing.”

The featured artist for tonight’s combined Festy concert and First Fridays event is Bolanle Adeboye, who created the art and video for Swing’s debut album.

Sarah Siskind, who has written songs for Randy Travis and Alison Krauss, also will perform this evening.