The Serendipitous Circumstances That Started Seryn

Nathan Allen and Trenton Wheeler were on the way back from the grocery store one day in March of 2009 when they got an idea.

"Let's start a band," said Wheeler. "I can sing, and you can play the guitar."

Allen was a little hesitant.

"We can do it on one condition," he said. "We find a girl that plays a string instrument. And she has to be able to sing harmonies."

So two conditions, really. But, see, here's where things get kind of crazy: The very next day, Allen got a phone call from Chelsea Bohrer, right out of the blue. Upon discovering she played the viola, Allen, incredulous, demanded that she get it, come over to his house, and jam.

He then called Wheeler, who was at South by Southwest at the time.

"Hey," Allen told Wheeler, excitedly. "I found the girl. She's in the band, and she has dreads."

That same weekend, while standing 15 feet away from her for the entire duration of an Explosions in the Sky show, Wheeler finally realized who the girl with blonde dreadlocks was. He walked up to her and, having never before met her, and introduced himself. "I think we're in a band together," he said.

It gets weirder: Shortly after their first show as a trio, Allen saw a man playing an upright bass on his porch, approached him, guitar in hand, started another impromptu jam session, and asked him to join his band.

What Allen didn't know was that the bassist, Aaron Stoner, was close friends with Chris Semmelbeck, who Allen had already invited to join the band a few days prior. And, thus, the serendipitous circle of events that culminated in the formation of Denton's Seryn was finally complete.

Since that point, the band has gone on to become one of the most highly acclaimed acts in Denton, gaining national attention not only for their live show, but also for their use of traditional folk instrumentation in non-traditional ways, their combination of spacey ambiance with strong choral harmonies and their poignant pop sensibilities, all of which keep their sound progressive, relevant and emotional.

The band released This Is Where We Are on Spune Records in January, a full-length album that's available in CD format, and, as of this month, white vinyl, too. The band says they're currently looking into recording a live acoustic album later this year.

"I like the concept of one-take recording," Allen says. "I like to have that one miraculous moment where you play it perfect. The idea of having multiple people on that plane is great."

He would know, after all. Miraculous happenstance are kind of Seryn's whole deal.