With the release of a four-song EP of original songs called Hold Steady in December of 2010, Indiana’s Jeremiah Cosner was able to leap forward musically with an album recorded at the Sound Kitchen in Nashville, Tennessee, and filled of robust-sounding Black Crowes/Rolling Stones/Faces rock.
Hoosier-based Cosner has shed his band, and has been playing solo shows. And maybe the only thing between some deserved notice by American rock fans here in Indiana is more gigs.
His opening slot at the Rathskeller on Friday night with the Nashville-via-Michigan rock/pop of Brent James and the Contraband is a good match, pairing him with James, whose Moment of Silence album rocks with a Train/Why Store sound.
“I am amped about showcasing (with) Brent James & the Contraband,” he says, noting it’s a reunion of sorts for him and the band. “The lead guitar player (Mike P.) for the band produced and played lead on Hold Steady. I gave him the nickname “The Wizard.”
The 2007 IU School of Music grad says he has been writing for a new record (or two), contributed a charity song called “Reflection in the Water”, the songs have been used in a movie called “The Big Idea”, and Cosner has a wild idea to build a studio in a trailer.
Rockforward: When have you been writing new music?
Jeremiah Cosner: All day, every day. I now have enough material for three to four full length records. Acoustic and organic is my favorite way to write, and I am excited to record the new material.
Rockforward: Hold Steady has a Stones-like vibe. How have those four songs helped your career?
JC: The Hold Steady EP was recorded in Nashville at the Sound Kitchen. I have found releasing singles via iTunes is beneficial. “Money Maker” and “Lipstick & Cigarettes” have both been spun on the radio locally. Recently, I have written (music) for the Children’s Leukemia Foundation. Doing this type of work and writing has allowed me to become an affiliate with SESAC and start my own publishing company, Baby Blue Café.
Rockforward: How has Indy been treating you? What are the differences you feel and see when you venture outside the Indy to play?
JC: Indy is great (but) traveling is hands down my favorite thing to do, so anytime I get the chance to play in another city I take full advantage. Nashville is my favorite place to play simply because the city is a melting pot of anything that has to do with music and has allowed for my network to grow tremendously. When I venture out of Indy I realize how many other events and organizations are built around working with independent performing artists to gain exposure. I was fortunate enough to get involved with Music City Circus (in Nashville) and showcased with other talented artists at Nashville’s 12th and Porter. That gig led to meeting and greeting new friends who introduced me to the Sound Kitchen to record Hold Steady.
Rockforward: How have you been touring? Band or solo?
JC: I have not toured with a full band since 2010. Traveling as a solo act is more rewarding and easier as I journey out. I have a revolving door of very talented musicians who lend a helping hand when I need it. All of us share one musical influence: 70’s rock and artists like Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Joe Cocker, Rod Stewart, and the Rolling Stones.
Rockforward: What have you been listening to? What bands should we all turn up to 11?
JC: Recently I have been listening to Bachman Turner Overdrive, Elvis Costello, and The Marshall Tucker Band. But anymore, I get a kick out of finding Tom Jones records or some good Neil Young. Current bands that flip my switch are The Alabama Shakes, Kasabian, and The Band of Skulls.
Rockforward: Future plans that we’d find interesting?
JC: A few talented people and I have plans to build a studio within a Streamline Trailer that will sit on a few acres of land down south. This is where we want to be as creative as possible and pump out songs, movies, ideas, and other productions. Keep an eye out for a new bluesy rock record I plan on cutting by the end of 2012.
VIDEO: Jeremiah Cosner and the Concrete Sailors
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EF2g3tlcPA]
VIDEO: Brent James and the Contraband
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YJs6q57A1o]
concert previews
Concert Preview: "The Wake" – Four Indianapolis American rock and roll bands ready for Earth House
Can American rock and roll survive in Indianapolis? And if it is going to, where in Indianapolis can it be found? And what happens when four bands, all who embrace the retro-yet-authentic sound of American rock, struggle to get booked into an Indianapolis club?
On May 18, the stage on the Earth House in downtown Indianapolis will be shared by four Indianapolis American rock bands, doing their part to make Telecaster guitars ring loud in our city, just as Roadmaster, Henry Lee Summer, Mere Mortals and many others did in the 70’s and 80’s.
Dubbed “The Wake: A Showcase of American Rock ‘n Roll” (i.e. if rock is dead, let’s have a freakin’ party), The Dead Hearts, The Weakenders, Attakulla, and Henry French & the Shameless bring three-chord rock and roll noise to the old church.
Yet to hear The Dead Hearts keyboardist Brian Gropp explain it, there seemed to be little love for the Tom Petty-esque rock the band embrace.
“At the end of February, Eli (Chastain) from the Weakenders contacted me looking to get a show going in Indy,” he says. “A couple days later, I get an email from Greg Osborne from Attakulla. Our name happened to be dropped to him. I’m thinking the more the merrier. After listening to both bands, and knowing how good Henry French is, I thought this is one heck of a lineup,” Gropp says.
So they started looking for a venue.
“There was not a medium-sized club within I-465 that gave us the time of day. We went after a few of our favorite clubs from multiple angles and were repeatedly ignored,” Gropp admits. “We started to get a little frustrated. Nobody wanted this show.”
Eli emailed Gropp about renting a DIY venue or having a house party. At the end of his email he said, “Is rock and roll dead dudes? Say it aint so!’
“We finally got a bite at The Earth House. After we worked out the details, we realized that we have to show that independent local rock and roll is very much alive in Indianapolis.”
French had the idea for the show’s theme.
“Since we kind of got snubbed by everyone, I consider this a call to action to an extent,” he wrote in the original email to the bands. “Time to prove that rock and roll still has a crowd in Indy.”
It was his suggestion to build a title and theme for the show that’s on all the posters, website and handbills that proclaim “rock and roll ain’t dead.”
They found a media partner in the Back Roads Radio Show. They emailed, and it intrigued me; one show, four American rock bands in Indy, and the struggle to do it.
***
What the hell is American rock and roll anyway?
Do the Black Keys fit the description? How about less-mainstream bands like the Bottle Rockets and Deer Tick? Or Kid Rock, with his penchant for emulating his idol, Bob Seger? Or is it the domain now of country performers like Miranda Lambert and Eric Church?
I’d wager it is somewhere in the influences of these artists, and standard bearers like Wilco, John Fogerty’s CCR, Tom Petty, and the sound of Seger and Mellencamp – who loves that sound more than Indy, right?
“Our opinion on it is kind of like this; our favorite bands wrote classic songs,” Chastain, the guitarist in The Weakenders, says. “To us, stuff like What’s the Story Morning Glory? or Damn the Torpedoes are always going be on iPods or in playlists or on radio for a reason; they’re full of absolutely undeniable jams. We are aiming for that kind of territory.”
Longtime Indiana guitar player John Byrne has been plying his trade for two decades as a go-to sideman in bands like Mere Mortals, Danny Flanigan and the Rain Chorus (who he is joining for their own show the same night at another Indy club / Locals Only – 9pm), with Jess Richmond, 8-Track All-Stars and many others, most variations on a sound that used to be called heartland rock.
“It’s a tricky business trying to define or quantify something as broad and subjective as American rock,” Byrne says. “Neil Young said it best, I think, when he said ‘once you talk about mystique, you have none,’ but I definitely think that it has some essential, defining characteristics.
“For me – who basically grew up trying to be the kid that Patrick Fugit plays in the seminal rock movie “Almost Famous”, – the best, most effective American rock and roll had to have at least some self-awareness of what it was trying to deconstruct.
Gropp echoes the sentiments of Byrne.
“(It’s) always a slippery slope when you start to define a genre. We have some obvious influences. All four Dead Hearts have a mutual enamoring of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. I am biased being the keyboard player, but I love a band with driving organ and keys (and) love the E Street band so much.”
“If pressed to pick a single band that has become the most succinct standard-bearer for American rock in our current era,” continues Byrne, “I’d have to say Wilco because they quite literally took up the mantle of “Americana”, that somewhat self-congratulatory sub-genre that did its best to keep burning the twangy troubadour flame of vintage Neil Young, Gram Parsons, (and) Townes Van Zandt, and infused it with the intensity of the Stooges and the weariness of Steve Earle while rocking like a hurricane.”
With regional and national rock acts playing shows at the Vogue (upcoming dates include the Bodeans, Otis Gibbs and Dawes), Birdy’s (Paul Thorn has a show on June 23) and Radio Radio (two shows this month from The Lumineers), it would seem there would be a market for bands with similar sounds, on the local level.
What is trickier for most local and regional bands, is working on establishing a consistent fanbase for shows. And to do that, it is more difficult if there is not a healthy American rock and roll scene. Is there one in Indy? I would argue a pair of shows from aforementioned The Lumineers, and consistent crowds for Old Crow Medicine Show, Lucinda Williams, Old 97’s and BoDeans, among others, gives the appearance of a plugged-in, web-savvy audience that knows the music and where to find the shows. Is that enough for local artists and bands of the genre?
“Rock and roll is still everywhere,” Gropp says. “In garages, basements, and house parties. I think there are a lot of frustrated rockers wondering how to get the music elsewhere. There are still a handful of places that will occasionally let a live rock band do their thing, but they better bring a crowd. If not, they don’t want you back.”
“Indy just doesn’t have the same amount or type of clubs that it did 20 and 30 years ago,” Byrne admits. ”Save the occasional aberration, local music has been banished from Broad Ripple. Plenty of cool shows happen in Fountain Square, but it seems to me that the gigs that get the most notice are for bands from out of town.”
As Byrne notes, there are clubs in the strip malls that book cover bands, And he plays in those bars because, “at the end of the day, I just love playing guitar.”
“If you want to find the essence of American rock and roll in Indianapolis any given week and you aren’t willing to settle for another heartfelt walk-through of ‘Mustang Sally,’ you have to dig pretty hard,” Byrne concludes “The good news is that there is music here, and plenty of it, but there’s just no getting around the simple law of economics that supply doesn’t create demand.”
***
For the four bands playing “The Wake”, the potential success of the event becomes a lesson in hard work, and networking an audience that they, WTTS and the terrific Back Road Radio Show cultivate. It also helps they believe deeply in the sound they are making.
The Weakenders are living in Nashville, Tenn, with three of their members are from Indianapolis. This will be their first show back in town. They have a new record Super Major, coming out this spring.
“We’ve noticed with the band, people seem to actually mean what they say to us when they talk about our songs, or the new record or the live set or whatever it is,” Chastain says. “People seem to really think we’re on to something. That is a really good feeling.
For The Dead Hearts’ Gropp, the effort to carve a niche, or be a part of something that means a lot to not just his band, but many like-sounding and –minded others, is one reason to go forward.
“So much of what we do is promotion and trying to find a balance between keeping people interested and not annoying them. It can be really taxing and frustrating, contacting countless clubs and not getting a response The bottom line is the music. We love making music. We would probably do it even if nobody was listening.”
Attakulla call their music a “revival of American garage rock wrapped in a crunchy, electrified folk sound.” Henry French likens himself to Tom Petty, the Foo Fighters and the Replacements. I even wrote that French was a “guy has the potential to make the next great Midwest rock and roll record.” And that The Dead Hearts were the Indianapolis’ Best New Band of 2011.
Is that enough? Can their passion, diligence and the sound of Indiana rock and roll get an audience to a beautiful old church in downtown Indy featuring these four?
According to Gropp, music fans know where to find good shows.
“I think people want something honest, something they can interact with. Something personal where they can say, “Oh yeah, I was there that night. I remember when that happened.’
For all their struggles in finding the right venue, they hope the show called “The Wake” will jump start something for them.
And Indianapolis will have a place for music that we call American rock, the trusted sound has never really gone away. For bands like The Dead Hearts and the Weakenders, they simply keep pushing forward, even if it is just three chords at a time. Because, for them, that’s the only thing they can do.
————————-
http://www.facebook.com/events/417279008285814/
www.backroadradioshow.com
www.earthhousecollective.org
When: Friday, May 18, 2012 at 7:00 p.m
Where: The Earth House Collective, 237 N. East St., Indianapolis, IN 46204.
Tickets: $7 in advance ($10 at door) and available at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/240272.
www.thedeadhearts.com
www.theweakenders.com
www.attakulla.com
www.reverbnation.com/henryfrench
Indy Show Preview: Truth and Salvage Co. move to Nashville, add Hoosier bass player
While they may credit Los Angeles as the place that spawned roots-rockers Truth and Salvage, Co., the band has clung to a sound that is more Midwest and Southern-influenced than the clean sound of LA. So the band’s April move to Nashville,TN makes a lot of sense.
The band members hail from places like North Carolina and Ohio and Indiana. Their core fans are in the heartland and in the south. The tours have been playing Indianapolis multiple times each year for the past two years. Nowthe band is living closer to their musical roots.
They have also added a Hoosier to the band in the process, to go along with Tim Jones, one the band’s frontmen and guitarists.
Jones was back in his hometown of Indianapolis last week before joining his bandmates for a few dates this spring as they finish recording their sophomore album. One of those dates is at the Deluxe nightclub at the Old National Centre on May 4 (with/ Pravada and Bonesetters), debuting some songs off the new record for the Hoosier faithful.
ROB: Have you guys missed being on the road? What have you done to stay busy?
Tim Jones: We haven’t had time to miss being on the road. We toured right up until Christmas and then started pre-production on the new record and literally have been working on it right up until we moved to Nashville last week. And we’re still going to be finishing the record in between these May/June dates.
ROB: How’s the new album coming along? How will this be different than debut?
TJ: Well I’d say we’re about half way done. We spent most of February and March recording with Rob Schnapf, an amazing producer, engineer, mixer and all-around great human being. The release date will all depend on when we turn it in; probably the end of August or September.
We’re not trying to do anything drastically different. Hopefully we’ve matured as songwriters and become a better band over the last two years. A lot of people talked about our first record as a “greatest hits” so hopefully this will be a “greatest hits part two”
ROB: How’s the band? Any changes? Anyone learn any new chords?
TJ: The band is great. We have a rehearsal space set up in our house that some of us are sharing inHendersonville.
We have a new bass player, Dean Moore, who Indy readers will be happy to know is a fellow Hoosier and IU grad that I have known for years and happened to be moving out to Nashville at the same time as we were. Our last bass player, Frank, couldn’t do the move.
Walker’s been playing some harmonica lately, and we’ve learned a ton of new chords from our producer.
ROB: Touring plans? What is in the pipeline?
TJ: We’re doing weekends all based off of a Wednesday night residency in Nashville that we’re doing at the Basement, a great club underneath our friend Grimey’s New and Pre-loved Music. We’ll be headlining clubs all around. Once the record comes out we’ll be doing a nationwide tour in the fall.
ROB: How did the new songs come together?
TJ: With a lot of love and patience – same as always. Somebody will bring in a part of a verse and a chorus or even a whole finished song and we’ll try and make it the best it can be. Sometimes that means a lot of changes. Sometimes that means doing nothing.
ROB: How did the band’s move to Nashville that come about?
TJ: We had been talking about it for years. Walker’s (singer/keyboards) from Atlanta, (guitarist) Scotty’s from New Orleans, (organ player) Adam’s from Tupelo, MS. (Drummer) Smitty is from Southern Ohio, so this is closer to home for all of us. Los Angeles will always have a piece of our heart and hopefully we left a decent mark on it as well.
To be able to play more where our fans are and not have to crisscross the country so often is a big bonus. And rent is a helluva lot cheaper here.
———————
MOKB Present: Truth & Salvage Co. w/ Pravada, Bonesetters Friday May 4, 2012. Deluxe at Old National Centre … Doors 7 PM / Show 8 PM $12 Advance / $15 dos
Truth and Salvage Co. back to Indy this weekend with Avett's Bros.
While it is the Avett Brothers who will sell the tickets and most will come to see Saturday night The Lawn at White River State Park, openers Truth & Salvage Co. continue to forge forward with their neo-americana rock, getting set to jump into a tour that finds them opening for th Avett’s in Chicago and Indy before launching their own club tour. It will stretch into November, and is a road dog special, including an early run of 11 shows in 12 days.
I’m an unabashed fan; what they do is what I love about music. It is American rock and roll, much like The Band (yeah, mostly Canadiens) made in their day. Back porch-with-amps rock and roll.
Hear their daytrotter.com session
***When I talked to Tim Jones, one of T&S’s main singers and songwriters, before one of his Indy gigs last year, the former Old Pike frontman talked of what the Avett Brothers and his group have in common.
“We’re definitely a rock and roll band, but we all love country music,” Jones said. “It’s the same with the Avett Brothers. They’re crossing over to a huge amount of country people. There’s part of the Nashville community that is resistant to it. I’d love to be the band that people who love Dave Matthews and who love Vampire Weekend love us too.”
Truth and Salvage has been hitting Indy with regularity: four shows in less than two years, including a recent set at Rib America over Labor Day weekend. They return to Indy again on November 4 for a show at the Vogue.
Jones, the Indiana boy in the band, ensures the California band will continue to make the trek.
“I was playing Indianapolis bars when I was 16 years old. I am still living this life. And it just feels good,” he said.
So get to White River State Park early , and see the openers.
Even after the shorter set, they are a hidden little musical gem of a band that you won’t forget.
“When everything lines up right and you feel like you’re doing what you’re supposed to do and what you want to do, all at the same time,” Jones said,”That’s a pretty good moment.”
Review from 2011 Radio Radio show
Indiana Music: Sindacato acoustic reunion in Franklin
For fans of Sindacato: Following up on an interview we did recently with Indianapolis alt-country/Americana trailblazer Frank Dean, we have learned that Dean, Gary Wasson and Jon Martin will be performing a bit of a Sindacato reunion on Saturday, June 11th at The Jeff Street Pub in Franklin at 7pm. It will be a free, no smoking, all-ages show.
Frank also says he starts recording his next new album, Antique Finish, in two weeks. It will be his first solo recording in nearly ten years. He says “some of the finest musicians around have signed on to help out”. He says you can check out his Facebook page to stay up to date.
Madison's Ohio River Folk Festival lineup announced: Paul Thorn, The Greencards, Carrie Newcomer, David Bromberg
One of Indiana’s best music festivals, the Ohio River Valley Folk Festival, has announced their full lineup for the May 20-22 event in Madison. Among the artists on the schedule include Paul Thorn, The Greencards, David Bromberg Quartet, Carrie Newcomer and Uncle Earl, a Rounder Records five-piece all-female American string band.
Built on the banks of the Ohio River, Madison’s a great historic town, and one that likes a good party. It was my first post-college town, and I lived there for almost three years, and still go back about once a year. Even on a regular weekend, there’s always live music at two or three downtown clubs, like Joey G’s or the Electric Lady.
A big arts community and annual events like the Madison Regatta, and the Ribberfest Blues and BBQ festival make it good place to grab a beer and catch some music. At the risk of sounding all chamber of commerce-y, drive down I-65 and hang for a day or two at this one…
Ohio River Valley Folk Festival – Lineup
Friday, May 20
6 pm Mickey Clark and Blue Norther
8 pm Adrienne Young
10 pm The Greencards
Saturday, May 21
1 pm The Tillers
3 pm The Wiyos
5 pm Paul Thorn
7 pm David Bromberg Quartet
9 pm Uncle Earl
Sunday, May 22
1 pm BlueGrazz Junction
2:30 pm Greg Ziesemer and Kris Luckett
4 pm Hogeye Navvy
6 pm Carrie Newcomer