High Step SocietyPhoto by Todd Cooper

Best Local Band

1. High Step Society HighStepSociety.com.

2. Fortune’s Folly FortunesFollyBand.com.
3.
Medium Troy MediumTroy.com.

High Step Society, winner of this year’s Best of Eugene best band category, plays electro-swing, a style of music popular in Europe but just catching on in the States. Electro swing, sometimes called swing house, combines electronic music with jazz stylings, but High Step Society is more of a hybrid, with added elements of trap music, West Coast bass, glitch hop and dubstep, says High Step Society bassist, keyboard player, and manager Ethan Rainwater. 

Unlike what a lot of people may think of with electronic, High Step Society is very much a band, playing live instruments on stage as opposed to a more DJ-style experience, Rainwater says. Whatever you call what it is High Step Society does, it’s been a hit in Eugene from the very beginning. “Our first show was almost sold out at WOW Hall,” Rainwater remembers. This town likes to dance, which makes electro swing a good fit for Eugene audiences. “That’s really the goal of what we do: making people move,” Rainwater says. “This town is always down to shake it with us; everybody here is ready to boogie.”

“We feel so fortunate to have this as our home. That’s what fuels us as a band to take it to the next level. We have big plans for the future,” Rainwater says.