Note-worthy in Plymouth: 3rd Left

The four members of the band 3^rd Left, including saxophone player James Calandrella, bass player Bryan Pierce, drummer Zak Fey and singer and guitar player Brian Hitchings, have played in the Plymouth area for about eight years.

With three studio-recorded albums and one live album sold on iTunes and the band’s website, 3^rd Left plays what Pierce describes as rock music with heavy jazz and funk influences.

The band typically plays two to three times a week on the South Shore. For Hitchings, who is from Plymouth, one of the best things about playing these local shows is seeing an audience filled with his friends and family members. However, he also enjoys performing with other Plymouth musicians who share his passions for music, such as Americana singer and former band member .

“I just want everyone to bond together in the community,” Hitchings said. “There’s a lot of good music flowing around here. There’s something special going on.”

Still, as much as the members of 3^rd Left enjoy staying local, they also strive to reach a wide audience with their music. Recently, the band performed in Manhattan, but the musicians have also traveled to Florida four times, stopping at venues in New York, Philadelphia and Virginia along the way.

While performing in front of the strangers they meet on the road is different from the intimacy of their Plymouth shows, Pierce said that one of his goals for the band is to spend more time on tour.

“We go on the road a couple times a year and get out there for a month or two, but I would want to be on the road 10 to 11 months out of the year,” he said.

Hitchings added that the band members all have a passion for music, and they want to share their original songs with as many people as they can, even if it means spending a lot of time traveling.

“I want to record more music and hopefully we can get it out to a lot of people,” he said. “We all just love to play music and jam out in front of people.”

When the band performs, they tend to play mostly original songs that aim to get their audience dancing, along with a few cover tracks. Still, the band members said they prefer to perform their own music in order to see how their crowds respond.

“I like to play one or two covers a night,” Pierce said. “That’s good. But when people are singing the words to your songs and not just songs they’ve heard on the radio a thousand times, it’s a lot more fun.”