The lads are back!
Having sequestered themselves in the hallowed back yard studios of Dewey Heights Productions following their remarkable debut tour playing for tens of screaming children in strip mall parking lots across the region over the course of 18 days, Steve Price and the Same Song Singers are poised to unleash Standing Up For You, a sonic cacophony the likes of which New Albanians have never heard since at least a couple of weeks ago.
The tour was undoubtedly a major influence in the further development of the band’s sound. Upon returning home, Manager Dave Ramsey was overheard relating tales of how the band escaped the usual pitfalls of rock and roll life on the road in an effort to live the songs to their fullest.
“Of all the bands and all the tours”, said Ramsey, “I’ve never seen anyone take their art and themselves so seriously. A lot of guys blow their money on fast food and Super 8 motels, but not Steve and SSS. There’s a Kroger or a Sam’s Club in nearly every town around here and we kept a Styrofoam cooler stocked with sandwiches. Not only did it save $74.83 on food, but it also gave the bus driver something to do while the boys were playing. If it weren’t for sandwich prep, he’d have sat idle at times for up to 35 minutes. That’s not what we pay him for.”
In listening to an advanced copy of the new record, one can almost smell the damp washcloths the band used to freshen up, having decided to “kill the air” on the bus after paying for a fuel stop with a credit card nearly led to a mid-tour breakup.
Indeed, songs like “Must Stop Blacktop” and “Riding High but Feeling Low (Officer Kru(m)pke Shakedown Mix)” were written the only way they could’ve been: by four men struggling to carry the weight of their bus toilet holding tank to the small creek out behind the Henryville rest stop on I-65.
It’s real, it’s now, and it’s live tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the third floor meeting room of the City/County Building.
City Clerk Marcey Wisman has provided a tentative set list here.
*Citing creative differences concerning the use of deceased equines as percussion instruments, drummer Dan Coffey has been on temporary hiatus since recording. He’ll play tonight, but only to someone else’s beat.
**The bus driver, too, has split the scene, matriculating into the Sandwich Arts program at Subway. Though early press reports indicated an amicable separation, some girl at the rest stop seemed to think otherwise. “I’m working my way up to bands, so I can understand trying to improve your lot”, she said, “but Bucky should’ve known better than to take out a student loan. He didn’t last ten minutes after I told everybody.”
