A vibrant peach couch with yellow flowers, an old beat up purple pool table and a small silver refrigerator formed a half circle around a brick fireplace.

In the center of the cluttered nest, the shells of five musicians came alive. The sound was warm; a mixture of folk and rock – concocted with hints of bells, flute, drums, acoustic guitar, electric guitar and keyboard – with a hint of melancholy all perfectly blended into a smooth cocktail of melody.

The members of the band Half Circles have been practicing in anticipation for their half-hour in the spotlight starting at 8:10 p.m. April 6 at Court Square Theater during MACROCK: a two-day music festival with more than 60 bands playing at multiple venues throughout Harrisonburg the weekend of April 5.

With the band

The relatively new five-member band that features a brother-sister singing duo will perform songs such as “My Friend” and “Siren Song.”

The sister half of the duo, 22-year-old Amanda Styer, a cook at The Little Grill, sings harmony and plays flute, melodica, keyboard and steel bells in the band. Styer said she was a 16-year-old visiting her brother, Jon, at EMU when she first went to MACROCK.

“We grew up in a small Ohio town, so I just thought it was like the coolest thing ever. Just like, I can’t believe people do this. They have all these bands, local music and they have famous bands come … Since then, MACROCK has always had a special place in my heart.”

J. Frank Hillyard Middle School teacher Dan Baker, 30, who plays guitar and does vocals, is also a longtime fan of the festival. Having grown up in the area, he’s been in the audience for years.

“I’ve be going since I was in high school, even when it was over at [James Madison University] still. It’s had its up years and its down years, but yeah, I am excited to play,” Baker said.

“Since I’ve always been in this area, it’s something that you always hear about. And, since bands have to apply, it’s almost like a prestigious thing to actually get in and get a good slot like we did this year.”

Coming half circle

The approximately 2-year-old band has come full circle since the original one disbanded a few years ago.

Guitarist and vocalist Jon Styer, 28, a photographer and graphic designer for EMU said he and bassist Andrew Jenner, 30, a freelance writer, originally were in a band called Dear Wolfgang.The band played for five years, but split after the two lead singers moved to Kenya. Jon then started jamming one day with his roommate Baker.

“We were both fairly comfortable writing songs and singing, so we decided to give a go at this kind of dual song writers in one band,” John said.

“That’s kind of the philosophy of the band; some what where the name Half Circles comes from.”

After enlisting drummer Danny Yoder, the music gained an up beat tempo and the EMU web designer brought a rock edge to the band.

“When I was in high school, I was in a band and I was really into loud hard rock … that was what I learned the drums on. And, since I’ve gotten older, I have sort of mellowed out more.

“I really enjoy music that has minimalist drums. So, I think I have a little bit of both…”

Woman power

But, the most unique addition may be the only woman in the band.

“I think Amanda more than anything adds a different element to us because besides that we are a four-piece band.” Baker said.

“But [she] plays bells, melodica and flute. It just makes our stuff more interesting,” Baker added.

Jon said having two singer-songwriters also sets the band apart.

“We do write a lot of songs together, but we have multiple perspectives in one band, which, I think, stops it from sounding like all the same songs.”

The band’s songs – such as “Serpentine” and “Birds” – and current album cover, which features a bird flying out of an egg held by the tail of a snake, symbolizes the opposing forces of two singer-songwriters in one band.

While both come from the same musical egg, they have taken two different paths.

According to Baker, “It kind of went with our half circles imagery of having these two opposing forces.”

Courtesy Daily News Record, March 30, 2013

He not only wanted to read the magazine, he 鈥渉ad鈥� to, said his mother, Grace.

鈥淗is goal was to work for them,鈥� she said.

Leukemia cut short the 30-year-old鈥檚 life pursuit on Dec. 19, 2011. But not before Styer 鈥渃reated his own鈥� version of the magazine, his mother said, in his redesign of Crossroads, the alumni publication at 草莓社区. Now his family and alma mater are working to ensure Styer鈥檚 legacy will live on in someone else鈥檚 dream.

At A Good Crossroads

Styer鈥檚 family and EMU have started a fundraising campaign to establish the Matthew Alan Styer endowed scholarship fund. They seek $50,000, which is the minimum necessary to create a named endowed scholarship, said Phil Helmuth, the university鈥檚 executive director of development.

Alumni from the classes of 2004, 2005 and 2006 received a brochure seeking financial assistance, and EMU has set up a website for those wishing to donate to the fund.

Styer graduated in 2005.

The scholarship would be awarded to at least one rising senior majoring in the visual arts, which Styer studied. After graduation, he worked for EMU鈥檚 marketing and communications department as a videographer, designer and photographer until 2008.

Styer was a semester shy of finishing a master鈥檚 program in digital design at Philadelphia University when he died.

During his career at EMU, Styer鈥檚 accomplishments included the redesign of Crossroads, the quarterly alumni magazine.

He rebranded the publication to give it a fresh look and to feature a single topic each month, putting more focus on photography, the school and family members say.

鈥淗e created his own National Geographic,鈥� his mother said.

Styer鈥檚 younger brother, Jon, took over Styer鈥檚 job when Matt left for graduate school.

鈥淚 was his intern,鈥� said Jon, 28, a 2007 EMU graduate who still works there.

Styer was diagnosed with leukemia on May 15, 2010. He was the first patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia 鈥� a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow 鈥� to be treated with an experimental type of therapy using modified T cells, his mother said.

鈥淗e had a kind [of cancer] that was just superaggressive,鈥� she said.

In the treatment, doctors removed billions of the cells, which are a kind of white blood cell that fights viruses and tumors, and gave them new genes to program the cells to attack the cancer.

Styer鈥檚 brother donated healthy cells.

But in late 2011, doctors found that the T cells were not working effectively.

After an 18-month battle with cancer, Styer died in December 2011.

Telling EMU鈥檚 Story

Family members want to give back to EMU because they say Styer found his direction there. His mother graduated from EMU in 1979, followed by Jon five years ago and sister Amanda in 2012.

Styer also met his wife, Lindsay, while studying at EMU. They married in September 2011, and she now works at the university.

Styer鈥檚 mother and father, Alan, live in Columbiana, Ohio.

Helmuth said many EMU departments have endowed scholarships, and the school could work on as many as 10 new ones in a year.

But it鈥檚 less common for the fund to be in memory of someone, he said.

And none honors a man whom the school credits as the first person who combined various skills to tell EMU鈥檚 story.

鈥淲e felt like EMU is where Matt found his passion and talent,鈥� his father said. 鈥淗e got a lot of positive reinforcement.鈥�

Courtesy Daily News Record, Dec. 27, 2012

Support the Fund

Read more about the fund and make a contribution online