Colin contends with the loss of our annual Christmas Eve Eve show with a musical year-end wrap-up.
Read MoreColin & The Bowlers Return with Two Safe Shows for a Good Cause!
Colin & The Bowlers playing two benefit shows, September 17th and 18th. #saveourstages
Read MoreWatershed Hullabaloo Weekend: The View From the Side of the Stage - by Ricki C.
Watershed Hullabaloo Weekend, August 9th, 10th & 11th, 2019
(editor’s note: Ricki C. had carpal tunnel surgery on both hands this summer, couldn’t type, has been out of commission for awhile, and now – unfortunately – the Pencil Storm readership is gonna pay for it. Strap in, folks, it’s gonna be a long one.)
WATERSHED / 1992 or so
A little deep background: I met Watershed in 1990 when I was a roadie for Willie Phoenix & the True Soul Rockers and they were still called The Wire. The Wire would open for the True Soul Rockers one Saturday night a month at a Columbus, Ohio, club called Ruby Tuesday where Willie maintained a monthly residency. To make a long story short: 3 or 4 months into their opening slots – after they had changed their name to Watershed – they somehow wrote an entirely new set of KILLER power-pop originals since the previous month (including “Rise,” my earliest favorite Watershed tune), got their asses moving onstage, and soundly blew the True Soul Rockers off the stage at Ruby’s. (Ironically that Great Leap Forward was probably largely due to Willie’s tutelage as he produced their first six-song e.p.) They also got 86’d as the opening band for that impertinence, of course, but from that point on I caught them live every time I could. From 1990 to 2005 I bet I saw ‘em close to a hundred times. From 2005 when I joined their road crew to now, I’ve seen ‘em a couple hundred more. And I’ve never ONCE been disappointed.
Which brings us to this past weekend: from being on the crew I’ve seen Watershed three nights in a row any number of times, but never in three more widely-varied rock & roll circumstances as The Watershed Hullabaloo.
The Friday night show at Natalie’s Coal Fired Pizza – Columbus’ absolutely premier listening room (as opposed to rock & roll dive) – found Colin & Joe seated on secondhand living room furniture that road manager extraordinaire/all-around Watershed tech mastermind Michael “Biggie” McDermott had somehow procured in some kind of time warp from the early 1970’s. Truthfully, I’m not crazy about the idea of rock & rollers performing sitting down, but it fit the concept of “two old friends swapping stories & songs around the campfire” vibe that Watershed was going for the first night of the Hullabaloo.
Opening with “Sensational Things” – a tune I’m DEARLY hoping opens the upcoming Watershed CD – Joe & Colin strummed through maybe a dozen songs, old AND new, peppering the set with the stories behind the songs, or just yarns that filled in the history of the band, and that’s a RICH history, boys & girls. They were then joined by middle-period Watershed powerhouse Mr. Dave Masica for a standing-up set of Watershed rockers, albeit it in a bass-less, acoustic, quiet hollow-body electric kinda frame of mind. A night of “Soft Rock Watershed” as the appearance was billed. They still woulda blown Bread off the stage. (Set-list for this show and the Saturday & Sunday gigs will appear in a future Pencil Storm blog entry.)
Friday night highlights: “Sensational Things,” “Plan B,” “American Muscle,” “Manifesto,” and Joe Peppercorn’s (the only past member of Watershed unable to make an appearance during Hullabaloo Weekend) “Set The World On Fire.”
At heart Watershed has always been a Saturday night rock & roll band. When they played on a Wednesday night after a (now-defunct) Columbus Chill hockey game in the mid-1990’s, they were a Saturday night rock & roll band; when they played third on the bill on a Tuesday night at some long-forgotten rock club during one of their innumerable Southern swings in the early 2000’s, they were a Saturday night rock & roll band; when they opened for Cheap Trick at a huge downtown outdoor festival on a Friday night, they were a Saturday night rock & roll band.
So, when you put Colin, Joe, Herb & Rick Kinsinger in front of a sold-out crowd of Watershed super-fans at Marcy Mays’ Ace of Cups – Columbus’ coolest rock club – on a warm August Saturday night you’d best believe you’re gonna get a fucking KILLER set of rock & roll music. So let’s check off the boxes on the rock & roll checklist:
1) Rockers – You got your “You Need Me,” you got your “Suckerpunch,” you got your “Black Concert T-shirt.” Check.
2) You got your heartbreaker ballads/slow tunes that set Watershed apart from the one-trick pony bands who only know how to pound, but never how to charm, because Colin & Joe always keep in mind that more hearts get broken on Saturday night than any other time of the week: “Over Too Soon,” “New Depression,” and “Anniversary,” for Chrissakes, one of the great power-pop ballads of all time. Check.
3) You’ve got your brace of brand-new songs, ‘cuz Watershed is never gonna be just a nostalgia act, chums: “Blow It Up Before It Breaks” and the GREAT new “Another Night In The Ruts.” Check. (By the way, the band enlisted Pencil Storm scribe Scott Carr to help out with stage duties to free up Biggie for the killer light display witnessed Saturday night, and Scott & I were trying to figure WHO’s song that was a cover of, before I checked with Colin on Sunday and discovered it is, in fact, another choice new original.) (But Jesus H. Christ, WHY didn’t they bust out “Sensational Things” at Ace of Cups? I’d have LOVED to get a full band Watershed airing of that on Saturday night.) Check.
4) Audience participation. You want audience participation? How about “How Do You Feel” and “Can’t Be Myself”? Check.
5) Flat-out great songs that should have been hits: “Obvious,” “Small Doses,” “Little Mistakes,” “5th Of July,” “The Best Is Yet To Come,” really too many too mention. Check & check.
Prime extra-musical moments of the Saturday night set: Joe throwing a tantrum AND his bass when his tuner kept screwing up; Mark “Pooch” Borror bringing the energy level up several notches in his guest slot on “Can’t Be Myself and “Anniversary.” Rick is a solid player and a stabilizing force in the band, but Pooch brings out some special sense of abandon and flat-out JOY when he’s up there with Watershed; Colin calling the show over seven songs into the set after “Black Concert T-Shirt,” and the band playing another 17 songs or so as an encore, before the “second encore” of “Sad Drive” and “Mercurochrome.” Genius performance move.
Okay, I’m already over my allotted 1000 words and haven’t dealt with Day Three of the Hullabaloo Weekend yet. Sunday was billed as “Watershed & Friends” and those friends included Jim Johnson (Willie Phoenix/League Bowlers), Dan Cochran (League Bowlers/Hilltop Lager), Marcy May (Scrawl/Ace of Cups) and Mike Sammons (Twin Cam.) Innumerable Watershed/League Bowlers/Lonely Bones/Colin solo songs and cover tunes from Willie Phoenix, Georgia Satellites, Cheap Trick & Chuck Berry all got played, the beer flowed freely, and – from my view at the side of the stage – the assembled multitudes had a rockin’ good time. (Again, set-list from Sunday to follow in a later Colin blog about Hullabaloo Weekend.)
Musical highlights of the Sunday show: “Battleship Chains,” “Twister,” “High Roller.”
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: I’ve got the best job in the world. – Ricki C. / August 13th, 2019
WATERSHED / 2019
(random closing thought: I was talking to Nick Jezierny - auteur of The Watershed Complete Rankings - after the show on Sunday, and he was saying if he did the list today, a ton of the rankings would be different, and that he should do the whole thing over again. I ABSOLUTELY agreed with him, and told him he should do it, but on the other hand his wife seems like a REALLY nice person and I don’t want to do that to her. Also - to my knowledge - Nick came all the way from Idaho for the Hullabaloo Weekend, so he should get some kind of prize or grant money just for THAT.)
(further random closing thought: for Pencil Storm readers with WAY too much time on their hands, here are some links to Watershed stories I did on my 2012-2013 blog, Growing Old With Rock & Roll…….)
Growing Old With Rock & Roll / Colin & the Stairwell
Growing Old With Rock & Roll / Watershed & Kamakaze’s
Growing Old With Rock & Roll / Watershed & The Somnabulistic Stickman Streaker
GOWR&R / The View from the Side of the Stage, part one
GOWR&R / The View From the Side of the Stage, part two
GOWR&R / My Ten Most Memorable Moments as a Watershed Roadie, part one
GOWR&R / My Ten Most Memorable Moments as a Watershed Roadie, part two
GOWR&R / My Ten Most Memorable Moments as a Watershed Roadie, part three
Bava Choco - by Ricki C.
This is a blog about Bava Choco that Ricki C. wrote back in October, 2016 that the Pencilstorm editorial board decided we couldn't improve upon, so we're re-running it today.
Bava Choco's release party for their maiden CD - Death Ride - will take place at Ace of Cups this Friday night, January 6th. Doors at 8 pm, opening set by The League Bowlers at 9 pm, followed by Bava Choco. Admission is FREE. Details at Aceofcupsbar.com.
The first thing you’ve gotta know about Bava Choco is that they’re HIGH CONCEPT. By that I mean that lead singer Patrick Baracus has made sure that ALL ASPECTS of the band have been thought through and considered: the way the band dresses, the way the songs cohere, the stage presentation, etc. And In these 21st century days of bands having TOTALLY ZERO ideas, creativity or – God forbid – originality of thought or word, Bava Choco really stands out. (By this I mean, if I see ONE MORE BAND on Seth Myers – my choice of late-night viewing – with ABSOLUTELY NOT ONE REASON TO EXIST, done up in some mish-mash of thrift-store clothes, mismatched haircuts & not one iota of a notion of presentation I'm gonna put a bullet through my head, or more likely through my TV.) (Just like Elvis.)
Plus, Bava Choco is named after one of the “brands” of dope that Eric Stoltz is peddling to John Travolta in Pulp Fiction. And if naming your band after a heroin blend in a 22 year old Tarantino flick isn’t HIGH CONCEPT, I don’t know what is.
But really, screw all my HIGH CONCEPT guff: if THE MUSIC doesn’t deliver, why am I bothering to write about the band, and it’s THE MUSIC where Bava Choco really fries my synapses. I’ve seen Baracus in his previous bands – the mighty MC5-influenced squall of B.A. Baracus, some intermediate band whose name I can’t remember that opened for Colin’s Lonely Bones at the Rumba or Woodlands one Christmas show – and I have to say that Bava Choco is Patrick’s best venture yet.
Patrick told me one time when the band was still in rehearsals that he was just gonna say, “Fuck it, and unleash all of his Deep Purple and Black Sabbath fantasies” in his new band and – I’ve gotta say – I wasn’t particularly heartened by that pronouncement. I lived through heavy metal when it was first invented and my rocker brethren KNOW it’s not one of my Top Three rock & roll genres. But Bava Choco bring such a passion and fresh approach to quasi-metal it really took me back to those days of 1968 & 1969 when bands like Deep Purple were still really INVENTIVE and Tony Iommi actually incorporated some pretty jazzy chord voicings into the melee that was early Black Sabbath. It really wasn’t until the 1970’s that those bands collapsed into the terminal, plodding, drug-ridden/ravaged sludge-pit morass of metal that rock history is riddled with. (Are you listening Uriah Heep?)
Anyway, this is sliding out of hand, I’m about to start mumbling about the ‘60’s & ‘70’s when Bava Choco is a thoroughly MODERN rock & roll band: guitarist Eric French’s riffs & guitar stylings are a joy to watch & listen to and drummer Corey Gillen is a MONSTER of invention. So just go see ‘em this Saturday night: drink a few beers (then Uber home so you don’t kill anybody), support CD-102.5 and their Big Room Bar and dig The Kyle Sowashes and Earwig while you’re at it. It’s a Saturday night of rock & roll, what could you POSSIBLY have better to do with your time than that? - Ricki C. / October 13th, 2016.
ps. Since I’m supposed to be such a hotshot rock critic, two (easily correctable) criticisms of Bava Choco: 1) The first time I saw the band, Mike Lovins – who, by the way, happens to be a KILLER bass player – wore shorts onstage. Admittedly, it WAS high summer then (I stopped to watch a coupla softball games at Berliner on my way to the gig at CD 102.5), but NO self-respecting rocker should EVER WEAR SHORTS ONSTAGE. 2) Patrick was drinking beer during that set when this is obviously a band that should be swigging cognac straight from the bottle while lurching around onstage. Beer drinking is for league bowlers, Bava Choco is HIGH CONCEPT. If Baracus has to go so far as pouring beer INTO a cognac bottle before going onstage, he should take that step and project/protect the illusion.
For a little preview of the tunes, check out Bava Choco on Bandcamp
One Night, Two Cities and Six Amazing Columbus Bands - by Colin Gawel
This Friday night, November 4th, 2016
Ace of Cups (Columbus, OH): The Whiles (CD Release), Ghost Shirt and Bicentennial Bear
The Pike Room (Pontiac, MI): Lydia Loveless, Aaron Lee Tasjan and Jeremy Porter & the Tucos.
The Whiles
Obviously anybody who reads Pencilstorm and/or is a fan of Watershed knows we go deep with The Whiles. Ricki C. has been a raving, slobbering fan since their first demos and still wrangles guitars for the Peppercorn brothers. I've had many a late night discussion pleading my case that Colors Of The Year is the best record to ever come out of Columbus. And I've been lucky enough to have Joe Peppercorn help out on both my solo records and the Watershed record Brick and Mortar. And to top it all off, original lead singer Zach Prout is now my son Owen's 7th grade English teacher.
Though the band has stayed active, this show is a release party for Mercury Ghost (Anyway Records) their first new record since Somber Honey in 2012. The word on the street is that it could be their best yet, so needless to say, Ricki and myself are over the moon with anticipation. The band also performs their annual Beatles Marathon every Holiday season (this year it's December 10th) so this may be the last straight show of originals from The Whiles for - ahem - a while, so try not to miss it. You'll be glad you did.
Lydia Loveless
Similar to The Whiles, Lydia Loveless' early records are so damn good they can overshadow her more recent work. And that's a shame, because although it doesn't reveal itself on the first listen, her latest record Real is her best to date and another big step forward for the talented Ms. Loveless. She and her kick-ass band have been touring since what seems like the last time the Indians won the World Series and in the process even became one of the few Columbus ensembles to perform on a national TV show. Click here to check it out.
Hot on her heels in the national sense, the pride of New Albany, Aaron Lee Tasjan has been making waves with his brand new release Silver Tears out on the very cool New West imprint. Aaron left Columbus for Brooklyn before settling into East Nashville where he has amassed a jaw-dropping resume as a side-player while simultaneously cranking out quality solo work. Don't take my word for it, check out his bio here. The title track off his latest record is a must listen and a must watch. Dig it here.
Speaking of cool labels, while browsing around for this article, I realized five of the last eight 12" records I have bought were released on Columbus' own Anyway Records. One of those bands, Ghost Shirt will be making a rare live appearance to support their pals in The Whiles. I flat wore out the grooves of their last release, After the Spark, and I recommend it highly to fans of power-pop that falls not far from the Nick Lowe tree.
Bicentennial Bear is led by Miranda Sound alum Billy Peake and his talent for combining clever lyrics & clever arrangements played at stupid volumes is truly awe-inspiring. If you have never heard the song "Black Quarterbacks," I truly pity you. Click here to remedy that situation.
OK, you got me, Jeremy Porter and the Tucos aren't from Columbus. They happen to be yet another kick-ass rock n roll band from Detroit. There is a local connection, however: Jeremy is longtime friends with Watershed producer Tim Patalan and - in fact - Jeremy added some musical parts to our last single Best Worst Night / Hey Lydia that was just released this summer. Like Lydia and Aaron, Jeremy is a touring machine who has built up quite a following around the Midwest and East Coast. Click here to check out some of the tunes. It's great stuff.
My best advice would be to try and attend one of these amazing bills in person, my next best advice would be to check them all out online and tell a friend.
Colin Gawel thinks it's weird when guys in bands are also music critics. It's like being a baseball player and a sports writer at the same time. But he wrote this, so I guess he is weird. He owns Colin's Coffee and founded Pencilstorm. His latest video is here.
Watershed at Ace of Cups 8/15/15 - a Review by Pete Vogel
watershed \’wot-er-shed \ 3 : a crucial dividing point or line
My watershed moment came on 8/15/15, watching Watershed perform to a sold-out crowd at Ace of Cups near campus. I’d seen the band a half dozen times in the past, but it was usually at some polite outdoor event such as Comfest or the Independents' Day Festival. This was the first time I’d watch the band at an indoor venue, filled to the rafters with rabid Watershed fans.
Needless to say, this experience was far different than the others.
For starters, you never really “know” a band until you see them with in their element, playing at a local venue, surrounded by their biggest fans. Watershed plays only one or two shows a year in town, so this was an extremely hot ticket. The bar was packed full of rabid fans, and this show was a different type of initiation for me, a personal watershed of Watershed.
I arrived at 9 pm and waited in line outside the bar, along with a steady stream of young and middle-aged fans that had grown up with the band. Their love and enthusiasm for Watershed was unabated; many in line were without tickets and stood outside hoping in earnest to get inside. The show had sold out hours before and the long line was an indication that this was a very hot ticket indeed.
Fans came from as far away as Idaho to attend this gig. I stood in line next to a brother and sister who’d been attending shows for fifteen years. The sister proclaimed: “I’d travel to North Carolina just to see them play!!!”
The band took the stage around 9:45 pm and blasted their first power chord to a raucous cheer. The front-men, Colin and Joe, exchanged lyrics between themselves and the audience, and it wasn’t long until the whole crowd was shouting lyrics at the top of their lungs in unison with the band. Needless to say, a chill ran down my spine: this was what a rock and roll show looked and felt like.
Watershed moved seamlessly from one song to the next, barely taking their foot off the gas; the crowd joined them tirelessly. They emphasize dual-guitar, power-rock chords with hook-heavy choruses that must be belted at the top of your lungs:“Now I’m feelin’ so good/ Feelin’ so fine / And this is totally obvious!” Every song had an exclamation point; every chorus an indelible hook; every lyric a rhythm that throbbed in your throat. Colin leaped in the air as he thrashed power chords; Joe plucked his bass as he churned out vocals; original drummer Herb Schupp attacked the kit as if he had never left the band; and rhythm guitarist Rick Kinsinger graciously took a backseat to the original trio that first started playing back in the late ‘80s.
“Radio playing my favorite song / I get all the boys and girls to sing along”
Some bands politely ask for your attention - Watershed punches you in the stomach. Some bands can mildly touch a nerve - Watershed is a defibrillator to the soul. Some bands quietly grab you over time - Watershed is a two-by-four across the head.
Watershed has stayed relevant for nearly four decades because they figured out the formula. They’ve been able to endure because they know rock and roll isn’t just about them - it’s about the relationship between themselves and the audience. In an age of twitter feeds, YouTube clips and corporate karaoke contests, Watershed pays homage to the traditional paradigm of music’s real magic: to win, you must lose yourself in a song.
The band pulls its influences from a variety of sources - notably Cheap Trick and The Velvet Underground - but they put a twist on their tunes that is purely Watershed. The way Colin and Joe exchange lines is reminiscent of Daltrey and Townshend, but they do it in their own time signature. The way they bash out power chords reminds me of The Sex Pistols and The Kinks, but they do it the Watershed way. The way they belt out choruses in unison reminds me of Green Day or The Clash, but it’s typical Watershed. It’s refreshing to see a band that has taken its own path while - at the same time - paying homage to their heroes. Watershed has figured that out and - judging by the crowd’s reaction - so have we.
There isn’t a bigger fan of music than Colin Gawel. A coffee shop owner by day and rock star by night, he keeps a watchful eye on both the local and national scene. Whether he’s pushing to get Cheap Trick into the Hall of Fame or dedicating his efforts on a Willie Phoenix retrospective, Colin’s got his pulse on the scene. He doesn’t covet this to himself either; his blog “Pencilstorm” is a forum for anyone to share opinions about music, sports, politics, or life in general. (Case in point: this post!)
Joe Oestreich is a successful teacher and author in his own right, and recently published his second book. (editor's note: That book - "Line Of Scrimmage" - is available for order right now at Amazon.) His first, a memoir about the band - Hitless Wonder: A Life in Minor League Rock and Roll - is a great read for anybody who’s curious about life in the music business. It’s a compilation of funny stories and a reflection on the paradoxes of being a working musician. Both Colin and Joe are paradoxes in many ways; they are so much more than middle-aged rockers who can’t seem to relinquish their dreams. They are pioneers and visionaries who have a unique story to share about life in the music business. They still play music for the sheer love of it. They pay continual homage to their hometown and haven’t forgotten their roots, either personal or musical. They’re about “bum notes and pounds of sweat” and highs & lows in the music industry. They are smart and successful in their own right. Even though they never enjoyed the monetary success of a Cheap Trick or a Velvet Underground, they’ve made a very distinct mark in the music scene and are a proud legacy in their hometown of Columbus.
My Watershed moment came last night. For me, to watch a musician sing words and have a room full of people sing back to you is a success in it’s own right: a success that few of us can enjoy. To have a fellow musician such as Erica Blinn leave her gig and come down to watch her mentor play is no small feat, either. Major league…minor league…whatever: they’re in a league of their own. And it’s fitting that track number 11 on their Fifth of July record is titled: “The Best is Yet to Come.”
Rock on, Watershed.
below: A clip of the show by none other than Pencilstorm contributor and acclaimed guitarist himself, Scott Carr