Freshwater Collins' Groovin' Tunes

Chris Vos kicking out some soulful tunes

By Rachel Wick

Thursday night, Eau Claire's House of Rock grooved with the fresh and soulful sounds of Milwaukee band Freshwater Collins.

The evening marked a high-energy show and music from of the band's latest album "These Days Lately" which was officially released on Oct. 4.

Freshwater Collins’ Chris Vos belts out tunes from the band’s latest album, “These Days Lately,” during their performance at Eau Claire’s House of Rock.
Freshwater Collins is composed of Chris Vos on vocals/guitar, his brother Brian Vos on the bass, Josh Tovar on guitar and Justin Kroll on percussion.

The show spotlighted performances of noteworthy songs off of the album, such as "Housedown," "Fair," "Lost Along The Way," "All My Time," among several other impassioned songs.

One of the highlights of the evening was when C. Vos broke out a lap steel slide guitar to drive home a rare night of inimitable music on the Eau Claire music scene. Kroll notes that "Fair" is his favorite cut off of the new album.

"I can't believe that we cut it," said Kroll. "It's a very country sound and its sound is definitely from all of us. It's the song that I'm the most proud about and is a big accomplishment in songwriting."

C. Vos is much less selective regarding his favorite song to play.

"This sounds cheesy, but anytime I am playing I am enjoying myself so I guess it would be whatever song I am playing at the time," said Vos.

The band initially formed in the late 90s, released its first record in 1997 with an almost entirely different group of musicians and has evolved over the years into the unique sounding group that it is today.

"Stylistically things have changed over the years, the only original members are Chris and Brian," said Kroll.

Two years ago, following the departure of the band's second drummer, Kroll came on as the new face on percussion; right around the same time Tovar joined the crew.

Although the band has been playing with the current lineup for the past two years, each of its members brings a wealth of talent and experience to the stage.

The Vos brothers have been playing music together since they were kids, while Kroll began playing the drums by the age eight or nine. Tovar was also born into a musical family and has been playing the guitar since he was nine.

"My whole family is musical, we have always had music around us our whole lives as a family, so it was a natural desire to want to play it for me," said C. Vos.

Freshwater Collins cites a vast array of musical influences that have impacted the kind of music that they produce; they range from The Flaming Lips to bluesy riffs of Muddy Waters.

The result is a unique sound that can't be pigeon holed into any specific genre.

While it is refreshing for the fans of Freshwater to listen to music that is one of a kind and not a carbon copy of what is being played on the radio and in many clubs in this day and age, the lack of a genre has proven to be an obstacle for the band.

Although C. Vos writes most of the band's lyrics, the band collaborates on the arrangements and each of the members brings their unique style of play to the table.