Gonna rant here for a minute-
Where oh where are all of the inventive, innovative, edgey, radical, groundbreaking new bands in Harrisburg?
Who’s making waves? Who’s going out on a limb and writing music that comes from the heart…and not directly emulating their influences? Who’s trying something genuinely new and unique?
Bueller? Bueller?
Okay.
I book one hundred and four nights of music per year at The Abbey Bar at Appalachian Brewing Company.
On average, there are two bands per night. (One headliner and one opener.)
Now don’t get me wrong, there are some great Harrisburg-regional bands…that have been around for years. The Thrives, Herbie, The Green Onions, The April Skies, The Martini Brothers, Nate Myers and The Aces to name a few.
But what’s new? What’s with the void of great new bands around here lately?
Trust me- I go out of my way to find and embrace new blood in the market…but sometimes it’s like pulling blood from a stone when looking for something fresh and exciting making noise in Harrisburg.
Caleb Smith’s band Big Mouth Strikes Again would be considered ‘noise rock’ or ’soundtrack rock’. And it’s powerful shit. Sure, it’s not the most accessible and broadly appealing brand of rock- but it’s certainly unique for the Greater Harrisburg Area. Lyricless and melodic, BMSA would appeal to fans of shoegazer rock and late eighties/early nineties new wave era punk.
Who else is bucking conventions and breaking the rules?
If you know- or if you are, please get in touch with me.
Lots and lots of Harrisburg musicians and bands aren’t big fans of Jersey Mike.
They’re not fans because I don’t or haven’t booked them.
And many times, if I do take a chance on a young, green local band- they totally drop the ball by either not promoting their date, showing up the gig and acting like primadonnas, arriving late for load in or getting so completely shitfaced at the gig that they’re literally falling off the stage by the second set.
And local bands wonder why they don’t get booked here?
I’d estimate that it’s a 70/30 ratio. Seventy percent of the bands that play The Abbey Bar are not Harrisburg bands. Hell, many of them aren’t even Pennsylvania bands.
Maybe it’s me. Perhaps I’m getting older and more jaded. My palette has been so spoiled by being exposed to so many great bands over the years that I have a hard time getting excited about stuff that I probably should but just don’t.
I’m mixing two bands tonight. The opener is on right now. And they’re good. They’re playing all the right notes and the singer is singing on key. But they’re playing all covers.
All. Fucking. Covers.
Show us what you’ve got, Harrisburg.
We can all do so much better…
uhhhh…
Smoke the Groove.
They’ve been pulling 100+ people into their Maennerchor shows. They’ve got about a dozen quality originals and supplement them with a good selection of atypical covers. They play unique music by doing things like bringing Latin montuno parts into songs that have roots in the singer-songwriter genre.
And J Kirby is doing fantastic things in her projects outside Smoke The Groove. She played an awesome improvisational set with Batida on Friday night.
Granted, I’m a little biased on this point, but I do think good things are bubbling up around here.
Ouch. . .the truth hurts Jersey Mike! For the record we actually did three originals out of eight songs total in our set. But, the covers we do everybody’s heard a gazillion times. . .I know, that sucks. We do try to do our own versions of those songs, though, and you’ll never catch us doing a Hardware Bar gig! lol. Had I known, we would’ve gladly done more of an original set, certainly no shortage of songs here.
It’s such a tough call around this town. At my age (48), I don’t get out that much, and when I do it’s mainly to catch a small handful of blues bands like Nate’s (my favorite by far). Shows that I’ve seen at The Abbey Bar in the past have been regional and national acts – so I’m expecting to hear them playing their own stuff. I honestly had no idea how supportive you are of original bands, and I applaud you for that. Back when I was starting out with bands in the 70s, there would often times be an item in our contracts that stated “band to perform 4 sets, 45 minutes each, with no more than one original song per set.” There were club owners who would not have you back if they caught you sneaking more than that in. So some changes are for the good. Keep up the great work JM at The Abbey Bar. . .I think what you’re doing is commendable in a town full of cover bands! Great place…and we had a great time. Steve