Musician eyes future

Simple and transparent, that’s how Humboldt musician Riley Herder likes to describe himself and his music.
Herder, 21, fell in love with music as a youth. He grew up with it and his family encouraged him to pursue it.
“I never thought music would be something I was interested in,” Herder said. “My Uncle Scott showed me a couple of chords on the guitar and that’s all it took. I wanted to make more music.”
That desire pushed Herder to learn more about guitar. For a while his shy personality kept him from singing in front of crowds.
“When I was a little boy, my great-grandfather would ask me to sing for him, even though I was shy and didn’t really want to, but he’d give me a quarter for each song and that probably helped give me encouragement and confidence,” Herder said. “That was really helpful because I’ve always had rather low confidence and self-esteem and it’s powerful to know he believed in me so young.”
Herder notes there aren’t a whole lot of people who are a part of the local music scene. It was difficult to find peers who were interested in the same art.
“I felt really isolated,” Herder said. “I had enormous support from my friends and family but I wasn’t really jamming with anyone.”
At a band camp in high school Herder met John and Kyle Duling from Girard. These two musicians grew up around music and introduced Herder to their music network. They began playing together and played shows around the southeast Kansas area, specifically in Pittsburg. Their most recent gig was playing at Iola’s Mad Bomber event.
The three musicians aren’t able to play together as much as they would like so Herder does a lot of things solo like weddings and small events. He would like to see Allen County’s music scene grow.
Playing in the Humboldt High School band opened opportunities for Herder. On top of guitar he plays trumpet, piano, bass, banjo, trombone and some percussion. This past year he taught guitar lessons to Humboldt Elementary students after school.
His current venture is recording his own music. He writes music and records it in his home.
“Now that I’m working (at B&W Trailer Hitches) it is hard to find time for recording but I try to do it,” Herder said.
He finds inspiration for his songwriting in nature and in his faith.
“Writing is my new favorite way to experience music because I used to do a lot of covers,” Herder said, of playing the music of famous musicians. “I like finding something that is meaningful for me and that’s faith. It’s not loud in your face but I really enjoy having that freedom in my music to capture the condition of the human spirit.”
Herder said his faith took a big jump while attending Labette Community College. He considered leaving music and becoming a pastor.
“I told my Recording Arts professor about this and he gave me probably the greatest advice ever and told me I’d be a fool if I wasn’t pursuing music, and encouraged me to stick with music.”
Some of his favorite artists are Josh Garrels, Iron and Wine, U2, Regina Spektor, and Bill Withers. He is inspired by a lot of funk roots, classical music and soul.
“It’s really hard identifying what I play,” he said. “I use a lot of poetry and use inspiration from Psalms.”
At the end of the summer Herder hopes to move to Seattle. While he’s there he wants to continue his art and check out the local music scene.
“I don’t have expectations of fame and fortune,” he said. “I have a calling to put music out there, whether that’s for three people or 3,000.”