Midwest Madames Rock The Beat Kitchen: Blaire Alise & The Bombshells, Baby Money & The Down
- Patrick Clemens
- Aug 25, 2016
- 5 min read
Blaire Alise & The Bombshells
Imagine traveling back in time to 1958, walking into your favorite diner with your friends to enjoy a juicy burger and soda pop and maybe even a milkshake. You slap a dime in the jukebox and suddenly the diner bursts into a fiery blaze of guitars and drums, and the angry . Such is the experience of seeing Blaire Alise & The Bombshells live or listening to one of her songs. Starting the band when she was 15, over four years she has gone through a couple dozen Bombshells, refining and perfecting her sound into a blend of garage grit and early rock n' roll.
It's impossible to discuss her style and sound without mentioning the word nostalgia but it's also a disservice to ignore her fresh take on the classic rhythms with her original lyrics and young punk attitude. While her melodies and arrangements are saturated with classic rock n roll and early Beatles riffs, her presence on stage screams early garage rock, embracing the punk ideals that have permeated throughout rock's history. Her influences stretch from one end of the spectrum to the other, with artists ranging from Patsy Cline and Nancy Sinatra to Iggy and the Stooges.
Blaire's approach to songwriting in a music saturated market is take what you need and then make it your own. It's certainly working in her case. Her fan base continues to grow throughout the midwest and she has even gained the attention of recording musician and producer Don Was, playing at his Concert of Colors event in Detroit twice. A review of her first album "For My Darlin'" will be arriving shortly. She has been busy recording her next album in Nashville and New York, with a single and full release expected in the near future. The band has several more shows before their tour wraps up.
Whitney Garden Party @ Detroit, MI - August 25, 2016
Happy Dog @ Cleveland, OH - August 26, 2016
Seven Sense Festival @ Louisville, KY - August 27, 2016
Photos by Doug Coombe
Baby Money & The Down Payments
Pamela Maurer, aka Baby Money, has been on a musical journey most of her life, joining a children's choir at age 3 and picking out songs for herself on the keyboard in her parents' basement. Eventually her love for rockabilly and rock n roll led her to start her own rock band. Oak Park native Dina Simone joined her not too long after on bass and the band completed their current roster in January by adding Sarah Neczwid. While not the 20 piece rhythm and blues band complete with harmony vocalists and dancers Maurer dreamed of playing in, the three piece supports her style and songwriting wonderfully.
On stage, the band members play reserved, creating a constant foundation for Maurer's gritty socio-politically-charged lyrics to sit on. Most of the songs have a natural build to them, an electric charge filling the venue when the girls lock into a groove. Dina's bass steadily carries each song with the occasional fill interlaying well in between Maurer often times biting lyrics. A common theme of contrast between tone and subject permeates across Maurer's song collection. Her single, "Milk and Honey", for example, a light, harmony-filled song that bounces casually along, reveals verse by verse a relationship that is anything but the perfect blend of personalities the band creates onstage. Even the opening lines "You're the milk in my coffee you're the pepper in my tea," betray the narrator's opinions and doubts about the subject, while the tone of the song suggest the narrator has identified this two-faced personality as an appealing attribute. Many other songs are also influenced by political and economic circumstances Maurer finds herself and the world in including the downsides to capitalism, the lost of individuality within the system, and our growing disconnectedness with one another.
The setlist is a collection of songs off of her first full length album "In Memory of John Doe" and her newest album, "Shy-City Vol 1 - Pyramid", which is part of an album trilogy currently in the works. "Oh Boy!", "Wait" and the single "Milk and Honey" are among my favorites. Both albums are available on bandcamp. Fleshing out the set are songs off of the next two albums in the trilogy, several of which were standout's from the night. Most of the songs for Volumes 2 and 3 are written with production slated to kick in gear soon. Their releases are still TBD so catch the band live if you want to possibly hear them before the albums drop. Baby money has two more shows coming up in September.
Crown Liqours Taproom @ Chicago, IL - September 18, 2016
Midpoint Music Festival @ Cincinnati, OH - September 24, 2016
Photos by Baby Money, Bad Bad Meow, and Paige DeChausse
Natalie Grace Alford
Starting the night off at the Beat Kitchen, Natalie Grace Alford performs what is in my mind what of the most difficult types of musical performances to master, a live loop pedal set. To pull this type of set off without clearing the room requires in the very least a strong knowledge of gain control, timing, frequency balance, song structure, not to mention a strong stage presence. Her interest in songwriting began when she was 14 and led her to pursue a degree in music in college. This background in music as well as being a member of a professional choir as a child help build the skills necessary to pull the solo performance off. Blending back and forth from live and prerecorded samples, Alford creates an admirable wall of layered sounds and melodies all by herself, including harmonies, because she doesn't "use fucking auto-tune," keeping to her artistic and financial principals.
Playing most of the songs off of her debut EP "Type Of Wound" as well as a cover of Madonna's "Material Girl," Alford delivers a powerful vocal performance full of energy to the small opening crowd of musicians and friends. Continuing the economic and politically-charged themes of her fellow musician Baby Money, whom she knows from her early years at the Gallery Cabaret off of Oakley Ave, Alford's songs explore the struggles of working class folk and artists in the years leading up to and following the housing market collapse. "Type of Wound" and "Too Big To Fail" are scathing commentaries on the abusive relationship between banks and their debtors, while "I Can't Help But Wonder" explores the personal challenges and hardships the poor face when they can't afford health care. Alford weaves these lyrics together, crafting fantastic musical paintings both on her EP and in her live shows. Check out her EP on Bandcamp below and follow her on Facebook to catch her next show.
Photos by Natalie Grace Alford
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