BOP (harvey) reunion at Rick's American Cafe in East Lansing Dec 1

Singer Steve Sarder recalls an era when selling an album bundled with a tee-shirt was a good day. Adding a new name to the mailing list was even better. For bands like East Lansing’s BOP (harvey)--in the pre-Internet world of music sales and marketing—those numbers meant everything. And BOP put up some solid numbers: approximately 150,000 records and 50,000 shirts sold. When they threw in the towel the first time in 1994, they had some 17,000 names on the mailing list. “The mailing list alone cost us hundreds of dollars to mail out each time,” Sarder said. The prevailing thought was if you have good sales and good loyalty among your fans, you’re on your way. Although they might not get a postcard in the mail this week, music lovers from all over Michigan are looking forward to this weekend. BOP (Harvey) plays a reunion show Saturday at Rick’s American Café in East Lansing.

Today the download has changed the music buying game. “Nowadays kids just want to buy the music by the song,” Sarder aka Word E Smith said. “Kids feel like they’re getting ripped off if they have to buy the whole album. They say ‘I don’t want all that music. I just want the one song.’” So it seems like a complete CD is too much to invest in these days. Longtime music lovers know you have to hear the whole album to get the full effect. “The idea of the concept album has been lost,” Sarder said. “Albums used to be made with a thought to flow. If you’re into a CD for only one or two songs you’re missing a lot of good music in between. BOP used to put a lot of time into segues and connections between songs.”

Music lovers from the 80s-90s and today know how BOP’s reggae-fueled soca rock makes them entirely dance floor-friendly. “We were definitely a hybrid,” Sarder aka Joe Six-Pack said. “We had strong reggae influence. But there were other influences too with so many people in the band; and with the band being a democracy and all we tended to venture into different areas. We’d have a reggae tune next to a calypso next to a ska tune. We’d experiment with all the Caribbean and African rhythms. We even got into some Nigerian juju-style songwriting.”

The popularity of the infectious grooves of the band allowed them to share the stage with just about every notable world music performer of the day: Steel Pulse, Yellowman, Eek-a Mouse, Burning Spear, Black Uhuru, and Ziggy Marley. “Just about everybody and anybody that was known in the reggae world,” Sarder said. “We had come to work with all of them at one time or another; that was just terrific. Toots & the Maytals were one of my all time favorites.”

After 650,000 miles on the road (two cars, four vans, one motor home, and a Greyhound coach) BOP seemed poised to make a break-through. As burnout set in, nerves became brittle. The end was prolonged by the opportunity to play campaign rallies for then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton. “We played rallies at MSU, Ann Arbor, and a pre-election night rally in an airport hangar in Romulus,” Sarder said. “On all three occasions we got to shake hands with the candidate. But on the last one, we got to go backstage, rub elbows and talk it up a little more and some photographs taken.” After Clinton won the election the band was invited to DC for the inaugural festivities. “We got to play in a tent on the Washington Mall with Blues Traveler, Taj Mahal, and Little Feat. For two days there was entertainment from 10am to 5pm. It was quite an experience. After we were done with our set we had passes to go all over. We got to meet a lot of professional musicians and see a lot of shows. We saw Fleetwood Mac from basically backstage.” They also played the Hard Rock Café that week which led to more shoulder rubbing with famous people.

BOP’s next big break—they had stopped touring by then--came when they appeared in the first season of the Conan O’Brien Show. Their bass player (Dan Stechow aka Danny St Echo) had been hired as an assistant on the program. And it didn’t hurt they were on Max Weinberg’s (The E-Street Band) label at the time. “We went on Conan the last week we were touring in April 1994,” Sarder said. “Having those two connections is what allowed us to get on there, particularly since we weren’t really a national phenomenon. We really ought to have stayed together a little longer and worked that first national exposure more. By then we knew we were packing it in; it was a bittersweet moment. Our last show was at the Majestic Theater in Detroit the same week we were on Conan.” BOP (harvey)’s music lives on still in the hearts of many. Ever familiar to hawking merch out of the trunk, Sarder says copies of  their Bread & Circuses CD will be available for purchase at the gig on Saturday. Among other things, BOP (harvey) promises to be in rich form; whooping it up in what may well be The End of the World Party--Mayan-style.“Rick’s American Café was our birthplace,” Sarder said. “We’ll play all our classic tunes there; the one’s that we’ve been playing the longest--like the more rootsy selections.”  

BOP (harvey) wsg Roland Remington, 9:30pm, Saturday at Rick's American Cafe in East Lansing. BOP shows at 10:30 and 12a.

Interview with Dave Alvin: Survivor of the Fittest

Photo by Beth Herzhaft

Dave Alvin is the first to admit he's not the most prolific of songwriters. He is still, however, a highly regarded writer of life-scape songs. It seems the hectic time-oriented pace of a traveling musician doesn't always allow for quiet corner time.  "There just isn't a lot of time for critical, creative, or any kind of thinking," Alvin said with a gruff little chuckle. "The way I tour it's very hard to write on the road; I've been touring the same way for 30 years." Despite the rigors of this work situation Alvin's songs have been covered by Dwight Yoakam, James McMurtry, and Alejandro Escovedo. Alvin's on-the-go writing process changed slightly in 2009 when he toured with the Guilty Women. "At full force it was an eight piece band," Alvin said. This time around the extra drivers got him out of some wheel duty. "I love to drive one of the vehicles and it's relaxing for me," Alvin said. "But now I could say, 'Here, you drive for a while. I'm going to sit and write some songs.'" The reprieve granted him much needed space to write. Soon after he was bringing in tunes from the road and making things happen once he got home. "I'd have a week or two off back home in California. I'd call up some friends, go in the recording studio, and cut a song. Then I'd go back out on the road." These recordings became the basis for his esteemed Eleven Eleven release. But there is something more to learn about Alvin in that he's something of survivor. So other than having former Blaster saxophonist Lee Allen as an early adviser in the music scene, he seems all right. "Lee taught a lot of us guys life survival techniques," Alvin said. "He showed us how to survive bad times and good times. Both have their pitfalls and perils. He said, try to show up on time--all those little things," Alvin said with a laugh. He says the importance of going into the music business with a sound frame of mind cannot be understated. "It's a weird surreal life sometimes," he admits. "When you're around long term survivors of this lifestyle it will either send you running toward the exits or into more of a full blown embrace of trying to make a living doing this," Alvin said. "Musically it affects you one way but when you know guys personally it affects you another way. The thing Lee taught me and Steve Berlin (Alvin's former band mate in Blasters) of Los Lobos is how to still love doing this." Alvin, with a career spanning thirty-plus years, knows how rough it is out there. "Something you learn from survivors is how to pack up all your blues and troubles and keep moving ahead," Alvin noted. "Whether there's hope or not you have to keep telling yourself there is or you're not getting out of bed in the morning." To his credit Dave Alvin has done several albums of acoustic music and several electric rock releases. He says that in concert, just like Richard Thompson, he tries to negotiate the heady rapids between the two presentations. "It's all the same to me," Alvin said of the songs performed each night. "They are the same notes on the guitar whether they're loud or quiet. But it boils down to what the song wants. I know that sounds crazy but it's the truth. A lot of good songs can be played anyway you want to play them. Night and Day by Cole Porter can be played in a variety of formats. You can do it as a rock-n-roll song or a polka," Alvin said. After all that does he still plan on turning it up in Grand Rapids on March 6? "They'll be some quiet moments but otherwise it will be rocking," Alvin said with a slight laugh. "You better bring your earplugs just in case." 

Dave Alvin and the Guilty Ones at Tip Top Deluxe Bar and Grill on March 6. Doors at 7:00 pm, show at 8.
More info at Dave Alvin's website.

Interview with Anders Osborne

Photo credit: John McCusker/The Times-Picayune

When you're at sea sometimes it feels like the sun never sets. This was the apparent case for blues musician Anders Osborne, fresh off a jam band cruise from the previous week, as he continued to soak up the musical sunshine.

"They had this boat going in the Caribbean with a bunch of people playing and another big slew of people dancing," Anders said with a laugh from his home in New Orleans.

To know the very essence of Osborne is to know the cruise must have been a spectacle of styles. The Osborne view of the jam band scene on the boat included funk, roots rock, and electronica.

"It was quite the hodge-podge," Osborne said of the various bands. "But mostly it's the after-life of the Grateful Dead following. Only now the new generation is jumping on board. I got into playing those crowds in the early 90s with folks like Joan Osborne, Rusted Root, and The Radiators." 

If there was one musician of the hundreds aboard the jam band cruise befitting the Artist at Large title--as he was known on the boat--it's Osborne. 

"People get to invite me to be a special guest on their shows," Osborne said. "This time I played with Toots & the Maytals and Bruce Hornsby. I was featured in George Porter's band (original bassist with the Meters). I also got up there with Bill Kreutzmann's (Grateful Dead drummer) band called 7 Walkers."

For artists like Anders Osborne defining oneself in the crowded jam band landscape can be tricky. When you talk stylistic presentation, Osborne likes the combination of improvisational music skills and a wallop of showmanship.

"People respond to my improvisation when I do my full band," Osborne said. "We rock and create on the spot. I grew up around a lot of jazz. But at the same time I came up with Neil Young and the hard driving rock and roll shows of the day."  


A good song knows no boundary. Not to be content with singular musical scene credit, Osborne is known for his original compositions across multiple genres.

"I've always tried to spend a little time on the songs and craft them to the best of my ability," Osborne said. "From time to time you get a little recognition for what you do and that's cool." 

One form of respect he wakes up to everyday is the diversity of artists who recorded his songs: Tim McGraw, Tab Benoit, Kim Carnes. What is it about Osborne's compositions that make them so worthy?

"I have never directly heard any comments from these people who have cut them," Anders said. "The decision to record is a very personal one. It varies. If you're not a songwriter you receive a bunch of songs and you go through them with your producer. The timing of everything just has to work out. You have to be in a certain place, maybe going through a divorce or something. Songs relating to that are more natural to sing. I don't think there's a method to this madness. Sometimes as a writer I get lucky."

Originally from Sweden, Anders Osborne says he was sixteen years old "full of energy and displeased with my position in life" when he left home. Osborne started to hitchhike, and--over the course of about three years--ended up in Northern Africa and Egypt.

"I met someone from New Orleans on the way and eventually made it down here," Osborne said from his home of twenty-seven years on The Ridge (original high point above sea level) in New Orleans. "It felt like home so I decided to stay here."

On this current tour with Keb' Mo' which makes a stop in Grand Rapids on Jan 21 at the Intersection, Osborne plans on performing an acoustic guitar set. 

"I haven't done it in a while but hopefully I'll be up to speed with it," Osborne said with a chuckle. "I think I'm going to try to stick with an acoustic. Other times I'll sit down with my amp and play an electric (guitar). What I'm trying to do this time is to find a specific tone for my performance and stick with that. The idea for me is more of a complete show. It starts with me and goes into Keb' so that there are no fuzzy lines. I want the audience to go from one thing to the next and feel that it was a nice transition for their entertainment."

Keb' Mo' and his band with Anders Osborne, 7pm, Saturday at the Intersection. 

More information at sectionlive.com

Interview with David Nelson of the New Riders of the Purple Sage

Jerry Garcia. The Byrds. Zane Grey. These are just a few names associated in some way with the fabled California band New Riders of the Purple Sage. Just the band's name alone could be the subject of an entire chapter. The story goes that founding NRPS members David Nelson and Robert Hunter (noted lyricist with the Grateful Dead) were sitting around trying to come up with a name for their new country-rock outfit when Hunter suggested Riders of the Purple Sage. Not wanting to be confused with the 1930s band of the same name-also the title of a 1912 book by western adventure novelist Zane Grey-Nelson decided to add the New moniker. The band member lineage of The Riders is indeed rife with history. At one time founding member Jerry Garcia was trying hard to split time between the New Riders and his brand new band called the Grateful Dead. At that time Garcia was playing pedal steel guitar almost exclusively. But then again he wasn't getting any better on the instrument. So he left the Riders to focus on playing the guitar with the then-fledgling Dead. This infamous move opened the door for the Buddy Cage era on pedal steel guitar. As David Nelson describes, the association with Garcia and the Riders even predates this late 1960s band shuffling. "I met Jerry in 1962," Nelson said from the van en route to a tour stop in Kentucky. "At the time I loaned him my banjo and he borrowed my acoustic guitar. We started a bluegrass acoustic band called the Wildwood Boys. It was Bob Hunter, me, and Jerry. We played around the San Fransisco peninsula area, many gigs, for a about a year. It was a lot of fun in those days." Needless to say there will always be a connection between NRPS and the Grateful Dead. But as Nelson points out the NRPS of today is not trying to regenerate an earlier period of jam-band mentality. "The difference between the old New Riders and the new New Riders is that we're not trying to recreate from the 70s-era," Nelson said. "When we're playing a song we're taking it out there to where it feels tonight instead of being a slave to the old arrangement." One highlight to a live performance of NRPS is the guitar Nelson plays for a good portion of the show. "It's a Gene Parsons StringBender," Nelson said. "He invented it back in the Byrds days. Clarence White was playing it then and Gene was the drummer in the Byrds. It takes the second B string so when you pull the neck down, the lever (inside) is where the strap is usually, you get a bend to an exact note rather than a string pull that pulls indefinitely. You tune it to bend to a whole step similar to what the pedals do on a pedal steel. I've been using this guitar for years. I'm really into it and enjoy it." This particular incarnation of The Riders came together in 2005. Along with the veterans in the group like Cage and guitarist Michael Falzarano (formerly of Hot Tuna), NRPS welcomed two newcomers to the band in Johnny Markowski and Ronnie Penque. According to Nelson drummer Markowski and bassist Penque not only hold their own instrumentally but they offer valuable songwriting contributions. "They bring a lot; both sing and have their own bands," Nelson said. "It's been a great thing. They are largely responsible for the renaissance of this band because they made it possible for me, Cage, and Falzarano to actually start doing it (again). I didn't think it was even possible but we tried it and it's working."

New Riders of the Purple Sage wsg Gunnar and the Grizzly Boys at the Intersection Oct 30 at 7:00pm.

Sharrie Williams at Billy's Lounge Jan 22: “I’m going to get right into your spirit.”

Sharrie Williams gonna tell you one thing; it’s about to get all spiritual up in here. Dig: her live shows dare conjure up such power side music that it just about threatens the known senses; this, friends, is when her inner side arises. "I'm just grateful when I'm able to use the lyrics of my songs to bring forth that power,” Williams said of her mostly original compositions described as “rockin" gospel blues.” The Saginaw-native Williams says she was raised in the gospel and still, as expected, infuses that flavor in her music. But her sound represents all the various shades of blues, she says. So while not a traditional blues band per-Se, she somehow incorporates into her show the hard-driving Tina Turner; the powerhouse blues of Etta James and Koko Taylor. “I do know some shuffles. I want to touch everybody in the audience and not just one sect of people,” Williams said. “I think that’s what's made me a ‘keeper’ in this business. People call me back because I love to entertain and I bring the audience into the experience.” Williams brings her 5-piece Wiseguys band back to Billy’s Lounge on Jan 22 on the eve of a week-long tour of Dubai. According to Williams there is more to helping people forget their problems for a of couple hours on a Saturday night. “I say forget about your problems and then get over them if possible,” she said. But that thought can be a tall order for just about anyone, Williams admits. “Nowadays with the killings in Arizona and the foreclosures and such, we live in a very blue moment.” But Williams proves again the importance of real belief. “We have to be strong enough to overcome all of that," she explains. "A lot of times people go into deep depression and they don’t come out. I want to be the blues buster and bust you out of that depression.” In substance abuse recovery for fourteen years Williams proves the Creator can see anyone through. “We all have the power to make it,” she said. “There’s a song on my latest album (I’m Here to Stay) called 'Power'. It's about the power we have within ourselves,” said Williams. “A lot of it is laying there dormant and we don’t know how to tap into it. That’s why I call it a musical movement. It’s there--we just have to find it. And we are going to find every bit of that power on the 22nd of January," Williams said with a hearty laugh.

Click here to listen to Sharrie's MySpace Page.