24
May
2005
Bringing American music back to its roots, The Old Scratch Revival Singers tackle heady themes of damnation, salvation, and ... drinking in their songs. A Christian spirituality permeates the band's music, distinguishing it from many of its more heathen rock-and-roll brethren.
The band will be performing at an all-ages show that includes Tijuana Hercules, 7 Inch Wave, and a local opener on Saturday, May 28, at 8:30 p.m. at Brew & View in Rock Island. Cover is $5.
"Most of the songs deal with the idea of being damned, or damnation and how to get out of it and find salvation," said Eerie Whittaker. "We also have more light-hearted songs ... about drinking."
Emerging from a CD-recording project around a year and a half ago, band members hadn't anticipated on becoming what they are today. "It just started as a recording project and turned into a band," Whittaker said. The band has officially been together for a little more than a year.
The band consists of seven members who all sing along with playing instruments, with Whittaker on guitar, Brooks Strause playing the banjo and mandolin, Nicholas Beard on drums and other percussion, Noah Doely on clarinet, Samuel Anderson on violin and viola, Rebecca Strause on accordian and organ, and Matthew Nevin on the stand-up bass. They all used to lived together in what they deem a haunted farmhouse in Denver, Iowa, near Cedar Falls.
Whittaker said the spiritual element of the music helped push the group beyond the recording studio. (The group's CD, Oh, Didn't He Ramble, was released earlier this year.)"We felt it was our duty to spread the message," he said. "We can reach a lot more people playing live shows."
Currently the Old Scratchers play original music at their concerts, but Whittaker said the band plans to incorporate some song covers. Other people's songs "are a way for people to hear your music in a way that's familiar to them so they can experience it," he said.
Some of the band's musical influences are Hank Williams and The Violent Femmes, with The Misfits bringing a horror aspect.
That tension between spirituality and less-pure elements can also be found in the band's name. "I was basically trying to think of a name that would sound like an old gospel group," said Whittaker. "It seemed like it didn't necessarily come from any certain country or group of people." He also joked that it's disorienting to hear gospel music from a band with a devil term - Old Scratch - in its name.
The band will continue to tour through this summer and is planning to possibly put out another album in the summer of 2006.
The "trash band" Tijuana Hercules will join Old Scratch Revival Singers on Saturday at Brew & View, featuring John Forbes (guitar and vocals), Chad Smith (sit-down drums), and Zak Piper (tin can and trombone).
The band formed in 2000 when Smith and Forbes were roommates, and the addition of "Chopin of the Tin Can" Piper made the band complete. The group is known for beating the living daylights out of coffee cans and producing what PopMatters.com called bare-bones blues.
Forbes said that the band's music makes people feel good and that the band members enjoy being able to put out their own music. "Otherwise you can just work, watch TV, and then die," he said.
The band's newest recording, a self-titled album, is available for sale on its Web site, along with the previous album When the Moon Comes Up Wild.
For more information on these bands, visit (http://www.oldscratchrevival.com) and (http://www.tijuanahercules.com).
The band will be performing at an all-ages show that includes Tijuana Hercules, 7 Inch Wave, and a local opener on Saturday, May 28, at 8:30 p.m. at Brew & View in Rock Island. Cover is $5.
"Most of the songs deal with the idea of being damned, or damnation and how to get out of it and find salvation," said Eerie Whittaker. "We also have more light-hearted songs ... about drinking."
Emerging from a CD-recording project around a year and a half ago, band members hadn't anticipated on becoming what they are today. "It just started as a recording project and turned into a band," Whittaker said. The band has officially been together for a little more than a year.
The band consists of seven members who all sing along with playing instruments, with Whittaker on guitar, Brooks Strause playing the banjo and mandolin, Nicholas Beard on drums and other percussion, Noah Doely on clarinet, Samuel Anderson on violin and viola, Rebecca Strause on accordian and organ, and Matthew Nevin on the stand-up bass. They all used to lived together in what they deem a haunted farmhouse in Denver, Iowa, near Cedar Falls.
Whittaker said the spiritual element of the music helped push the group beyond the recording studio. (The group's CD, Oh, Didn't He Ramble, was released earlier this year.)"We felt it was our duty to spread the message," he said. "We can reach a lot more people playing live shows."
Currently the Old Scratchers play original music at their concerts, but Whittaker said the band plans to incorporate some song covers. Other people's songs "are a way for people to hear your music in a way that's familiar to them so they can experience it," he said.
Some of the band's musical influences are Hank Williams and The Violent Femmes, with The Misfits bringing a horror aspect.
That tension between spirituality and less-pure elements can also be found in the band's name. "I was basically trying to think of a name that would sound like an old gospel group," said Whittaker. "It seemed like it didn't necessarily come from any certain country or group of people." He also joked that it's disorienting to hear gospel music from a band with a devil term - Old Scratch - in its name.
The band will continue to tour through this summer and is planning to possibly put out another album in the summer of 2006.
The "trash band" Tijuana Hercules will join Old Scratch Revival Singers on Saturday at Brew & View, featuring John Forbes (guitar and vocals), Chad Smith (sit-down drums), and Zak Piper (tin can and trombone).
The band formed in 2000 when Smith and Forbes were roommates, and the addition of "Chopin of the Tin Can" Piper made the band complete. The group is known for beating the living daylights out of coffee cans and producing what PopMatters.com called bare-bones blues.
Forbes said that the band's music makes people feel good and that the band members enjoy being able to put out their own music. "Otherwise you can just work, watch TV, and then die," he said.
The band's newest recording, a self-titled album, is available for sale on its Web site, along with the previous album When the Moon Comes Up Wild.
For more information on these bands, visit (http://www.oldscratchrevival.com) and (http://www.tijuanahercules.com).
