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Yep roc records contact information9/10/2023 The journey started with the first major tour. While not definitive, as no single volume could ever be, Before This Time offers snapshots of what you might see if you go see them live. So that is why I am glad to be able to help put together this document of Ollabelle playing live. As much as I love both their studio records, those only scratch the surface of what these guys do on stage night after night. As we started to work together, I knew this was a band that could play anywhere: folk clubs, hippie festivals, jazz clubs, rock festivals.īut the problem with a band that can play a song so many different ways, all brilliant, and all completely in the moment, is trying to figure out what version of that song to actually record. There was more singing, better playing and an air of unpredictability. The blueprint that producer Steve Rosenthal and the band had come up with was brilliant, but the house they built was even better. This band had already moved beyond it”adding new dimensions, energy and approach to the songs. I loved the CD, but you could see that it was only the starting point. I was glad I saw the band live, before I got a copy of their debut CD. Incredible arrangements of old gospel songs, and a few that they announced as originals. I remember hearing Fiona McBain singing “Elijah Rock” and Amy Helm singing “Soul of a Man.” Whenever I thought I had figured out what this band was about, they threw a new twist at me. I remember hearing Glenn Patscha’s otherworldly voice coming from somewhere, and finally identifying him as the guy sitting facing sideways at the old upright piano. I believe Byron Isaacs opened the set playing “Gone Today” on a g-tuned acoustic guitar. They had been signed to a big label, and they needed a manager. A friend of mine in the business had called me and told me there was this band. That is to say the original home of the Lower East Side club- a small corner storefront. I first saw Ollabelle at the old Living Room. Legend has it he played 20 seconds of the opening vocal-drums number “Before This Time” to label boss Donny Ienner and the signing was approved on the spot. The recipient happened to be T-Bone Burnett, who released it on his DMZ label. Once they coalesced into a 6 person lineup, they went into the studio with producer Steve Rosenthal, recorded it on spec and sent it to one record label. The group started as a Sunday night jam session at an East Village club (9C) updating gospel material with a semi-consistent group of regulars. The origins of Ollabelle are familiar to anyone who has heard the band.
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