In 2017, the genre-bending band Lake Street Dive went from a quartet to a quintet. The band members asked their newest musician, keyboardist Akie Bermiss, to come on board with a “marriage proposal.”
On a day off from touring, they took Bermiss out to a nice restaurant in Chicago. Midway through the meal, someone said, “What’s that?” And Bermiss turned away from the table, falling for the age-old trick.
“When I turned back there were five plastic engagement rings on my salad plate,” he told NEXT. “And I was formally propositioned to become a member of the band.”
He said, “Yes, a thousand times yes.”
The band members say they epitomize democracy in action. They all have song-writing credits on their latest album “Obviously,” which came out earlier this year. They split up band duties, from set lists to social media. And while bassist Bridget Kearney says they sometimes discuss things ad nauseam, she says it works well.
Lake Street Dive originally formed in 2004 when four of its members were students at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Now, 16 years later, they’re losing one of their founding four.
This interview was featured in a recent episode of NEXT from the NEW England News Collaborative. You can listen to the entire episode here.
