Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, MeggFarrell’s Whiskey Social, including Farrell and fellow band members Patrick Gallagher, Jake Winchester, Ernest Merrimont and Emma Wiseman, are making their first trip to Athens. The town won’t be unfamiliar to every member; the piano player, Gallagher, is from the area.

Band leader Megg Farrell reported that the band is ready to make the most of their performance. “We’re really excited to play in Athens,” said Farrell. “It sounds like it’s going to be a really great venue.”

Farrell took to playing music at a young age, but never thought of making a living from it until recently after she started playing a unique instrument.

“I played piano for a while and I played guitar in a really crappy hippie band in high school,” she recalled. “Then I got into ukulele and I started performing and writing and singing all at the same time. About a year and a half ago I got more serious about it and I started really enjoying it and thinking I could do it as a career.”

Employing that trusted ukulele with piano, guitar and percussion ranging from tambourines and drums to a cowbell, MeggFarrell’s Whiskey Social definitely has an eclectic sound.

“Most people would categorize us as folk, but then we don’t really like folk very much… I really like singing the blues and that’s kind of how I learned to sing, with a blues teacher,” Farrell said. “I think my writing came from pretty basic influences. I really like The Beatles and The Doors, Janis Joplin and that standard list.

“I think that this band is influenced by the new lo-fi thing that’s going on because we’re very much about the live, acoustic feeling and the performance is about getting everyone involved and stomping and clapping, getting excited.”

For this show, one might want to spike their coffee at Donkey. After all, it is part of the band’s name for a reason.

“I didn’t really have a name before the band, it was just Megg Farrell,” Farrell explained. “When we started this it really felt like a band we had to name… I’ve really always liked whiskey so as a joke my friend said, ‘What about Megg Farrell and Whiskey?’ I thought, well that’s kind of catchy. So it started as [that], but then we thought that was too boring. For a while it was Whiskey Tasting, then became Whiskey Social. It’s actually really great because we always have whiskey at a show. It’s part of our little tradition.”

The band is ready to pull audience members off their feet with their performance. Participation is a must, and listeners are sure to enjoy themselves. However, while exciting the crowd is always a goal, they still have a personal touch.

“We just like to bring the audience into the band and have them singing with us and have them clapping and making percussion with us. So we definitely show everyone a good time. We’re usually pretty loud and raucous,” Farrell said. “I think what’s cool about us is that it still has that emotional quality of someone sitting up there with their guitar. It’s got both that acoustic, personal vibe and that loud, fun band vibe.”

Whiskey Social will play a couple of songs from Farrell’s solo EP Ghost Party. However, the band has plenty of new material to be showcased. A new album won’t be recorded until the band finishes touring, which they are thoroughly relishing.

“There’s such a varying audience that we’re getting to meet,” Farrell commented. “We really just love it… I’ve found being on stage and writing and all that is really what I love doing.”

MeggFarrell’s Whiskey Social will be playing Friday, June 4th at 9 p.m. at Donkey Coffee and Espresso.