Campus Band GRUB Hosts EP Release Show in Renovated Kittridge Space
Elliott Hove | Sept. 22, 2026
Members of the Band GRUB (Willow Solomon, Eleanor Sanford and Fern Hofert) play at their EP release show at The Kittredge Arts Center at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, N.C. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)
Droves of live music-starved college students gathered on the evening of Sept. 19 in the renovated Kittridge Building, moshing in odd time signature to the experimental/prog rock sounds of GRUB. The band, formed on Warren Wilson College (WWC) campus, held the show to formalize the release of their first EP, “Instar.” Two other campus-started bands performed, Annalise + Her Band and Pharmacy. The crowd, expansive and energized, seemed eager to celebrate not only the EP’s release, but the first student-led concert in the Williams Recital Hall, cordoned off for the better part of the past year.
GRUB is a three person band, featuring senior Music major Eleanor Sanford on drums, backing vocals and piano, Fern Hofert (class of ‘26) on bass, guitar and vocals and Willow Solomon (class of ‘26) on keys, bass, vocals and clarinet. Sanford explained how GRUB’s start was spontaneously suggested (a la X Factor) before the band was fully acquainted with one another.
“[Jason Decristofaro, Professor of Music] just told us that we'd be good together,” Sanford said. “Seriously, that’s what it was. We were like, ‘Oh, hello’… And then we slowly started [practicing together].”
Warren Wilson College students dance at the GRUB EP release show at The Kittredge Arts Center in Swannanoa, N.C. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)
Solomon expanded on how GRUB’s formation was also inspired and encouraged by members of other WWC campus bands, including Joe Castello (class of ‘26), a guitarist and vocalist for Pharmacy who spent much of his college career organizing and promoting student music on campus.
“We had been invited to play a show that [Castello] was running at Sage [Café],” Solomon said. “We were like, ‘We better figure out what our sound is [and] what we're gonna play.’ A lot of [GRUB’s start] was limitation [and] time crunches breeding creativity.”
After GRUB had established itself in the campus music scene, it had enough music to pursue a larger project. Sanford explained that the recording process for “Instar” happened largely in the spring 2026 semester, while mixing happened over the summer. This took place in the Gladfelter Bookstore, where recording equipment and instruments were temporarily moved due to the renovation of the Kittridge Performing Arts Center.
“It was really frustrating,” Sanford said. “We went in there every day in the Glad basement and recorded.”
Hofert explained how “Instar”s lineup of four titles came together from different sources of older compositions.
“‘Cyclone One’ was actually a re-recording of a song that I wrote in high school,” Hofert said. “‘Cyanobacteria’ was one that Willow wrote, and we realized [it] mixed really well into the other two. So we knew we wanted to record that.”
Hofert also revealed how one of the tracks on the EP, “Petrichor,” started a simple idea refined through experimentation as a group.
“We wanted to just write a super cheesy, cliche kind of ‘math rock emo’ song,” Hofert said. “It started off with this comically simple riff and then we just kind of kept refining… over time we wound up having it be one of our most polished pieces.”
Members of the Band GRUB play at their EP release show at The Kittredge Arts Center at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, N.C. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)
As both Hofert and Solomon have graduated from WWC and moved away from the area, GRUB’s performance schedule and future are up in the air. Sanford explained how the next steps for the band, however, will be focused on expanding outside of campus shows and events.
“We're in a weird spot right now since, you know, Willow's doing grad school in Johnson City and I'm still living in Atlanta,” Hofert said. “We have plans to, or dreams definitely to record more. We [also] have a couple more gigs lined up just in the meantime.”
“If we make anything next, I'm hoping it'll be a full album,” said Sanford.
Whatever GRUB’s future plans might be, it is undeniable that their performance this last weekend was enrapturing to all in attendance, and an excellent return to student shows in the Williams Recital Hall. “Instar” is available on all major streaming and video platforms.