Courtesy of elsinoremusic.net
Just last year, which wasn’t that long ago, Baltimore, MD hosted the Baltimore Independent Music & Arts festival. About one hundred bands would perform at ten different venues downtown in just four days.
On this particular night, I was accompanied by sound engineer Daniel Joe. Daniel had helped my band, Yellowtieguy, complete the mastering of our first single, “War (Should I Be So Surprised)”. We had actually just completed that project earlier that afternoon and were now on our way to the Ottobar for a little fun. This was the final night of the event, and I was told that the Ottobar would act as a kind of after party space for a lot of the bands that preformed. The other half of the after party would find their way to the WindUp Space just a few blocks over.
When we got there, it was ridiculously early. We made ourselves at home with some locals, like Gary Lee Barrett, Jr. (from the band Gary B. and the Notions), and Brandon Fratini (of RioLinda). Good conversations abounded with too many good people whose names I wish I could remember. It was truly exciting to sit and talk to people whose passion for their the music, venues, and the city, were clearly obvious.
Still, even with wonderful people to meet and drinks to enjoy, we were more than anxious for the music to start.
It was entirely worth the wait.
The opening band, Elsinore, is most easily described as mind blowing. To be fair, I don’t know if many of us that were there that night knew what to expect, but from the first note, this Champaign, IL pop rock group took over the room!
There’s an intricate interaction that guitarist and lead vocalist, Ryan Groff, has with the band, the audience, and with himself all at once. Stomping on various guitar effects throughout the set at just the right time, while dodging various incidentals like a broken guitar string, while singing and having everyone watching is no easy task.
Another not so easy task for a touring band is determining who has the pleasure, nay the honor, of driving the tour bus. I would find out after the show that drummer, Dave Pride, had either drawn the short straw or lost an epic battle of rock, paper scissors, but it was his duty to get the band safely to Massachusetts in time for a show the following night. Of course, being on time is a drummer’s prerogative, and Dave held the whole band together on a relatively minimalistic drum set by incorporating various techniques and drum sticks. At the same time, he offered up background vocals in perfect form and at perfectly appropriate times.
There’s not a lot of bands whose core members are made up of killer musicians and accomplished vocalists, but every member of Elsinore was lending their talents on both those points, including keyboard and synth player Mark Woolwine. Elsinore is a good example of how having a keyboard player, rather than another guitarist, can really change the dynamics and personalities of the songs. Mark has to constantly keep moving faders and knobs and the keys themselves in order to keep the right balance of sounds and tones that accent the band appropriately.
In the humble opinion of this author, it can’t be easy for bassist and background vocalist, Chris Eitel to hold down the bass clef with all the dancing melodies floating around. Chris manages to find a voice all his own, however, sometimes with consistent percussive rhythms, other times with fill melodies further down the fretboard. His tone is warm and punchy, which not only fits in really well with all the other energy in the room, but it also genuinely makes it a pleasure to listen to. Chris’ talents don’t stop with the music either, as he’s responsible for writing and directing the video “Life Inside An Elephant”, which is the single from the Life Inside an Elephant EP.
Life Inside an Elephant was co-produced by Beau Sorenson whose work includes Sparklehorse and Death Cab for Cutie. The official story from Elsinore’s website explains that songwriter Ryan Groff “discovered the most prolific songwriting of his career” after drummer, David Pride was struck by a car near the end of their previous tour.
After completing the eleven day eastcoast/midwest tour in promotion of the new EP, Elsinore returned to their hometown in Illinois, and left quite a few of us in Baltimore wanting more (including Daniel Joe and myself). I picked up a copy to listen to on the ride home that night, and I’m scheming to get my hands on their next studio effort. For the moment, we will all have to be satisfied with various remixes of “Gasoline”, available online from another of their EPs titled, “Yes Yes Yes”.
“Yes Yes Yes” was the album title track used by Kohl’s for its national “Back to School” TV & Radio campaign and was also featured on Season 8 of the hit FOX show, “So You Think You Can Dance”. The EP was co-produced by Adam Schmitt of Uncle Tupelo, Hum, and Headlights fame, and also by Anthony Gravino who has also done work for Bunny Patootie, as well as the Claudettes. “Yes Yes Yes” was mastered by Jon Pines, who is noted for his work with Billy Bragg & Wilco, Jay Bennett, and Braid.
Elsinore’s music is sure to appeal to a broad range of listeners, and you won’t be able to ignore the quality they demand of their work. Word on the street is that singer/songwriter Ryan Groff is building his own studio, so I can’t imagine the band slowing down at all. You might as well get in the Elsinore elevator now. It’s a heckuva ride!
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Columnist Daniel W. Hill does the music thang too and has been an integral part of the Maryland music scene for the past decade. Find out more about Daniel and his band Yellowtieguy at yellowtieguy.us or on Facebook.
