Student band releases new single, performs at Right to Life events on campus
Meet the Mourning Doves—a student-run, classic rock and country band.
Composed of six undergraduate members, the group started when current juniors Felix Smolen and Evan Johnston, a guitarist and percussionist, met through the Musician’s Network during their freshman year. After beginning to play music together in their free time, the idea of starting a band began to form. Smolen recruited his fellow O’Neill dormmates Gianluca Mammola and Dan Forkey, thus bringing their instrumental repertoire to include a lead singer, drummer, and two guitarists. The following year, current junior Joe Rudolph and sophomore Joe Robuck joined, contributing their talents for keyboard, harmonica, and bass guitar.
The inspiration for the band’s name came through an O’Neill window in feathered form. Mammola told the Rover, “One morning after a gig, a couple of mourning doves flew in through the open window of an O’Neill quad and started causing a ruckus . . . The name was decided on that day.”
Since the band’s advent in 2022, the Mourning Doves have booked gigs both at local events as well as off campus. Past venues include Legends, senior houses, campus quad events, coffeehouses, and even local bars such as NEWFs and Corby’s.
Due to the STEM-heavy course loads of the band members, the Mourning Doves typically only rehearse two or three times before each gig, which as Robuck noted, “By the grace of God, is always somehow enough.” Favorite gigs among band members include a Woodstock themed house party in the spring of 2024, Newfspalooza 2024, and especially, the Right to Life club’s 2024 Lifefest event.
“Coolest audience, undoubtedly: ND Right to Life club members,” Robuck told the Rover. “They know how to bring energy and soul like no one else.”
The Mourning Doves began playing for Right to Life events during the 2023-2024 academic year. In addition to LifeFest, they provided music for multiple club bonfires, as well as a recent live music night in Hagerty Family Cafe. “Each member of the band is staunchly pro-life,” Robuck said. “We all find great honor and joy in any opportunities to promote the sanctity of life from conception to natural death, with emphasis on the protection of the unborn and their mothers.”
“We have many great friends on the board of Right to Life,” Mammola added. “The pro-life cause is one that the band is passionate about, so getting to play again and again for these people has been special.”
The Mourning Doves describe their performance repertoire as a blend of classic rock, southern rock, and country, drawing inspiration from artists such as Chris Stapleton, and groups like Led Zeppelin and The Who. Johnston told the Rover, “I think there’s something to be said about playing clean songs that still embody some pretty core American experiences, in contrast with questionable stuff that you may otherwise hear at a bar.”
Bringing enjoyable, wholesome music to their audiences is a passion for the Mourning Doves. “We’re not a Christian music band, but we’re a band made up of Catholics whose faiths are at the center of our lives,” Mammola explained. “We aren’t explicitly Catholic when performing, but we are joyful and working together for a common goal. If people can see that, that’s Christ’s grace.”
Recently, the Mourning Doves released their first original single, “Chop Out,” an upbeat rock song that showcases the talents of each instrumentalist. The single imagines a man driving down an open road, envisioning his future.
“Our hope is to record the other originals that we have been working on, as well as continue to write and record to expand our streaming presence, with an [Extended Play release] by the end of our senior year,” Mammola told the Rover.
The Mourning Doves can be reached for booking at themourningdoves@gmail.com, and found on Instagram @tmdmusic_official. Their single, “Chop Out” can be listened to on Spotify, Apple Music, and all streaming platforms.
Madeline Page is a freshman studying biology. She likes mourning doves, but prefers the company of peregrine falcons, and is acquainted with one named Peri. For photos of her feathered friend, email mpage4@nd.edu.
Photo Credit: Mourning Doves
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