One of the most anticipated parties in town returns with a little something extra to celebrate.

Fort Wayne’s newgrass favorites Debutants host their third Debutants Ball on Saturday, Jan. 20, at The Clyde Theatre. Along with the music, LED spinners, aerial acrobatics, and vendors, this edition will also celebrate the release of the band’s first full-length album, River on the Moon.

“That was our big reason for the ball: ‘How do we release our long-awaited, full-length album?’ We’re going to do it the best way we know how — by throwing a ball,” co-founder Lynn Nicholson said.

‘Cast of characters’

What had humble beginnings with Nicholson on mandolin and Jon Swain on guitar has grown into a seven-piece band with a following they could not have anticipated.

“It has amazed me from Day One how much stars aligned for Debutants,” Nicholson said. “It started out as just me and Jon wanting to put a project together. Then, it seemed like in a blink of an eye, we had this whole cast of characters, all these songs, and this amazing following of fans. It seemed like free energy of just aligning things the right way.”

A scroll through their Facebook page shows this “cast of characters” growing along the way, beginning with Michael Earl Newsome on banjo, followed by Lauren Blair on fiddle, Sean Hoffman on fiddle, Colin Taylor on upright bass, and Ellen Coplin on cello.

If you have caught more than one Debutants show, you know there might not always be a full lineup, since aligning the schedules of seven people can be tough. But when it comes to recording, all seven are involved.

“Everybody knows that if there’s a gig you can’t make or a rehearsal, with seven people, we’ll keep the ship sailing,” Nicholson said. “But there are some things that require a little more organization and commitment. When we’re saying, ‘OK, we’re looking at this month for recording. Can everybody locked that in?’ Everyone loves recording so much that they’re happy doing that.”

Traveling to record

When it comes to recording, it requires a five-hour trip to Studio 110 in the Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, Pennsylvania.

It’s there they record with Tyler Thompson, whom Nicholson met while working in a drum shop in Oregon and has continued being a friend. Thompson is a drummer for one of Nicholson’s favorite groups, Fruition, and once Thompson moved to Pennsylvania and posted that he had a studio, Nicholson jumped at the opportunity.

“I reached out and sent him some stuff of ours, asking him if he’d be open to working with us,” Nicholson said. “He was super enthusiastic and welcoming. So we scheduled that first EP, Indiana Newgrass, in (October) 2020. It just fit like a glove. 

“We held on tight to him, so when it was time for the next one (Nobody Knows in February 2022), we went back. And when it was time for the full-length, we undoubtedly went back.”

According to Nicholson, it’s the laid-back atmosphere in the studio that keeps them going back.

“There’s some studios that are sterile, operating room environments,” he said. “I don’t think we can really get in the zone in that kind of environment. His is like somebody’s basement. Which is great because we’re used to playing music in basements and people’s living rooms. It has a real natural feel, a real easy feel. It’s easy to be creative and just do what you do instead of feeling like, ‘Oh man, I feel like I can’t move or touch anything.’ ”

Going off script

In that environment, Debutants came in with a game plan and got to work on 10 songs they had been fine-tuning the previous year. 

“That’s kind of the process,” Nicholson said. “The song is an idea and we kind of pass it around and play it and flesh it out until it’s ready to maybe record.”

However, once those 10 songs were recorded, they did what a newgrass band does — they got spontaneous with what would become the title track, “River on the Moon.”

“We knocked out 10 tracks and were feeling so good and had some time left,” Nicholson said. “Jon had kind of played that song for me before. We were just kind of jamming it in the control room, and everyone was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ By that time, we had huge ‘studio ears.’ It can take some time get into the groove, but once you do, you leave hearing things with totally different ears. Everything is just really sharp. 

“We stood around and fleshed a song out in about a half-hour, then went into the studio and took a few whacks at it. Literally, it was probably an hour before half of us had to hit the road. 

“We kind of fleshed it out after they left and pieced it together. We were really happy with it, but some of us were like, ‘Oh, I don’t know. This is kind of last minute, kind of a Hail Mary. I don’t know how this is going to work out.’ 

“But after everyone heard the finished product, they were all thrilled that we went after it, so much so that we named the album after that track. It’s got some special sauce to it because it was so spur of the moment.”

The album also see Debutants spread their wings. With Nicholson and Swain holding down most the vocals, Hoffman and Taylor also get in on the act for River on the Moon.

“By the time it was time for River on the Moon, it was time to really show what we could do and showcase just a great album of tunes,” Nicholson said. “We’ve got Colin singing on one, Sean singing on two of his songs. 

“It really widens the spectrum on our songwriting and of our sound. It’s exciting. This collection of songs is something we’re really proud of and what to stand by over the test of time.”

Bringing friends along

Those songs will be the centerpiece of the Debutants Ball on Jan. 20, where an eclectic atmosphere awaits.

“The ball has been such a magical thing since the first one we did,” Nicholson said. “We didn’t know if we were in over our heads or crazy for doing it. But The Clyde was kind enough to give us the keys to the place and let us do what we wanted to do. Then it was just such a smashing success. 

“We feel like you want to keep raising the bar, making it bigger and better. There’s a slight sense of relief knowing you’ve pulled it off before. You give yourself the credit that you can pull it off.”

This year’s show will also feature The Matchsellers out of Kansas City, Missouri, fronted by Kosciusko County’s Andrew Morris and his partner Julie Bates. The group also joined Debutants during the highly successful Bluegrass Deathmatch over the summer at Baker Street Centre. They’ll also join Debutants on the bill for the Northern Indiana Tri-State Bluegrass Festival over Memorial Day weekend in Kendallville. 

Along with their bluegrass sound, The Matchsellers also released a space-themed album, Bluegrastronauts, in 2018, making for a perfect pairing.

“Once we knew we wanted this thing to be space themed, with River on the Moon, immediately we were like, ‘Oh man, I wonder if we can get The Matchsellers to do Bluegrastronauts,’” Nicholson said.

So head out to The Clyde on Jan. 20 for what is sure to be a show that is out of this world.