By Mark C. Horn

The Deal sisters rocking it out at the Beachland.

It is never easy to hop right back into the performance groove when you have not performed as a unit on stage for nearly a year. However  when Kim and Kelley Deal and their band The Breeders hit the Beachland Ballroom stage this past Thursday, they proved that practice can be over-rated.

True, while Kim had toured recently in the Middle East with the Pixies, Kelley had not played live since December.

The Deal twins were coming through NE Ohio en route to Monticello, New York for All Tomorrow’s Parties annual event with a stop in Philly in between. So being the first of a three-gig mini-tour could have been considered a practice to work out those kinks.

From the time the Deal sisters hit the stage, it was abundantly clear, they were not perfect, but screw perfection. Through 22 songs from its catalog, including a four-song encore, the band worked it out, and more importantly the smiles on the Deal sisters’ faces showed just how rewarding a return to the stage can be.

Joining the Deal sisters, were their most enduring rhythm section of drummer  Joes Medeles and bass player Mando Lopez. The addition a few years back of  the more-than-able talents of guitarist/keyboardist Cheryl Lindsey allowed the  Deal sisters to switch off from guitar to bass to keys and even drums.

The key to the Breeders sound has always been about the unique dynamics melodies which lull you into a state of buoyant euphoria and then blast you out of the water with unadulterated and sharp tempo changes.

Kelley Deal looks on to the near-sold out crowd as she jams.

“Overglazed” and “Bang On” got the set off on the right foot as Kim Deal opened on keyboard. The crowd predictably responded mostly readily to “Divine Hammer” “No Aloha” and “Cannon Ball” fromSplash. The diehard Deal fans responded to a four-pack of songs from Kim Deal’s side project The Amps, namely “Pacer, Tipp City”, “I Am Decided” and “Hoverin”.

The band also debuted one new track that is expected to be on its next album, upcoming. The song “Happy” and performed one song from last year’s EP the title track of “Fate to Fatal”.

After a quick breather, the band came back out to play a rousing 15-minute encore set. The Deal sisters led their band mates through fuzz-guitar lo-fi numbers from Title TK. The TK extra session, included “Off You”, “Sons of Three”, and The Amps “Empty Glasses” to set up the finale, “The She”.

Rock and roll is not about perfection, it is about live performance. If you want to hear the album, stay home. The near-capacity gathering at the Beachland got to witness a solid jam session with the real Deals, raw and ready.

Mando Lopez blasts away.

Jose Medeles choppin wood.

Popularity: 3% [?]

She is the great pretender or leader of The Pretenders, and he is a Welsh rocker who fell in love with this Pretender. So what’s the fuss?  She is the ageless Chrissie Hynde and he is JP Jones, 27 years younger. On their debut album, JP, Chrissie & The Fairground Boys’ Fidelity, the two tell the heart-wrenching tale of their impossible love. The sexual tension and longing fill every groove, guitar lick, duet and refrain.

Fidelity!

Fidelity is a potpourri of dramatic acoustic and rock balladry tinged with country and folk.  The melodic intertwining of Hynde’s trademark alto falsetto and Jones’s raspy vocals play off each other well. Hynde, the female rocker with the tough exterior has emotional vulnerability just under the surface here. The songs are as liberating as heartbreaking with Jones at her side.

“Perfect Lover” epitomizes the lyrical sentiment on all 11 tracks, as Hynde bares her soul: I found my perfect lover but he’s only half my age / He was learning how to stand when I was wearing my first wedding band / I found my perfect lover but I have to turn the page / But I want him in my kitchen and standing on my stage. The rocker in this grouping is “If You Let Me” and it comes off with an urgency brimming with want. -Mark C. Horn

Popularity: 16% [?]

By Mark C. Horn

There is one thing a person gathers when talking with Grammy-Award winning roots rocker Dave Alvin-he eat, sleeps and breaths American music.  You can call what he plays rockabilly, soul-laced rock, doo-wop, bluegrass, boogie-woogie, delta blues, honky tonk, country, rock and roll or west coast jazz; at the end of the day it is American music.

The one-time lead guitarist of the legendary LA rhythm and blues rock band The Blasters has reinvented himself time and time again over the course of his three decade career as he has traversed the encyclopedia of blues hybrid genres. He has persevered through band breakups, illness and death because at the heart of his art form and avocation is the blues. And how does that help one survive?

“This is my religion.  This is my church,” he proclaims frankly. “You are going to struggle (in this business) but I was mentored in that struggle.  The old blues guys taught me survival tips.  The bottom one is to do this out of the love for the music.”

Following the words of some of the legends who schooled him as a youngster (names such as Big Joe Turner, Little Milton and others), one can see and hear this love in every one of Alvin’s song.

Dave Alvin and his latest band, The Guilty Women, bring their American roots music to the Beachland Ballroom on Thur., Sept 9.  Alvin has played before with the Blasters and the country punk group The Knitters.

It was two years ago that the lives of Alvin and members of his band The Guilty Men were besieged with sadness over the passing of band mate, accordion player Chris Gaffney. Gaffney, also Alvin’s best friend, lost his battle with cancer.  So Alvin recruited several area West coast musicians to produce a tribute album to Gaffney entitled Man of Somebody’s Dream; A Tribute to Chris Gaffney. That release came out the same day as Alvin and his then new band’s debut self-titled debut, Dave Alvin and The Guilty Women.

The Guilty Women consists of steel and lap steel guitarist Cindy Cashdollar, electric guitarist Nina Gerber, violinist/mandolin player Laurie Lewis, lead vocalist Christy McWilson, bass player Sarah Brown and drummer Lisa Pankratz.

The other member of the band, the late Amy Faris, was a fixture of the Austin, Texas scene and an accomplished violin and viola player, had done work with Alvin prior to the band. In 2009, after an illness, Faris passed away, leaving yet another void in Alvin’s life and those of his bandmates.

“Chris was my closest friend, you know, and spiritual advisor,” Alvin said. “That was the toughest.  With Amy, it was extremely sad. One of the selfish reasons I put The Guilty Women together was because I missed Chris so much on stage that in order for me to continue doing what I did, I had to do it differently…  This was my way of curing my melancholy over losing my best friend (starting The Guilty Women band), and suddenly I lose a very dear friend who lived a couple blocks away from me.”

Alvin and dozens of other musicians have performed tribute shows and recordings for both Gaffney and Faris with proceeds going to the non-profit Hungry For Music, whose mission is to inspire underprivileged children with creativity through musical instrument, concert and workshop donations.

As far as the remaining Guilty Women, Alvin was no stranger to the group prior to their entry into Alvin’s touring and recording troupe.

“Everybody in the band, I’d worked with in one way or another except for Cindy (Cashdollar) and I had produced many recordings that many of the girls have played on from the past.”

Although devastated by the passing of his good friend and band mate, Alvin, who had played the popular San Francisco Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, gathered this ensemble of female talent and they hit the stage.  They played so well, Yep Roc Records (Alvin’s label) co-founder Glen Dicker told Alvin an album had to be made based on the The Guilty Women initial, one-off performance.

“I’m really lucky. I have always been able to play with great musicians, whether it was as a kid or with my brother and the guys in The Blasters,” Alvin expresses with gratitude. “The Guilty Women all came from slightly different roots music backgrounds. Some of them had never played together.

“It just meshed beautifully and over the year of touring this is sort of a core band of Lisa, Sarah, Cindy and Christy and I. Then Nina and Laurie joined. It has become a little muscular, ass-kicking outfit.”

It was back in 1979 that Phil and Dave Alvin got their roots rock band The Blasters started. Born and raised in Downey, California. The Alvin brothers were raised on classic blues music of the likes of Big Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker, Elmore James and dozens more. The Alvin brothers witnessed the rise and fall of many famous and semi-famous musicians of a bygone era. They knew of the mortality early on.

“When you grow up like Phil and I did befriending old blues singers, you get use to mortality early,” Alvin acknowledges. “A lot of the guys split when we were still kids.”

One of those legends who was around long enough to be called a Blaster was sax great Lee Allen who made a name for himself in New Orleans and then the west coast.

The Blasters were a talented group that included piano player Gene Taylor, bassist John Bazz and veteran drummer Billy Bateman to round out its solid line-up.  The Blaster put out four studio albums and despite receiving critical acclaim the country over and even in the UK, they garnered little mainstream success. Coming out of the LA scene where bands like X, Black Flag, The Flesheaters and the Minutemen were creating a punk scene, The Blasters bonded with their punk brothers.

By 1986, Dave left for a solo career, occasionally coming back for reunion shows and tours. Alvin also played with X and the X country offshoot The Knitters.  His first two albums had a country rock flavor to them and it was on these releases that Alvin, who did limited vocals on The Blaster records, cut his vocal teeth. After a serious bout of meningitis, Alvin hopped back on the horse using royalties from Dwight Yoakam’s success off Alvin’s song “Long White Cadillac”.

Over the next eight years Alvin wrote and recorded a series of harder edged roots rock and blues albums, such as Romeo’s Escape, Blues Blvd and Museum of Heart. By 1993, Alvin turned down the electric and tuned up his acoustic sound with the releases of King of California, Interstate City and Blackjack Dave over the next five years.

In 2000, Alvin finally got the recognition that had eluded him on a more international level when his Public Domain: Songs from the Wild Land release of American roots music classics.

It was Interstate City and Out in California that Alvin recruited the talents of best friend accordion player Chris Gaffney and five other friends. The band would put out a few live albums. In 2008 after battling cancer Gaffney passes away leaving a hole in The Guilty Men lineup that Alvin felt could not be filled.

David Alvin

“I love to collaborate because I am a totally self-trained musician, so that’s how I learn,” admits Alvin, now 54. “Whether it’s sitting at the feet of Lighting Hopkins or watching how Laurie Lewis frames a song, I’m watching everybody.”

So, while Alvin makes a comfortable living playing American roots music, much like his blues teachers, he never was in it to make a fortune.  He knew that to stick with true roots music, there was no fortune to be had.

Another facet of Alvin’s life that resonates is his love-hate relationship with his older brother Phil. While The Blasters still perform with a different guitarist Keith Wyatt, there are occasional Alvin brothers’ get-togethers on stage.

Despite not being one who lets the cool cat out of the brand new bag, Alvin alluded to a future brotherly reunion of sorts. On the next Alvin solo project, a duet entitled “What’s Up with Your Brother?” sees the siblings crooning together in what Alvin calls “a blues rocker.”

Regardless of what is around the bend for Alvin, one thing is certain, he will be continuing to hone is skill as a roots guitarist. Whether he rejoins his old mates as a Blaster from the past or not remains to be seen. Many fans would love that to happen. But if it doesn’t there will be no shortage of quality musicians to blame, namely a dozen or so Guilty Men and Guilty Women who are near family for this man who is at the root of American music.

Popularity: 10% [?]

By Mark C. Horn

STP lead singer Scott Weiland on the groove.

Controversy seems to follow veteran grunge rockers, Stone Temple Pilots wherever they go. When the California-based Grammy winners began playing live and recording in the early 90s, they fought critics calls of riding on the coattails of fellow grunge bands, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. Lead-singer Scott Weiland had his struggles with drug drugs and that was much well-publicized.

Now, after near 20-years with its first new album in nine years,and the first to be eponymously titled, rumors are persisting of Weiland lip-synching songs on the current summer tour.

 Now, I have covered a few hundred shows in my day. When Weiland and mates hit the Time Warner Amphitheatre in Cleveland, August 22, I was prepared to see for myself if STP was truly back in the saddle and if Weiland classic rock vocals were for up to snuff. Ironically after falling off stage at PNC Pavilion in Cincinnati, OH three nights later, on the opening “Crackerman”, Weiland got back up singing without missing a beat, leading some to believe he was lip-snyching.

 In Cleveland, after Kentucky-natives, London residents Cage the Elephant preceded STP with a rousing, nonstop energy of power-rock, Weiland and group hit the stage and did not leave for near 100 minutes before a near sold-out crowd.

 Being within five feet of the band in the photo bay, anyone with a trained eye can tell the difference between someone mouthing lyrics or truly singing them. The pulsing of the veins in his neck and breathing patterns pretty much solidified in my mind Weiland was not only singing, he was grasping for every ounce of lung and throat muscle he could muster up.

STP performed a 20-song set with equal parts Purple and Core, (its first two hits albums which put them on the map). With a wall of infinitesimal lights changing colors through the set serving as a backdrop, Weiland led the band through all the early hits – “Plush”, “Sex-Type Thing”, “Interstate Love Song”, and “The Big Empty”, “Flies in the Vaseline”.

Dean DeLeo caught in the moment.

The trademark Dean DeLeo guitar was ever-present throughout the evening. His brother Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz, who have proved to be one of the more enduring rock rhythm sections balanced the live set with a bombast that can only be associated with the STP sound.

For an encore, the foursome covered “Dead and Bloated” with the help of a fan performing the opening megaphone-style vocals. STP ended the near two-hour performance with “Trippin’ on a Hole in Paper Heart” from Tiny Gifts from the Vatican Gift Shop.

In all, STP provided a solid musical show and Weiland slithered, slinked and ran the stage as if it were his own living room with a few thousand of his closest friends, singing, yes singing with him.

Popularity: 11% [?]

By Mark C. Horn

Generals of the Underground

If you are like many outsiders Dover and New Philadelphia, Ohio, are nothing more than farm towns.

Separated by the Tuscarawas River, these two rural towns with a combined population of just under 30,000 have always been about being down home.

“We are part of Tuscarawas County, which for non-residents is hard to pronounce, so people from outside the county affectionately abbreviate it to T-County. We are the Southern outpost of NE Ohio.” says Don Whittingham, Dover native and founder of the Unreal McCoys, who are one area band on the reunion trail.

This August 21 at Bud and Tooties on West High, an outdoor venue in New Philly, the McCoys are back. Playing with the McCoys will be Vegas 66 (lead singer Jimmy Robinson grew up in New Philly played in 90s area rockabilly band The Swinging Cadillacs) the High Plains Drifters, Max Garland and The Generals of the Underground (Featuring Garland Monroe) and Smakin Dabby and the In-Betweens.
But before a re-emergence could be formed, some thirty years ago, the towns synonymous with agriculture, dairy farms, meat cattle, jumped off the hay bailers and onto the punk bandwagon for the first time.

It was in 1977, that a young novice guitar player named Louis Paris inspired by the upstart punk sounds of Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and the New York Dolls decided to give his hand at it.

“You had to watch your back,” said Paris, whose first punk band was The Goons. “The guys in caps and flannel shirts. Most of the time they didn’t like us cuz we were different.”

Undaunted Paris, a New Philly native, and his band would play anywhere they could, including old barns, Memorial Hall in Dover, and The Windchasers on West High Street. Most bands all practiced in a place called The Hole, a basement on Courthouse Square in New Philadelphia.

“We played in the old barns because we got tired of people that would throw ice cubes and change at us,” Paris said. “I was a guitar player and we patterned out sound after the Ramones, NY Dolls and Johnny Thunder.”

Paris and his punk band, The Goons soon would venture out of the area and strike out for Los Angeles, as many other NE Ohio punk bands looking to get signed would do. The band would put out one single, “I Wanna Be Dumb” without much fanfare. And while this seemed to be the end of the fledgling punk effort in T-County, it was only the beginning.

By the time Paris came back to the area a few years later, the scene had exploded with alternative bands, punk fashion and more. It became a popular stop for Akron-Kent bands such as Hammer Damage, Johnny Clampett and The Walkers, The Bangorillas, Urban Mutants and more. Even local punks Dickie Lotion & The Master Baiters were leaving their mark.

One of the local haunts frequented by the burgeoning punk scene was The Spanish Ballroom in Dover. On March 13, 1981, the Baiters and Ronald Koal and The Trillionaires of Columbus were playing there as store-bought beer was being sold (without a license) and sponsored by local musical entrepreneur Pat Nichols.

The ensuing party event led to a bust by local authorities and the local paper, the Times Reporter made the story front-page news with, “‘New Wave’ party draws liquor agents”. The story went on report “It was the second such party held by Nichols geared toward the “New Wave” cult which emphasizes bizarre clothing, music and dancing.”

Within a year Akron punk band ODFX would have a more violent experience with fighting between its band and some Dover locals and escorted out of town.

Punk T-County had arrived.

Soon after, bands like Paris’ Rifle Range, The Eddies, The Heralds of Hip, AOA and The Criminals would spring up. Nichols and local music enthusiast Sherry Rose began fostering the promotions of Akron and Cleveland alt bands coming to their rural backyard. And soon punk bands like The Bizarros and The Hammer Damage, Tin Huey and a slew of more northern NE Ohio alternatives groups would play in T-County. The bars included Joe’s Country Barn, Jim’s Barn, The Mustang, The Dover Hotel, Johnny’s, The Spanish Ballroom, Windchasers and Memorial Hall.

“As rural and conservative as the area was, bands like Hammer Damage would come down to T-County because until The Bank came out, there were not a lot of venues for the burgeoning punk Akron crowd,” recalls Paris.

Other out-of-town bands such as The Human Switchboard, and Tin Huey would play there. T-County’s first legit hardcore band, The Absurd consisting of Doug O’Neil, Mike Heck, Garland Monroe, Steve Mari and Pat Nichols made a brief splash and would eventually play at The Cleveland Underground.

“There was no distribution here though,” said Paris. You had to go to record stores and ask them to sell it (your record).”

Still unsettled, Paris jumped in and out of college at nearby Ashland University and headed to NYC. He would work at the fabled CBGBs and Brownies, looking for his next musical break-through band. Paris would return a decade later.

“That is the theme – people leave and then come back,” notes native Don Whittingham. “The community still has a nucleus of friends that people came back to visit, sometimes moving back permanently.”

Meanwhile a new band which put new meaning behind the Hatfields and McCoys would have the moment in the spotlight. Formed by keyboardist Whittingham in 1983, the Unreal McCoys would become the band of choice among NE Ohio alt-country followers.

The McCoys were a band that was able to meet the locals more in the middle. With its cow-punk sound becoming the latest trend in the punk world, the McCoys hit their stride.

“We played locally but received our first real taste of exposure in Akron and Kent with bands like The Attitude, Joy Circuit, High Plains Drifters.”

The Unreal McCoys included: Mark Incarnato, Vic Heffner, Richard Gibbs and Whittingham and at different times Steve Sicurella and Jamie Aldergate, all from T-County.

They would open for The DBs and The Del Lords for their biggest national exposure.

Unreal McCoys posing for 80s promo shoot.

“Being from an agricultural area, we felt comfortable with the cowboy punk thing,” explains Whittingham, whose band’s first recording, an EP, “Party Time” along with their first single. “I Wanna Be Someone” began getting heavy airplay on NE Ohio college radio stations such as WAUP University of Akron and on the local WJER.

By this time Whittingham began attending Kent State University. The EP came out in 1984, and band manager Rick Reminger from Mayfield Heights would book the bands in and outside of their local environ at such places as The Phantasy, Peabody’s Down Under and Kent clubs JBs, and Mothers.

“Party Time” was the band’s only recording. They were also included on Exhibit A, a Cleveland compilation album.

The band would switch to a Cleveland band management firm which saw them as their small-town novelty act, and the band struggled to continue to grow. Whittingham would end up in the short-lived Pharaohs of Rhythm before moving on.

Meanwhile Paris would create his current and most enduring group in 1998, Sour Jazz. The band consists of guitarist Ratboy, Cowboy Mark on bass, Splat Action on drums and Paris on vocals.

Their sound can best be described as Iggy Pop revivalism and they don’t mind. In fact they band’s three albums: the 2009 Rock & Roll Ligger, American Seizure and on Acetate and No Values on Ghost Rider Records, both 2005 releases, all ring in like late 70s NYC punk with a fresh new approach.

Louie Paris on recent Spain tour with his acclaimed NYC band Sour Jazz.

After a successful spring tour of Japan, Paris and band played eight dates in Spain in June before a loyal raucous following which has seen the before. A few of the more notable stops included Madrid and Barcelona. The band was interviewed on Spain’s National Radio 3 for good measure, while there.

Meanwhile the Unreal McCoys have also indeed, regrouped. The band performed its first gig in two decades, last Halloween at the Broadway Brewhouse in New Philly and drew 400-plus. Vegas 66 and Pitchforks and Halos also performed.

“There is a whole new era of bands: Stagecoach Robbery, Smackin Dabby and the In-Betweens, Pitchforks and Halos and the Sofa Kings,” Whittingham says of the resurgence of a healthy alt scene.

Aside from their musical hobbies, Paris now works for the T-County MRDD and Whittingham as sales manager for AquaBlue Chemical. Both are raising families, but still have music in their bones.

The scene is not exploding, but re-emerging. And, while many a punk have come and gone, Paris and Whittingham still call New Philly and Dover, home. And, while the music careers are still on track, the music takes a backseat to family, friends and day jobs, a fact that is not so different from most any NE Ohio punk music scene, urban or rural.

Popularity: 100% [?]

By Mark C. Horn

Kim and Kelley by Barbara Peremans

A rolling Pixie gathers no dust seems to be the way Kim Deal is looking at life as an alt rocker in the midst of the 21^st century.

Fresh off the European tour with the Pixies, the veteran bass player is working on new demos for her longtime side project The Breeders for a potential upcoming album which would be the band’s fifth and ninth overall release.

As it was in the beginning, Deal uses her band as a creative outlet which affords her more artistic freedom than that was gained with the aforementioned Pixies. Playing in the shadow of Pixie frontman Black Francis, Deal is able to play co-lead with twin sister Kelley as the two only consistent members of The Breeders.

Prior to continuing with a Pixies stateside tour and in Japan and Australia, the Deal sisters along with Jose Medeles, Mando Lopez and Cheryl Lindsey will be playing an abbreviated three Breeder tour.

The first of these three dates will be at the Beachland Ballroom, September 2. The band, still based out of Dayton, will cut through NE Ohio and on to Philadelphia, en route to the 10^th anniversary celebration of All Tomorrow’s Parties in Monticello, New York. The Breeders will play the legendary festival at Kutsher’s Country Club, on September 5 with Sonic Youth, Explosions in the Sky and eight other bands. Cuyahoga Falls native and legendary Indies filmmaker Jim Jarmusch is curating the third day of bands.

“I have just enough time to go home (to Dayton) and do my laundry,” Deal said speaking from LA where she is recording some Breeder demo tracks. “I usually do it (demos) in my space in Ohio, but I’m sick of being in the basement.”

Ohio Breeder fans are the beneficiaries of the band making a stop in Cleveland prior to NY, Deal is looking forward to the unique festival which began in England.

“In All Tomorrow’s Parties, a band gets to pick the other bands on the bill. In theory, like Sonic Youth they would get to pick all the bands that they like. We got to curate the event one year and we had Heartless Bastards play. So, it is nice because you know everybody, you get to hang out during the weekend. You have people who summer camp.”

The idea of the Breeders came about initially before the Pixies time, when the Deal sisters used the name as teenagers playing folk music. Deal joined the Pixies in 1986 but after three quick albums in two years, Come on Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa and Bossanova, friction between Black Francis and Deal caused a hiatus of that band and after Tromp Le Monde was released, the band split in 1992. The stress of the road and label recording expectations came to ahead.

Fortunately for Deal and her need to have more of an active role in writing songs, the  about the formation of The Breeders using the name once again, proved to be a catharsis. The band which followed the Pixies onto the English label 4AD released its first LP Pod in 1990 to critical acclaim and to the liking of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain who called the album one of his favorites.

The original lineup included the Deal sisters, and Throwing Muses Tanya Donelly whose band, like The Pixies was on 4AD and was at a breaking point and Britt Walford. By 1992, after recording its EP Safari, Donelly left to form Belly.

By 1992, with the Pixies split, Deal wrote new material for the Breeders next release, Splash and recruited Jim McPherson on drums to replace Walford. The result was the band’s most popular album to date. Three singles, led by “Cannonball” gained the band critical and popular acclaim and a platinum album.

Following the drug bust of Kelley Deal in 1995, she formed several bands such as Kelley Deal 6000 and the Last Hard Men with Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach, Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, and Jimmy Flemion of The Frogs. By 1996, Deal and the Breeders were back with the support of Kim’s band The Amps which she had formed while during this time.

For its third full-length LP, the band recruited guitarist Richard Presley, bass player Lopez and drummer Medeles. The album Title TK was released in 2002.the same lineup would also record Mountain Battles in 2008 and Fate to Fatal EP in 2009.

Making it in today’s music world is quite different than when Deal first joined The Pixies a quarter of a century ago, and she feels the industry is dying due that paradigm swing of downloadable music.

“Bands are not signing anything anymore because the music is free,” she says quite honestly.” There is no money in it at all. We don’t make money at all. Going to Cleveland, we will probably lose money.”

Deal feels like a lot of musicians that the industry is dying out in terms of making a living recording due to all the available internet outlets for fans to pirate and download songs for free. She noticed it a few years back and she feels it is only getting worse.

“Here it is 2010 and it’s still dying. Even in the automotive industry. In Dayton we have had a lot of plants close down. I tell myself its no big deal, a lot of industries have died. Towns change and demographics. They change their import and export sectors.”

“I was talking to this skatebard dude. People give him money to ride around on his skateboard. It’s interesting because those companies would get extra money. They would make these great DVDs of these guys doing skate tricks. Now they have them on YouTube. And it’s no big deal, but that was real money for those skateboarders.”

Deal feels that for the celebrity musicians such as Jessica Simpson or Kid Rock, it really doesn’t affect them.

“They have brand names, like she has her shoes, but for someone like Erika (from Heartless Bastards), she is not a brand name. She just puts out music. New bands today cannot make a little bit of music and try to get a band to tour; they are the ones who don’t have the backing. Jessica Simpson will put out music to promote her shoe line.”

So what do bands like the Breeders and Heartless Bastards do? They continue to tour and record. They play to their fans and hope that somewhere there is enough money to make ends meet and still maintain artistic integrity. But do they put out albums. Do audiences think bands like The Breeders which have survived the economic changes of the music industry have it made?

“I don’t think our audience thinks that way,” Deal is quick to note.” I think half of our audiences are in bands and they know that we don’t make money.”

So how does a band like The Breeders go about planning new material in an era where concept albums are making a comeback?

“We try to put 40 minutes of good music together,” Deals says frankly.” I really like albums, I’m from the album generation. When the Pixies were playing, basically we recorded our live set, like Husker Du. It wasn’t high art or concept, that sort of Asia, prog rock concept, so we were happy to have 15 two-minute songs. It was like ‘Cool, we’ve got enough to make another record.’”

That strategy is pretty much the same for the Breeders and concept or not, the next Breeder release could be a surprise. Maybe they will preview some of that new material. Whatever the case may be, Deal remains staunch in her efforts to persevere through sheer guts and grace. She manages to stay just ahead of the lean cut fat times of the music industry which still finds a way to promote the prefab emo rockers and pretenous posturing bands rather than original-sounding bands such as hers.

Popularity: 34% [?]

By Chris Drabick

Between 2000 and 2005, the number of independent record stores went from a high of 3800 to less than 2500 just half a decade later.  In an era in which the download was costing the brick-and-mortar record store 35% of its population, Square Records was birthed in 2003.  Storeowners and operators David Ignizio and Juniper Sage (joined until 2005 by their former partner Geoff Crowe, who left to develop the graphic design firm Smoke Signals) thought, despite the changing music business climate, that they could turn their passion in to a career.

“We all moved away from Akron for a while and lived in other states,” explains Ignizio.  “When we came back we adopted a model for our store that we saw was working in other cities.  Many people underestimate Akron.  People know their music here.  There’s a strong history of many different types of music.  People who live here know it.  Those are the people who are still buying music.

“It makes sense to me that (other) people would just download the latest Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber song.  Nobody is going to care about that a year from now anyway.  It’s probably better that their stuff is getting downloaded.  Somewhere there’s a landfill full of 20 million Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer CDs.”

Ignizio and his partners attempted to open the store the old-fashioned way, but were forced into an alternate store plan out of necessity.

“We had a business plan when we were getting the ball rolling,” begins Ignizio.  “We presented it to the guy at the bank who decides if you get a loan or not.  He was not impressed.  (He) turned us down, which is fine.  I’m sure our initial business plan was pretty comical.  There’s a lot of stuff that you don’t know how to prepare for until you actually do it.  We funded the store off of our credit cards and kept transferring balances to lower percentages; probably not the textbook way to do things, but we made it work.”

The store’s iconic name can inspire a chicken-or-the-egg debate.  The Highland Square address could have inspired the name, or perhaps the name was in place before the address was secured.  According to Ignizio, it’s location, location, location.

“Highland Square had to be the location,” he says.  “So we waited until a space became available and seized it.  I’m not sure if the store would have worked anywhere else.  It’s kind of hard to imagine it in any other neighborhood in Akron.  It’s one of the few areas where you actually see people walking around on the street.  There’s a decent amount of young people that still live in the Square.  There’s a good art and music community here.”

As in years past, Ignizio has scheduled an anniversary celebration.  The Square Records 7^th Anniversary Party will happen August 7^th (appropriately enough) at Musica in Akron.  Ignizio strives to put on a unique show every year.

“This year’s event features Dreaded, White Pines, Cloud Nothings and Gabe Schray,” says Ignizio.  “The goal is just to put together a fun show.  I usually try not to have bands play the anniversary show if they’ve already played one, so a lot of times it’s newer bands to the area.  Most of the time we keep it local because I want to use whatever notoriety our store has to bring people to the show and spotlight local talent.”

Square Records has long been known to accommodate special orders and strange requests, save one.

“It always strikes me as odd when someone wants to buy our store cat, Kali.  That’s happened a few times.  One lady, in particular who wears all sorts of animal pelts, keeps asking.  Sorry, not for sale.”

Popularity: 24% [?]

By: Julia Kazar

Like some twang with your crunch?  With a little bit of country and a little bit of rock the Brackish Water Band is heading to Annabell’s in Akron on Thursday August 5th. They will be performing on the upstairs stage. The band is ready to rock your face Hank Williams style, or something like that.  Needless to say their going to have some fun and we’re going to wear ten gallon hats.

The Brackish Water Band

Ten years ago, The Brackish Water Band formed out of the hills of Washington (state). Over the years the band has evolved into the good time country powerhouse they are today.  See the picture to my right?  Does those guys look anything less than a stellar foot-stomping good time? Currently the band is made up of; Joe T, James B, Ben D and Johnny B, along with a few special necessary components that have joined them on the road for their tour this summer.  Expect nothing less than greatness.

Annabell’s…Akron…Thursday.  Be there or, well, don’t.

Popularity: 2% [?]

By Julia Kazar

James Cotton

Blues singer James Cotton is one of the most influential blues musicians ever.  And even though he just celebrated his 75^th birthday, the singer/songwriter still continues to make music and tour to this day.  Although performances may not be as frequent as they once were, they are still just as powerful as when Cotton first started out.

James Cotton’s has been interested in music his whole life, one of his earliest memories is of his mother making chicken and train sounds on a harmonica.  When he was a little older he met the great Sonny Boy Williamson and essentially began opening for him, although because he was so young this meant playing just outside of the club.  When Williamson left his band to reunite with his wife, he left Cotton, who was barely a teenager, in charge of the band.  From there he began playing the blues harp in Howling Wolf’s band.  Around this time Cotton also began to record a few solo albums of his own.  His next career move was to become the harmonica player for Muddy Waters.  Even though Muddy used another harmonica player for most of his recordings, it was Cotton who played during many live shows.  Eventually Cotton’s abilities outgrew what Waters needed him to do so he began focusing again on his solo career.  As he grew and developed as a musician, Cotton has become known for having an incredible stage presence and immersing the audience in his music.

Be sure to come see James Cotton on July 24^th when he plays The Kent Stage as part of the Kent Blues Festival.  Also on the bill that night is Guy Davis, another legendary blues artist.  Tickets are only $25 be sure to get yours now so you don’t miss this once in a lifetime blues show.

Popularity: 6% [?]

By Mark C. Horn

Every once in a great while, a new female voice comes to the fore which rises above the din of sameness proliferating the worlds of rock, country and folk music.  In the vein of Patsy Cline, Janis Joplin, Joan Jett, Chrissie Hynde, Karen Dalton, Syd Straw and Lucinda Williams, Erika Wennerstrom, the lead singer and songwriter, is such a strong talent.

In an era where marketable form has become more a priority than original substance, Wennerstrom cut her teen rock’n'roll teeth in her native Dayton, Ohio on the sounds of local original breakout bands, and now she has definitively arrived on the national stage.  It is that unique melodic voice which Wennerstrom brings to Cleveland’s Beachland Ballroom next Thursday, July 22, with her band Heartless Bastards.

The band, which has released three highly acclaimed albums since 2005, is hitting the road again before heading back into the studios to record its fourth album later this summer.  Only for the first time will it be traversing the country as the headliner, where Minneapolis’ Peter Wolf Crier and American Gothic band Builders and Butchers from Portland, OR will open for the Bastards.

From a very early age the shy Ohioan was into a variety of music from R&B to jazz to country to punk to alt-rock and classic rock.  Her first vocal inspirations came from childhood when her single mother would play recordings of Ray Charles, Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin, to name a few.  As a teenager in the ’90s, she found Joan Jett and Iggy Pop and the Stooges, along with being inspired by fellow Daytonians Guided By Voices, The Breeders, The Amps and Brainiac who played her local haunts.

“My voice might sound unique because I am not trying to emulate one or two singers,” Wennerstrom notes.  ”I get inspired by 50 different singers.  I was always drawn to those styles because they have a lasting sound.  I feel that a lot of the stuff from the ’90s sounds dated.”

But she is quick to admit, “Some of my favorite bands are from that era, too.  Bands like The Pixies, My Bloody Valentine and GBV sound timeless to me.  I am a product of listening to hundreds of different bands.”

Her pitch and volume mix with an ability to undulate her voice and break up single syllables into two.  Her voice is like a strong reed that bends in the wind – it bends, yet never breaks.

While the media is hard-pressed to find a female influence to match Wennerstrom’s style, it is a list of classic male singers she is more inclined to emulate and pattern, but again, not just one.

“I see my voice as a product of having listened to like 50 different singers, well, maybe 50 is a lot,” Wennerstrom shares.  I am influenced by a number of singers; from Wire to Otis Redding to Iggy Pop to Ray Charles to Robert Plant.

“On the first album, I was very inspired by and the song ‘When the Levee Breaks’; ‘The Will Song’ (from the Heartless Bastards first album Stairs and Elevators) was my take.”

Her first group was an all girls band called Shesus.  The band played locally and was beginning to not only gain regional popularity but sign to a record deal.  It was at this time Wennerstrom left to form Heartless Bastards.  Within three months of she had a demo ready to be distributed to find a label.

The band’s name was inspired, as it has been well-written about, when Wennerstrom saw a Mega Touch trivia game at a bar in which she was working.  One of the questions was to name Tom Petty’s backing band.  One of the incorrect answers was “Heartless Bastards”.  Wennerstrom found that amusing and later decided to take the name for her own new band.

The 5-song demo, essentially a solo project for Wennerstrom at the time, was recorded in December 2002 at Ultrasuede Studios by Shannon McGee and featured Wennerstrom on guitar, piano and vocals.  Her band initially included Dave Colvin on drums, along with contributions from Reuben Glaser on lead guitar and Jesse Ebaugh on bass.

After the demo was recorded, Heartless Bastards became a four-piece band with Wennerstrom , Colvin, Adam McAllister on bass and Michael Weinel on lead guitar.  They played their first live show at The Comet, a bar in the Cincinnati community of Northside, in August , 2003.  After parting ways with Colvin, McAllister and Weinel, the group reformed as a three piece with Kevin Vaughn on drums and Mike Lamping on bass.

The fate of many a band can often be linked to one small event or instance that separates local bar regular to national prominence.  Such was the case with Heartless Bastards. On one of many regional tours in 2003, the band was to play a gig at Akron’s former Lime Spider (now Lockview).  After seeing that there was as few as four people attending the show, Wennerstrom says they were given an out from Lime Spider owner Danny Basone, a former area punk drummer.

“It was kind of funny that night we played.  He (Basone)) walked up and he had money out, and he said, ‘You know, you guys don’t have to play.  I can just pay you.’  We said, ‘Well, we kind of like playing, and we drove four hours to get here.’

“If anything, it’s a great warm-up for the rest of the tour.  It was just a four or five-date tour we had lined up.  We were like, ‘Well, can we play?’  We got him to let us play, and Patrick Carney walked in about halfway through the set.”

Carney’s band the Black Keys had played with Heartless Bastards in Newport Kentucky several months prior.  Erika gave Carney a homemade demo to help promote the band’s efforts to find a label.

Meanwhile, Fat Possum Records (The Keys’ label at the time) had actually been emailing the band, showing interest in signing them.  The emails from Fat Possum had been going to her junk mail, and so she was unaware of the label’s level of interest.  One computer’s junk mail turned out to be the Heartless Bastards treasure to be.  Erika got home that night from bartending and discovered that Fat Possum had sent one last email to reach out to the band.

“I’d liked to think if we kept playing, something would happen eventually.  But that was certainly fate and luck to say that we would (be interested in signing).  Touring can be tough without a label.”

As it was, the band was signed to Fat Possum in 2004 and its first album, Stairs and Elevators, followed in 2005.  For a debut album, it rivaled those of more accomplished bands of the time, and Wennerstrom’s raw and strong vocals was earning a place in the boys club of the male-dominated rock genre.

The album was in-your-face, straight edge rock’n'roll akin to Iggy Pop, T-Rex, Ramones, GBV or Led Zeppelin.  Wennerstrom’s vocals are raw and relentless with a backdrop of hard-driving drums and guitar.  It garnered the band some notice, from Rolling Stone to the Village Voice.

Having let the rock animal out of the box, Wennerstrom now focused on musicianship.  Cut back were the buzz guitar licks and rumbling drum beats.  The result was the band’s second release, All The Time, in 2006.

The sophomore release was more introspective, even hypnotic, and definitely more refined.  The band kept an undercurrent of serious rock, but with a country and near psychedelic feel.  While some found the album to be a departure from the harder, raw Stairs and Elevators, Wennerstrom was simply spreading her musical wings.

It was after the album that Wennerstrom broke off an 11-year relationship with bass player Mike Lamping.  Feeling she had begun to accomplish what she was setting out to do musically; she felt the need to move out of Cincinnati and re-root someplace new.

“Mike and I still play together but it was really hard to play those shows.  I think we were going to drive ourselves crazy if we continued playing together.  We have a lot of the same friends.  It was very hard living in the same town.”

She decided on Austin, Texas.  Wennerstrom not only has family there, but Mike McCarthy (who produced the band’s third and most recent album, 2009′s The Mountain) lives there as well.

“I really love Austin.  When I moved there, I was originally planning on moving back to Cincinnati but I really fell in love with the town.”

With a new environment, distance from her old relationship and a fresh lease on life, Wennerstrom wiped the slate clean and re-inserted original drummer Dave Colvin and bass player Jesse Ebaugh.  Austin native, guitarist Mark Nathan, is also touring with the band, which began to truly broaden its sound even more with its third effort.  Wennerstrom added banjo, violin, mandolin and steel guitar, all influences of her new more folksy, country rock digs in Austin.

So inspired by the hip Texas town’s musical community, Heartless Bastards showcased its energetic sound in June of 2009 on the Austin City Limits, as a part of the show’s 35^th anniversary.  This was not the first time, however, that Heartless Bastards had put their stamp on a more southern rock sound.  Back in 2004, they played with guitar slinger James McMurtry, son of novelist Larry McMurtry.  The session was recorded and released as Live in Aught–Three.

Until 2010, Heartless Bastards has been touring as an opening act.  For Stairs and Elevators, the band opened for Drive-By Truckers.  For All The Time, for Lucinda Williams.  For The Mountain, the band spent all of 2009 canvassing the country for new fans, opening for The Black Keys, Andrew Bird, Jenny Lewis and Wolfmother.  The band even travelled to the UK to play in All Tomorrow’s Parties showcase in Europe curated by The Breeders. But it was all by design as Wennerstrom wanted to build a following slowly and organically.

To supplement tour stops, earlier this year, the band got some national attention playing on Late Show with David Lettermen, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and MTV Iggy, which showcases break-through bands.

“Writing songs is definitely a challenge for me.  I don’t feel pressure from the outside world.  I just try to create, in my eyes, the best thing we’ve ever done.

“Melodies are constantly in my head.  I could be at the grocery store in the diary aisle and there comes a song that pops out of my head.  Because its melodies that come first, it’s always a challenge to have the words and express what I want to say to the same rhythmic patterns of the melodies.  I’m always thinking of Shel Silverstein’s ‘Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too’ song.”

Wennerstrom doesn’t consider herself prolific when it comes to songwriting lyrics.  Yet her lyrics are clear and honest.  She sings of heartbreak, getting back on her feet, introspection and often her songs are unlike many songwriter’s, which craft a song to have two meanings, one more universal and one more personal.

“With each album I try to create something different.  I just write songs I believe in and hope people respond to them.  I think the moment I try to do the right thing to what I think other people are gonna like, then I am not doing it for myself.”

The current tour this summer, a 28-show tour is a precursor to the next album, which Wennerstrom has already begun writing.

Whether she is writing hard-driving rock numbers, ballads or blues songs, Wennerstrom works diligently on her art as a songsmith, and she does it unapologetically.

“I do feel musically I wear my heart on my sleeve, but there is a part of me I want to keep for myself.  Sometimes they (her songs) will have two meanings, but they are part of my life and I would never say directly the things that are hidden underneath.  It would be a little too personal.”

There is one thing that remains, whatever style comes across in the group’s newest album, and that is that Wennerstrom will dance the edge of universal and personal tales with an unabashed, working class appeal that continues to stretch the boundaries of heartfelt music that only such Bastards could produce.

Popularity: 30% [?]