From the Back of the Beachland: Bethesda talks licensing, plans for new album

Written by Priscilla Tasker

I caught up with Shanna Delaney and Eric Ling of Bethesda at a recent show at The Beachland Tavern in November to talk about the band’s successful year. They shared exciting news about the licensing deals they signed with a few global television networks and what the next few months hold for the band. 

The group is finishing up some local shows before taking a two-month hiatus to write a new full-length album to follow up the EP the band released earlier this year; and they are planning tour dates in Chicago and Indiana in January. 

“We just came out with our EP, Dream Tiger & Other Tails, a couple of months ago, and we’re itching to write. So, we have a lot of songs in us, and we have several we’re going to write over the winter months,” Delaney said.

Dream Tiger launched in May with a radio and television campaign. The TV push landed Bethesda 13 contracts, slating the band for 13 shows on MTV, VH1, E! and Showtime, among others. 

“That was actually when we were on tour in June when we got that news – and we were really excited,” Delaney said.

Keeping Up with the Kardashians and The Real World are just two shows on which the band is signed to be featured. Ling laughed as he said they are wondering how the network plans to fit their songs into a show like the Kardashians.

“And, then, just this fall, we were one of six bands shopped for our PR company to the Discovery Network, which has 30 plus shows,” Delaney continued. 

The contract will allow Discovery Network to use any song or section of a song off the album. Bethesda may not be paid out for a couple of years and won’t know when or how the songs will be used because, with the volume of bands large networks contract for music, there are too many artists to email individually when a song is featured in a show. 

“They can do just instrumental or just vocals. They pretty much have complete control over what songs they want to use, but they have the whole five-song EP,” Ling said.

Delaney giggled that they just want to know when they’re on so they can watch – just once!

“We can’t Tivo all the shows, you know. So hopefully someone will call us,” Ling said.

To build on the success of 2011, the band is already looking forward to a new year, completing a new full-length album and a tour stop in Austin to play SXSW Music Festival in March 2012. 

Fans can catch this pipe-dream posse at the Rowdy Indie Craft Fair this Sunday, December 4, before they delve into a studio spell. Bethesda will be performing with Comfort Clouds and ShiSho at Studio 526 in Akron at 7 p.m. 

Follow the band on Facebook, Twitter or www.bethesdaband.com for more information.

Monday Muse: "Babel" Humble Home

Nick Wise and Matt Hectorne of Humble Home perform "Babel" off the band's Prologue to Doubt album.

Tonight, see Humble Home perform with Bethesda and Caroline Smith & The Good Night Sleeps at Beachland Tavern. Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5.

Get more show details on the Facebook event page.

TONIGHT: Revolution Brass Band @ Beachland, Tom Evanchuck and The Old Money @ Musica

Live Music Update — Thursday, October 20

Revolution Brass Band
The eight-piece brass ensemble will be performing its array of jazzy funk & blues instrumentals at The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern tonight. Revolution Brass Band executes with precision as the band plays its original compositions and cover arrangements. RBB will open for the jazz, soul group The Bo-Keys from Memphis.


Show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12.


Watch Revolution Brass Band perform "SuperdopalisciousRedClayMatthews," an original arrangement of Outkast's "SpottieOttieDopaliscious" and Freddy Hubbard's "Red Clay", in this Rhythm Report video from Great Lakes Burning River Festival 2011.




Tom Evanchuck and The Old Money
A musician originating from Chardon, Tom Evanchuck, will take the stage at Musica with the backing of his band, The Old Money, this Thursday. Evanchuck and crew is one more Northeast Ohio homegrown act that is bursting at the seams of opportunity. Catch the band in Akron before the TOM heads South for its first extended regional tour. The band is opening for Robin Electric.


Show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 advanced. Purchase here.


Read The Rhythm Report's recent interview with Tom Evanchuck and The Old Money.


Musica is located at 51 East Market Street, Akron, Ohio 44308.

Cleveland to consider dropping 8 percent admissions tax on small clubs — Cleveland.com

News from Cleveland.com — "Four members of Cleveland City Council [Joe Cimperman, Michael Polensek, Jay Westbrook and Matt Zone] introduced legislation Monday that would exempt clubs holding less than 700 people from the city's 8 percent admission tax ... The proposed exemption follows the lead of Seattle, which waives its admission tax for clubs holding less than 1,000 people." - Thomas Ott, The Plain Dealer

Get full details on the proposal, reaction from Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson in Ott's blog post:
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/10/cleveland_to_consider_dropping.html

Cleveland residents, I implore you to take 20 minutes to write or call your local legislators about this issue. Help Cleveland music thrive; it cannot without the venues that open their doors to art. In Ott's blog post, Happy Dog owner Sean Watterson is mentioned as saying the city has the potential to be a "destination music city," which was exactly my sentiments after a recent visit to Nashville. A Cleveland renaissance is percolating, and we have the artists and venues to support it. We need the fans to support it, too. Contact your city council member today.

Listen Up! WJCU to interview Ty Kellogg at 7 p.m.

Ty Kellogg will be playing his "nitty gritty dirt" tunes and interviewing with Holly on WJCU's A Beautiful Mess at 7 p.m. Take a listen as he talks about his upcoming show at Beachland Tavern with David Ullman and Chad Hill.

Click here for WJCU stream information.

UPDATE (7:40 p.m.) – Ty, thanks for the shout out to The Rhythm Report and those who support local music on the show tonight. Stay tuned, folks! Kellogg's got one more song to play.

Photo: Ty Kellogg's CD release show at Hambden Grange in April 2011.

Ty Kellogg in Concert with David Ullman and Chad Hill
Wednesday, September 7
Show starts at 7:00 p.m.

Beachland Tavern
15711 Waterloo Road
Cleveland, Ohio

Purchase tickets here.

Hear "Chain Gang" off Kellogg's self-titled 2011 release. The Rhythm Report covered Ty Kellogg earlier this year prior to his album release show in April 2011. Read more here.

"Chain Gang" Ty Kellogg

Top-charted Vitium talks about recording new EP

Opening acts are often subject to playing for empty rooms and unenthused crowds, but it takes a dedicated, unique performer to put on a show even when no one is watching. Vitium proved that its band is composed of such artists who are willing to give it all whether they’re playing for a small crowd or a packed house. 

The band opened for The Floorwalkers on Friday, July 8, at The Beachland Ballroom. The audience hadn’t reached capacity nor the energy level of excited concertgoers yet. Nevertheless, Vitium played a lively set, demonstrating musical versatility as the six musicians blended tight R&B and rock instrumentals with hip hop and pop vocals.

The dynamic ensemble is becoming a Beachland staple, performing on a near monthly basis at the venue. In an interview, guitarist Jesse Hernandez said the group is in writing and recording sessions for its sophomore album, an EP targeted for an August 2011 release.

“I think this album is going to have more of a cohesive sound than our last one because we’ve all been settled in with each other for a bit, and I feel that we’ve got a more musically defined style,” Hernandez said.

Vitium released its debut album, Oxygen Planet, with Goon Trax, a Japanese label affiliated with Media Factory, in 2009. The 11-track record was recorded at Cleveland-based Ante Up Audio with the help of multi-platinum, award-winning artist Michael Seifert.

The band received accolades with its release in Japan as the re:plus-produced remix of “Never Looking Back” hit No. 3 on the Japanese iTunes hip hop charts. According to Vitium’s website, the group was also featured on multiple compilation records that have all reached No. 1 on the nation’s iTunes charts in that musical genre. Locally, songs from the album received airplay on Q104, Radio 92.3 and widely heard college stations. 

Band members said the songs being recorded on the new album were primarily written for live shows. 

“They’re songs that we’ve been performing live for a while, but we haven’t had the time to really sit down and record them,” said Jerry (JL) Lang, keyboardist.

Vocalist Nicholas Wonder (Smalc) said the lyrical content flows along the same socially conscious themes that manifested on Oxygen Planet.

“At the same time, we’ve also done some fun songs,” Wonder said. “It’s still very lyrical in terms of witty wordplay. Even if it’s just a fun song, I want it to at least have something involved that you’ll go, ‘Oh, that’s different.’”

The Rhythm Report will continue tracking Vitium’s progress in the local and global music scenes. Fans can follow the band on various social media sites including Facebook and Twitter for more information on the upcoming album and future show dates.


Written by Priscilla Tasker

Make Tom Happy

Tom is sad. His brother, Kyle, can not make it to his show. It's a special show -- Tom's dual CD release party. I'll bet it would cheer him up to see you there.

Tom Evanchuck: A Dual CD Release
May 21, 2011 - 6:30 p.m.

Beachland Tavern
15711 Waterloo Rd.
Cleveland, Ohio

Song: Periscope Depth by Tom Evanchuck
Album: Fadin' Glow 
Produced by Division Sound

Visit www.tomevanchuck.com for more information.

This video was filmed and edited by The Rhythm Report's video production unit, De los angeles Productions.

Winslow to open for The Right Now May 8

Akron’s original soul-fusion band Winslow will be sharing the Beachland Tavern stage with nationally touring R&B ensemble The Right Now and Cleveland-based Vitium on Sunday, May 8. The show starts at 8:30 p.m. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

Winslow recently released its latest single, “Quarter Life,” produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Edwin “Tony” Nicholas, who is acclaimed for his work with legendary stars Barry White, Gerald Levert, Mary J Blige and Joe. The song is featured on Nicholas’ national compilation, “Stimuli New Music,” a Sony RED promotional record. Ten thousand copies of the album launched at record stores across the U.S. on April 16. 

“Quarter Life” provides a first listen into Winslow’s much-anticipated sophomore album, expected for release in the next year. The band believes this album will encompass its growth, continued passion, as well as show that the best is yet to come, according to frontman Maurice Martin.

For more information about Winslow, The Right Now or the show at Beachland Ballroom, check out these websites:

www.winslowsoul.com

www.therightnow.com

www.beachlandballroom.com/calendar.asp?Page=2 


The Rhythm Report last caught Winslow at the Maid Myriad CD release party for A Fool's Delight in December 2010. Watch this video to see the band perform "Every Day."