Editor’s Note: The Dispatch is profiling each band slated to play for the Columbus Main Street-sponsored Sounds of Summer free concert series.
Robert and Amy Moore are a husband and wife duo devoted not only to each other but to their music.
The two met through a mutual talent agent and now play with Style, a cover band at the “crossroads of high-class and high-energy,” Amy said. She serves as lead singer for the band, which is set to perform at the Columbus Riverwalk Thursday at 7 p.m. for the Sounds of Summer concert series.
“This and Market Street were two goals that I had,” said Amy, a Lowndes County native and New Hope High School alumna. “You know, I’ve been all over the United States playing shows and performing for 13 years, and for the longest time, all I wanted was just to get to be here in my hometown playing for my friends and family.”
Because the couple hail from twin states, Mississippi and Alabama, Amy said the band has tried to book more local shows lately, specializing in wedding receptions, outdoor festivals and corporate events.
“Anything like that that has a variety of ages, we can accommodate,” Amy said. “When you get a lot of different ages in one room, it’s kind of hard sometimes to find a band that will please everybody. … We just like to make sure that everybody is (happy).”
According to the singer, Style plays everything from country and rock to oldies and ballads. The band wanted its name, thought up by drummer Bill Wilkins, to reflect its musical diversity.
“We wanted something that made the point that we do a lot of variety,” Amy said. “A lot of times, when you say you’re in a band, the first thing people want to know is ‘oh, what kind of music do you play,’ and we didn’t really want to have an answer.”
She said the only thing listeners need to know is the band plays anything that’s “in style.”
“It might be in style now, or it could have been in style in the ’70s or the ’80s,” Amy said. “We like music that’s popular because it’s what people know. It makes them want to interact with you.”
For Amy, setting means more than content.
“I get more fulfillment now out of the events that we play than the music that we play,” she said. “It’s the crowds. … It has nothing to do with playing ‘Uptown Funk,’ as fun as that song is. It has everything to do with the people who are gonna be there.”
Aside from touring with his best friend, Robert relishes entertaining on stage and “showing people a good time.”
“Whatever we’re playing, if we can get them out on the dance floor, that’s what I enjoy most about the music,” the guitar player said.
According to Amy, Style as fans know it today began in 2016, and she said the past year has treated the four-member band well. In addition to Robert on guitar, Amy with lead vocals and Wilkins on drums, Mike Yates picks away at the low notes on bass.
Robert and Amy are full-time musicians, while Yates serves as a local band director and Wilkins is a representative for IT company Cisco.
“They’re some fun guys,” Amy said. “They’ve all been playing longer than I have.”
She said perseverance and little help from above have allowed the band members to continue doing what they love.
“God is good,” Amy said. “If you’re in touch with him, he’ll show you the way — and it might not always be easy — but he’s definitely done that for us.”
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