Happyville

Happyville is a band based in Idaho Falls specializing in music that's always fun, sometimes sad, but most of all a celebration everything that's beautiful and bright.

The lineup is: Michelle Ziel, vocals; Paul Menser, guitar and vocals; Luke Kratz, keyboards and vocals; and Zach Sherwood, drums.

People ask us all the time, "What kind of music do you play?" It's a hard question to answer if you're trying to pin us down to any particular genre or era. We play music we like and the music we write is influenced by everything from The Beatles to Colbie Caillat to Metallica to Jack Johnson. A good song is a good song, but what's most important to us is that we sound like ourselves when we do it.

Happyville got started when Michelle and Paul sat down one night at an Idaho Falls club with a guitar and a book of songs. There was a sound and there was chemistry. "It was a lot of fun and people responded to us, so we just kept going," said Michelle.

After a few dates as a duo, they added Zach on drums. Luke came on board when Paul found out he was available (they'd known each other for 12 years and played in several bands before).

"Happyville is all over the map, literally and figuratively," said Paul. "Zach played in bands in Seattle. Michelle was in an alternative band at the University of Idaho and sang extensively with her dad, Michael Bludworth, and his best friend, Ron Anastasio. Luke has done originals with his brother all over eastern Idaho. I've done everything from opera to oldies to chamber choir to singing around campfires with my guitar."

The result?

"We all have our goals for this band, but as a band I think our goal is to make everyone, well, happy," Michelle said. "We do that by having a great time ourselves. When we're sounding good and having fun, pretty soon everybody is having a great time themselves. It's simple when you think about it, and we're all excited about where it's headed from here."