Tow’rs replaces Paul McDonald & The Mourning Doves for Underground Sound Series at the Vilar

Paul McDonald & The Mourning Doves has canceled its Oct. 24 show at the Vilar Performing Arts Center — and its entire fall tour — so that McDonald can stay home with his family and mother, who has late-stage lung cancer. While Vilar Performing Arts Center looks forward to hosting the band in the future, Tow’rs will perform as part of the Underground Sound Series on Oct. 24.

Tow’rs brings a heartfelt folk sound to the Vilar Performing Arts Center, inspired by the 1970s Laurel Canyon vibe.

Husband-and-wife duo Kyle and Gretta Miller have led the Flagstaff-based band for 10 years. They played together before they ever started dating, with music acting as a foundation for their romantic relationship. Now, the majority of their storytelling-centric songs revolve around relationships and the things they experience within marriage. But their lyrics also emphasize everything from big topics like death and having kids to current ones like politics, as well as small details, like watching a sunrise or enjoying a good meal.

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“I think it’s the job of songwriters to write about what they’re observing,” Kyle Miller said. “Our songs are just a little yearbook representation of life and the season that we were writing about.”

Tow’rs began after the Millers married as a “fun experience” with other friends who were instrumentalists. They released a self-titled EP in 2014, with no plan of following up on it. But fans had other plans for the band.

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“It did much better than we thought,” Kyle Miller said.

In fact, over the past decade, the band has released six albums.

“Kyle and Gretta’s sound is cozy and sweet, with a hint of mystic charm that you would hope for in a band from the high desert mountains of Arizona,” said Owen Hutchinson, Vilar Performing Arts Center’s artistic director. “Their smoky vocal harmonies and playful lyrics invite you to listen further. I can’t imagine a concert so perfectly suited for the warmth and comfort of the fall season.”

Last August, Tow’rs released “Versions,” a collection of 10 revised songs from previous albums, including its first, self-titled one, due to audience demand to play old favorites at live shows. The album might have changed up lead singers, removed instruments or altered lyrics and arrangements, but the authenticity remains.

“Instead of trying to run away from these old songs and let my ego (run the show, saying) ‘Well, I have new songs out and everyone should be listening to that,’ we engaged to see how we journey with them and see how we’ve changed with them. The new versions have the same heart, but we play them a little bit more true. We play them more genuinely,” Kyle Miller said, adding that the release feels like a holistic celebration of the last decade. “It’s a hug of the whole self, rather than trying to escape the old version of ourselves because we don’t play that way anymore.”

The band’s sound has evolved throughout the last 10 years, primarily in its more simplistic production of albums, so that live shows sound much like the recordings.

“At the heart of it, it’s still really rooted in folk music. We’re just trying to tell a story through an acoustic guitar,” Kyle Miller said, adding that they test the quality of any song by asking themselves: “‘Can this song stand on its own with just the guitar and vocals?’ We hone in on the lyrics and the story that’s being told. It’s a philosophical change (from) loading up a song with production to make it work to a more mature understanding of production — a more simple production. From the standpoint of playing live, it feels a little more sustainable. From a heart posture, I feel more connected to the songs.”

Two other musicians join the Millers on stage Thursday for its ’70s inspired sound, which remains true to its previous album, “Joy Alchemy,” released in 2023. “Storytelling is a big part of our live show. We give insight on why we engaged with a particular song. It’s a dynamic of energy, from rock ‘n’ roll sounds, down to Gretta and I just singing with acoustic guitar,” Kyle Miller said, adding that they talk about a range of experiences, from how to live to death and many topics in-between. “I like to have an arc of emotion and leave people feeling really hopeful and engaged with the people around them. I hope it’s a time of self-reflection for people.”