By Garth Bishop
There’s more to central Ohio’s musical repertoire than Bow Wow, Rascal Flatts and Saving Jane.
No less talented than the acts that have hit it big are a huge number of bands, orchestras and solo musicians yearning for recognition.
CityScene couldn’t possibly document them all, but here are a few worth hearing.
Dave Buker & the Historians
The music of this six-piece Columbus outfit used to be referred to as “electro-folk,” but as it has phased out the used of synthesizers and similar instruments, it has settled into a more conventional folk groove.
“Now it kind of falls more in the line of ’70s rootsy rock like the Band and Neil Young,” says lead vocalist and guitarist Dave Buker.
The band’s genesis was in January 2010, when Buker and drummer Joe Spurlock collaborated on a score for a local film. As the band grew in size, the scope of its members’ experience drove it closer to the folk-roots genre, and it has recently begun to utilize all its members’ vocal abilities through three-, four- and even five-part harmonies.
Buker works hard to instill meaning in all the songs he writes, taking events from his and others’ lives and translating them into music that will engage listeners. Among his favorites are Jackson Browne, Paul Simon and the Beatles.
“A lot of what I do as a writer nostalgic and has a lot of hindsight about it,” he says.
The band released its first full-length album, titled What Can Bring You Back to Me?, in October. Much of the 10-track album consists of love songs, and making sure the record was cohesive from beginning to end was a high priority for Buker.
“For me, personally, I was writing about various relationships that I had been in over the last couple of years and how those experiences had changed me at moments when I felt … I was weaker than I thought I was,” he says.
The group also released LPs in 2010 and 2011.
The Early Interval
Only one musical group in Columbus lists among its instruments the crumhorn, shawm, rackett, vielle, rebec and vihuela.
The Early Interval is central Ohio’s premier medieval and Renaissance music ensemble and a perennial part of Early Music in Columbus’ performance schedule. The latter is now in its 34th season, while the former was formed in 1976, and the band has been an important part of the concert series’ success.
“There are so many people who know (the Early Interval) and have become supporters over the years,” says Early Music Program Director Katherine Wolfe. “They have just brought so much to the series with the different programming that they have done.”
The Early Interval had six members when it was founded, and it still has six today; though line-ups have changed over the years, two members persist from the early days: Director Ron Cook and his wife, Janice. It’s named for the early music store on Arcadia Avenue that two group members were running when the group formed.
The group’s style predates even classical music, utilizing chants and a huge variety of uncommon instruments, from recognizable ones such as the lute and the harp to long-forgotten ones such as the pipe and tabor (a three-hole pipe played with one hand and a small drum played with the other) and the theorbo (a lute with a long neck extension). Many of these instruments have been specially ordered, preserved for many years or even built locally by a one-time group member.
“Today, the group uses something close to 150 different instruments over the course of its performances,” says Cook.
The Early Interval has two performances on Early Music’s 2013-14 calendar: A Mediterranean Twelfth Night Celebration Jan. 4-5 at First Congregational Church and Under Tuscan Skies March 28 at Capital University.
The Black Owls
It may be just a tongue-in-cheek way to describe a Midwestern take on high-energy rock ‘n’ roll, but try finding another band that defines its sound as “Mennonite glam rock.”
The Black Owls – a five-piece band with two members hailing from Granville and three hailing from Cincinnati – was formed in 2007. Its line-up has changed substantially since then, though, as members have been added and roles have evolved; for instance, a second guitarist was added, and a full-time drummer was brought on to allow singer David Butler to focus on his vocals.
Butler describes the group’s music as “power anthem songs with dark optimism,” dealing with such themes as alcohol and relationships as stories of remission and rebirth.
“I write all the lyrics, and they’re all kind of cautionary tales of bad behavior,” Butler says.
He gives as an example a song titled “Tree Blood,” a song about battling alcohol abuse and its effect on a relationship – a theme perhaps more typically suited to country music, but performed with a vibe more reminiscent of an Irish drinking song, Butler says. Another, “Mister Tornado,” is about a man who hopes a tornado will take away his town so he can start over.
Heavy songs with more hooks and intelligence are the group’s general goal, with a strong emphasis on charisma and stage presence during live shows. A backdrop for live performances helps establish an atmosphere, Butler says.
“It’s sort of trying to bring back some of the old-school shine and glitter of rock ‘n’ roll,” he says.
The Black Owls’ influences range from David Bowie and Iggy Pop to Television and T. Rex, Butler says.
The most recent of the Black Owls’ five albums, Wild Children, was released in the fall. The group’s next show is slated for Jan. 4 at MOTR Pub in Cincinnati.
Garth Bishop is editor of CityScene Magazine. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
