Bring Out Your Dead
Wed. April 4 / Fri. April 6
8 p.m. / 9 p.m.
Free
Cisco’s Cafe / Checkered Flag Bar & Grill
1114 Sam Rittenberg Blvd. / 2366 Ashley River Road
571-6441 / 225-5322
www.myspace.com/boydband
Mike: Hey man, I’d like to write something for your weekly paper!
Ballard: Oh, yeah? Why don’t you start with a self-interview of your new band?
Getting publicity for a band is never easy unless you’re the sort of group that causes destruction of property, inciting of riots, or unnatural acts with barnyard animals. Seeing as my band, Bring Out Your Dead, (B.O.Y.D for short) falls into none of these categories, I decided it was only right and proper to take my case to City Paper music editor Ballard Lesemann and make a pitch for a feature about what makes us different. Over several pints of ale at the neighborhood bar, he came up with the idea of me interviewing my own band and writing the article myself. I agreed.
It seemed like a great idea at the time, but now that I’m setting fingers to keyboard I’m feeling the desire for a bottle of tequila to stave away the nagging fear of abject pretentiousness. On the other hand, I suppose if you want something done right…
I’m the drummer and one of the singers for B.O.Y.D. — and an unashamed “Yankee” hailing from Baltimore. I have been playing drums in various bands since before I reached the age of consent. I moved to the Charleston area a couple years ago to be with my beautiful wife, and have been playing in B.O.Y.D. for about seven months.
This week, I attempted to forget that I was an official band member and interviewed a couple of my bandmates about why people should want to leave their comfortable homes in the evening and come out and see us.
“At some point in the evening you get to see all of us take the lead,” says singer/guitarist and songwriter Cecilla Brown. “We add some spice that you just don’t get to see at any old show in Charleston. Whether it’s a bad-ass violin solo in an original rock song or some four-part a cappella harmony that will take your breath for a moment.”
As someone who couldn’t write a song to escape a ripped, wet, paper bag, I appreciate the fact that we have three diverse songwriters in the group. Sherri Harrison, our resident songwriter/electric violinist/keyboardist/singer, has already contributed to our growing list of original material with her soul-gripping song, “Forgiven.” I’d heard a scratch track of it, with her on guitar and vocals, and I immediately knew how the drums should sound. I can only hint that it sounds like an evil Fleetwood Mac, but somehow that doesn’t do it justice.
Bassist, singer, and songwriter Erin Johns has contributed several originals as well as a few covers that have been “Erinized” for maximum funkiness. “One of them is called ‘The Gallows,’ and it’s about the term ‘nice,’ and when you’re a nice person, or a kind person, how that tends to be misconstrued as ‘doormat.’ And that sucks. And it’s about having a shit-ton of love to give and not being able to express it in a way that people will actually get it.”
When asked what defined us as a band, Cecilla put it well: “We are four folks who love and are passionate about music,” she says. “We have no delusions about being ‘discovered’ while playing at Cisco’s on a Wednesday night. We just want people to have a good time. We aren’t a ‘get-drunk-and-raise-hell-and-oh-yeah-we’ll-try-to-play-music-too’ band; we don’t even drink while we play. The crowd and the music are definitely our focus. Please don’t misunderstand, there is a lot of drinking and even more raising hell, but we are just the entertainment.”
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