Interview: John O'Hallaron of Chalk Dinosaur

John O'Hallaron is Chalk Dinosaur. But on his upcoming album, Chalk Dinosaur and Friends, he's anything but alone. O'Hallaron rallied musicians from the Pittsburgh scene to contribute their unique perspectives to his latest project. What resulted was unexpected, exciting and a testament to the positive power of collaboration.

We talked to John about how he was able to wrangle so many musical talents from around the 'Burgh, the process of working with people he barely knew and the importance of bringing people together for the sake of art. 

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Found Sound: How did you get the idea to bring everyone together for a record like this?

John O'Hallaron: I got the idea after playing this event over the summer called FarmJammaLamma, which was this small camping festival. It was pretty much all Pittsburgh bands and I saw a lot of great players and bands that I didn't know about before. So, all the players that really I admired and inspired me I tried to get in touch with to see if they would want to capture that feeling from the weekend and collaborate on some music. 

FS: You were successful in nailing down the people you wanted to work with?

JO: Yeah! Everybody I contacted, most of them I hadn't even met yet in person. I'd only seen them play. Everybody agreed without hesitation and were into the idea. The only one I couldn't get was a saxophone player from that weekend. She was interested, but she's been traveling the globe. I was hoping to get her on the album, but she seems to be very, very busy.

FS: What do you think other musicians find so excited about a collaborative project like this. 'Cause it's a lot to take on.

JO: Yeah. I think it's most exciting just to kind of see what the blending of your influences and styles, what that produces. 'Cause it's almost always something completely different than anything either individual would make on their own. 

FS: It was really interesting listening to Dhruvasaur, 'cause I can definitely hear Dhruva in it, but it sounds like one of your songs, too. It was a really good blend.

JO: Thank you! That was really cool, 'cause I didn't know that he played, you know, everything. I just knew he was a drummer. And then he came over and we just wrote the whole thing from scratch. That one was a fully collaborative co-write. That was really cool. He's playing the drums and he plays some guitar. We made the structure and the chord progressions and everything together. 

FS: Do you find any challenge in doing that?

JO: Yeah. It's definitely different for every different song. This one came together pretty fast, at least the bones of it. It doesn't always work out, but for all of the sessions I had for this album worked out great. They weren't all from the ground up. Some of them were more kind of featuring the player and they would have a couple of solos or stuff like that. But for three of the tracks, they were written, you know, we started with nothing and then made the whole thing.

FS: Who and what is on the album?

JO: There's eight tracks. A couple of them are more electronic-based. Then there's some that are more traditional band instrumentation. There's Lucas Bowman. He was the first guy I got together with and he's the keyboard player for the Commonheart, which is a band from Pittsburgh that I really like. Then I got together with Dhruva. Then the third person I got together with the Michael Berger who's the bass player for a band called the Clock Reads. And then I made two tracks with a drummer, whose name is Julz Powell. He plays in a few bands. Then there was one song with this guitar player named Jason Caliguri and he played in a band called Jimbo and the Soup Bones. It's kind of like a soul rock band. And then there's two tracks with this guy I met whose name is Jeremy Colbert and he plays this instrument called a TerraPan, which is kind of like an inside out steel drum that you play with your hands. It's really interesting. There's two tracks with him.

FS: Do you think there's anything unique about the Pittsburgh music community that made this project possible?

JO: Everybody that I got in touch with without hesitation agreed to get together and make something without any monetary incentive to do it. They're just into the idea and, I mean, that's pretty big. I'm not sure how that would be in other cities, but I think the Pittsburgh music scene, at least within the kind of world that I'm in, it seems like it's pretty small and a lot of people know and support each other a lot. It's really cool and all that came to light over the past year for me, being able to see that.

FS: Has anything happened over the last year that sparked that? Anything special?

JO: About that time, maybe a little before, is when I started to play shows again. I played a lot of shows, like, five years ago and then I stopped for a while and just started again recently with kind of a new approach. So, it's all pretty new to me. A lot of these people have been doing it for a long time, but I'm just coming to realize this now. And definitely the Farm Jam experience was a really good gathering of a lot of these active and talented musicians. I feel like the scene around the Rex Theater and the shows and the people involved with that are really doing a good job cultivating a good music community. 

FS: Do you think that this kind of collaborative, community art is important?

JO: Yeah, I think it's important. I think it's sometimes just hard to be in that circumstance where you can be creating with like-minded people. But it definitely makes for more unique and more interesting music. Plus, I think it's definitely important when artists work together and help raise each other up and inspire each other and grow the scene. 

FS: Is there anything in particular you want listeners to get from this project?

JO: I want people to get good feelings from this music. I hope this album will help shed some light on the talent that exists here in Pittsburgh. I just want people to enjoy it. 

John, via email, added, "I'm grateful for the cooperation and enthusiasm I received from all the artists involved with this album. I'd like to thank them for their time, effort, and willingness to contribute a piece of themselves to this project. I encourage any listeners to check out the players on this album and the music they make."

Chalk Dinosaur and Friends will be released on Jan. 25. Check back for a review of the full album and be sure to see John in action at the Rex Theater on Jan. 26.

Single Premier: Chalk Dinosaur ft. Dhruva Krishna – "Dhruvasaur"

Album artwork by Pierce Marratto.

Music is about community, and there's no better representation of that than musical collaboration. Chalk Dinosaur has based its entire upcoming release, Chalk Dinosaur and Friends, on that concept and "Dhruvasaur," the record's second single, is a shining example of how successful collaboration can be. 

The aptly-named "Dhruvasaur" features East End Mile and Manic Soul drummer Dhruva Krishna on percussion and guitar. He and John O'Hallaron, the Pittsburgh native behind Chalk Dinosaur, met at FarmLammaJamma over the summer and wrote the song together from the first bar to the last, glistening chord. The song is an instant ear worm, but it's sneaky; you won't realize how embedded in your brain its catchy, subtle melody has become until you're unconsciously humming it in the shower. 

The relaxed tempo of guitar sounds punctuated by tambourine and airy cymbal shots will make you long for hazy, lazy summer nights. Hear the single on SoundCloud now and keep your eyes peeled and ears open for Chalk Dinosaur and Friends, out Jan. 25.

Album Review: Buffalo Rose - Red Wagon EP

Photo by Sam Suter.

This time of year can be stressful. Between holidays, work deadlines, finals and family, sometimes it's hard to find the space to breathe and be by yourself. Buffalo Rose's newest EP, Red Wagon, out Nov. 19 provides the perfect soundtrack to life's few still moments. Slyly strummed acoustic guitars, lightly brushed drums and organic-sounding harmonies blend like cream in coffee to bring comfort to winter's cold, dark days.

That's not to say this is merely a winter record, however. The EP's four songs, all written by guitarist and singer Shane McLaughling, bear no spark of seasonality – only easily-relatable lyrics about finding and losing love, not knowing your place and seeking solace in friends and whiskey. At times the words can feel affectatious, but backed by such sincere vocals and deliberate melody, it's impossible not to be swept away. 

McLaughin's guitar is steady and strong, though it never overpowers the delicacy of the vocals on ballads like "Momma Have Mercy" and "Cigarettes and Whiskey." It's supported by understated percussion performed by Jules Coulson and embellished by Bryce Rabideau's mandolin.

The earthy, organic vocal harmonies are really what make Red Wagon standout. McLaughlin's unornamented singing is given depth by the addition of Lucy Clabby and Mariko Reid. The three sing superbly together, no one ever stealing another's thunder. Rather, the vocal lines merge form one solid, strong sound, like the branches of three trees wound together. This is felt most keenly on the EP's opening track, "I Can Get High."

The split between ballads and peppier tunes is 50/50, but even on the more upbeat tracks, the soft sounds, homogenous vocals and steady rhythms are comfortable enough to really sink into. It's a quick, effortless listen, which makes it ideal for digesting during a few moments alone. Find a comfortable chair, silence your phone and pour a hot drink (maybe with a little whiskey) and enjoy an early gift from Buffalo Rose.

Red Wagon is available on Spotify, Bandcamp and iTunes. The first 100 copies of the EP come with a little something special. See Buffalo Rose tonight at James Street Gastropub and Speakeasy!

Interview: Elyse Louise of Ladies Night

Saxophonist Elyse Louise noticed something missing from funk – ladies. That's where she saw an opportunity. The Pittsburgh native, who just returned state-side from a residency in Qatar, formed Ladies Night, a female-fronted funk band that fills the space Louise saw in the genre. Now her band is embarking on a mini tour, bringing the funk to Pittsburgh at James Street Gastropub & Speakeasy on Saturday, Sept. 17.

Found Sound: Welcome back to the States! What were you up to in Qatar?

Elyse Louise: I was playing a residency at a hotel. I think I'm going to be going back to Doha pretty soon, actually. I kind of like it there. I like that I don't have to think about all of the regular-world things, so it's kind of like a music retreat for me. I just wake up and practice and go to the gig.

FS: How'd you get started in music?

EL: I started playing in middle school, and then I got serious about it in college when I was studying classical saxophone at Duquesne. And then I started studying jazz with Eric DeFade at CMU. I started playing cruise ships after college, and that was great. I just really wanted to make my own band, because all these cruise ships I played, I was the only girl in everything. And I wanted to promote women in music.

FS: How did you get hooked up with the other women in Ladies Night?

EL: It's an eight-piece band and we have three female horns. I just kind of looked online. I was trying to find the best people. And, you know, as far as the rhythm section, those are all guys that I worked with in Pittsburgh. But then the horns, I didn't know any girls that played trombone or trumpet, so I had to just kind of go online and see if anyone I knew knew somebody. I got connected with [trombone] Natalie Cressman, and she's awesome. And [trumpet] Lessie Vonner is also great. It was pretty lucky.

FS: How long has Ladies Night been playing together?

EL: I started the band in September. Almost a year now, and I'm just trying to grow it every time I book shows. At first it was like, get through a couple Pittsburgh shows. And now it's like, get through a couple small, mini tours. And then later I'm hoping to do larger tours. It's kind of a learning experience, you know?

FS: And how's it been going?

EL: Oh, it's been great! The shows in Pittsburgh were really successful. And this one coming up, as far as the Facebook event goes, it seems like it's going to be even bigger.

FS: What can your fans and newcomers to the band expect on your mini tour?

EL: We're actually starting in New York and going down to Pittsburgh and then over to Indiana, Pa. We're playing mostly originals and then some covers of some of my favorite artists, like Earth, Wind & Fire. We're covering a Curtis Mayfield tune and some Stevie Wonder. You've got to get Stevie Wonder in there. Classic.

FS: Any plans for Ladies Night to release an album?

EL: I need to be in the country for long enough to do that. I definitely need to do that soon. I was hoping to get it done by the end of this year, but if I go back to Doha, I guess it'll have to be in January. I guess the official answer is: hopefully soon.

FS: Excited for the mini tour in the meantime?

EL: Oh yeah. Super excited. I just rehearsed the horn section last night and it was really efficient and tight and great. It's going to be awesome.

The Ladies Night show at James Street starts at 8 p.m. on Sept. 17, so don't miss your chance to check out the women of funk on their mini tour! 

Album Preview: I Had A Wonderful Time - Eastend Mile

'I Had A Wonderful Time' will be available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music, Tidal, and bandcamp on Sept. 10.

Eastend Mile works hard, that much is clear. The four-piece jazz fusion outfit has been chipping away at their second album, I Had a Wonderful Time, since November of 2015, all the while playing gigs, holding down jobs, earning degrees and honing their craft. But plenty of bands, no matter how hard-working, fall victim to the sophomore slump - a second effort that takes more risks, tries new sounds, shakes things up, but ultimately falls flat. 

That hard work, in conjunction with a new rhythm section, new tricks and a city full of collaborators, kept Eastend Mile from falling victim to that second-album flop and pushed the group into fresh and exciting musical territory.

Defining fusion is always tricky, but I Had a Wonderful Time only mystifies the moniker more. The foursome have their fingers in so many genres it's impossible to ascribe them to just one.

"Blood Moon," the album's first single, feels very much like jazz, geometric and driving. Percussionist Dhruva Krishna propels his bandmates through the song, relentlessly dispensing the beat as he explores every inch of his kit. Saxophonist Roger Romero leads the listener through a melody reminiscent of Pittsburgh's city streets, winding and gritty with blind corners and steep descents, some unexpected, but all gratifying. 

But "Blood Moon" is just one of 12 tracks on the album, and thus just one of 12 distinctly different sounds Eastend Mile has created. "15 Seconds to Move" is immersive and intricate. "First Things First," lush and layered. And "Dirty Pools" would sound right at home with Seatbelts on the "Cowboy Bebop" soundtrack. 

"Overdrive" highlights Christoffer Thygesen's solid, stoic bass style in an improvised call and response with Romero. Keyboardist Caleb Lombardi slips in and out between them with Samba-style piano licks. 

Lombardi's keyboards find their home along side Mariko Reid's sweet vocals on "Twisted," a beautiful, soulful love song, threaded with strings and rich harmonies that serves as a reminder that it truly takes a village. "The album is almost a Pittsburgh album, with the amount of Pittsburgh art that's on it," Thygesen told Found Sound.

I Had a Wonderful Time is full of collaborators that enliven the album and provide even more sonic diversity. Guitarist Shane McLaughlin shreds in his solo on "Jungle Cat." Local hip hop artist Yury provides vocals for "Re:Questlove" and Rich Robbins raps over pure jazz on "I'm the Realest." Even Lombardi's tattoo artist had a hand in the single artwork, according to Thygesen. 

A host of collaborators, a glut of genres and a surplus of styles can make it hard to pin down exactly what Eastend Mile set out to sound like on their second LP, but the musical mélange leaves even more to love. Album three may bring a stronger sense of self to the band, but until then, listeners can enjoy a little bit of everything. 

Eastend Mile is debuting I Had a Wonderful Time at they album release party presented by Found Sound on Satruday, Sept. 10 in the newly-reopened James Street Ballroom. 

Editorial Note: Eastend Mile's Dhruva Krishna and Roger Romero are both part of the Found Sound team, but were not influential in the impartiality of this preview. That said, we're really proud of their kickass contribution to Pittsburgh music.

Interview: Christoffer "Tiggy" Thygesen of Eastend Mile

Image courtesy of YouTube.

Yes. I mean, art is always something that I feel you can keep on perfecting.  I feel like no artist will ever tell you their product is perfect. And I'm not about to tell you that it is, 'cause it's not. But I'm very proud of what we've produced. It's definitely the biggest creative endeavor I've done to date in my life. We recorded them in November, so it's been almost a year since this endeavor started. Even longer if you consider the phase of writing the songs. I definitely means a lot to me. Not just because of the developments and the feedback we've gotten, like this moon thing or people telling us it's good. It means a lot to me sentimentally and emotionally. 

Christoffer "Tiggy" Thygesen is having a big year. He's wrapping up his math degree at Carnegie Mellon University after a summer internship at Square, he was sent to Shanghai to compete at an international Hearthstone video game competition and his band, Eastend Mile, is releasing its new album, I Had A Wonderful Time, next week with a release show at James Street Ballroom. 

Tiggy, fresh off of a flight from his home in California, talked us through the excitement of releasing a new album, fighting his way through bad piano lessons and games of League of Legends and how it feels to have your music sent to the moon.

How long have you been playing the bass?

I've been playing bass guitar since seventh grade, but I picked up the upright bass in the fourth grade for the school orchestra. I can't remember why I picked the bass, but it was the unique, big one, so I like to think that's why. I was classical trained on the piano starting in first to fifth grade or so. But I hated my teacher. In fact, I wanted to quit for the longest time because I wasn't having any fun with my lessons and my mom said if I scored well on the standardized music theory tests that they offer, I could quit. And I got a stupid high score, so she had to let me quit. Otherwise I would throw a fit.

So, how did you get interested in jazz?

They had jazz band programs at my schools in middle school and high school, so I played in all of those in, like, sixth through twelfth grade. We would get to play songs that sometimes I could really have cared less about, but there were some of them that really stuck with me. I really liked covering Weather Report particularly. I think we did this in seventh grade. We covered "Birdland" by Weather Report. That was pretty big for me. This is going to sound pretty cliche,  but I did enjoy playing "Girl From Ipanema." That's a good song, but I guess that song's kind of everywhere. Maybe less so the Weather Report one, unless you're into jazz. I feel like I got exposed to a lot of things, whether I wanted to or not. Or at least my ear got exposed at an early age, which is good, because I definitely appreciate that stuff a lot more now. And my appreciation has only gone up in the time I've been playing.

Jazz bass is its own beast.

Yes. I also took lessons. I'm not sure they were really jazz lessons, but we had some lesson where it was specifically about jazz-related or blues things. I had bass guitar lessons with this vocal and guitar teacher. He was the brother of my old bass teacher - it's very complicated. But he ended up facilitating my rock band that I had in high school to record out demo tracks. He had a home studio, which was really cool He's definitely the reason I got excited about music again. I played in a bunch of ragtag bands through his programs and his lessons with other kids I knew that took his lessons. He had rock camps every summer... I would always get to meet cool instrumentalists through his program. 

You were in a rock band in high school?

Yes. Well. Ok. I had a rock band. I joined forces with my vocalist and my guitarist and my drummer for an AP Lit presentation on Invisible Man, the book. I wasn't even in the class. They just needed to do a presentation and I was like, "Sure, I'll play bass!" I think we played "Short Skirt, Long Jacket" [by Cake, but the lyrics were about Invisible Man somehow. I haven't even read the book, so I don't even know what the funny parts are, but I got to play the fun bass line. We decide, you know, we've got to do Battle of the Bands. But we suck. So we ended up linking up with this other guitarist that we were all friends with who could shred way harder than any of us. We got fourth place. It was out of probably around, I'd say over 10 acts. I don't remember how many there were. I remember being disappointed. Our guitarist got a concussion the fay before and he ended up sitting down in the middle of the performance. We prepared this whole medley of Beck songs that we never played. 

Do you write music too?

Yes. I mean, in my rock band I helped with the writing process, and I still help with the writing process in Eastend Mile, actually. I would usually say that - this is for most cases - that [pianist] Caleb [Lombardi] or [saxophonist] Roger [Romero] comes with just some basic idea of their part. And we just figure it out from there. People just start throwing in stuff and layering stuff. We see what sticks, but people usually figure out their own parts. People rarely tell each other what to play and it just somehow gets to where it gets and sounds cohesive, which is pretty, pretty amazing. Usually, the story is that one guy's got the idea and he kind of tells everybody else what his vision is, but that's not really the case [in Eastend Mile]. At most, someone is only running 40 percent of the show at any given time.

How long have you guys been playing together?

We've been playing together since the end of last January, beginning of last February. So, I guess it's been a little over a year and a half. Caleb and Rog had the group before [percussionist] Dhruva [Krishna] and I joined. They recorded an eight-track album, but then the bassist had to go to the Navy. The drummer moved half way across the country and they just went M.I.A. Incommunicado. Caleb and Roger were all, "We're not going to just let this die." They wanted to play in the band and they revived it by bringing us on. So now we reinterpret basically all of the tracks off the old album in our new style and we tack on all of this other stuff that we've done since them. At this point, honestly in terms of what we actually like the play and do, the new stuff vastly outweighs what we had beforehand. We've made a lot of progress in this year and a half.

Tell us a bit about the new album.

It's called I Had a Wonderful Time, which is actually a quote of yours truly. I'm not sure I can really delve into the origins of this too much, 'caue we'd rather have it shrouded in mystery. It's just some night of mischievous deeds ended up with me saying that at the end of the night. Let's just leave it at that. We recorded the tracks in November, when we did all the tracking, essentially. We edited just, like, pretty sparingly in post compared the amount of sounds we brought. We recorded in the studio in four days. We recorded in the Carnegie Mellon studio, an that's actually how we got linked up with this Moon Arts thing. The single, "Blood Moon," is going to the moon.

CMU Robotics is doing the Lunar X prize and there's this Moon Arts project that is kind of going along with it. It's like a capsule of arts from Pittsburgh. It's going with this rover to the moon to put these arts on the moon for artistic reasons. Like token of humanity, or whatever. And the guy who runs the CMU studios, Riccardo Shulz, unilaterally submitted our single, because he was there when we recorded it. And I remember him saying that he liked it, but didn't really think too much of it. I just took it as a compliment and left it at that. But then he notified us a couple months later that he had sent it off to this project to get approved, and then we heard a couple weeks later that it was approved. And so, this means, I guess, the wave forms are being engraved in titanium concentric spirals on this little capsule and being fired to the moon.

You're going to the moon! That's amazing!

That's what I think. I think it's the craziest thing that's ever happened. The way I like to phrase it, is that in the likely case of nuclear armageddon, our music outlives that of Beyonce. Yeah, I'm pretty happy about that. 

The excitement I had from that was, like, doubled down, because the weekend we heard that that was approved, I qualified for this video game tournament. I played in a Hearthstone tournament. It's a virtual card game developed by Blizzard, who's the maker of World of Warcraft, Starcraft Diablo, those games. And yeah, there was this China vs. U.S. collegiate tournament and me and two of my buddies that I played with during the semester, we got seeded into this tournament. We took first place in the qualifier. So we got flown, all expenses paid, to Shanghai, China. It was amazing. We ended up losing in the quarter finals. That was the first round of play once we got there, but we got pretty unlucky, I think it's safe to say.

I've played on the Carnegie Mellon League of Legends team every year I've been a student and we've always been, I think, safe to say the No. 1 or No. 2 team in the Eastern Quadrant of North America, but we just choke in the playoffs and never really make it past the quarter finals. Which is kind of a bummer. Those prize pools are pretty big and I could use some money to actually put my money where my mouth is for all this time I've wasted getting good at video games.

So, are there any bassists you admire?

Plenty, actually. I just say Hiatus Kaiyote at Outside Lands and I have never seen a tighter rhythm section in my life. Lettuce - I saw them at Outside Lands. If I could go back in time, I would be saying Roger Waters or John Paul Jones, but they're not really innovating right now. I would say in terms of bassists right now, it would be Mike League of Snarky Puppy. He's the mastermind of that whole shindig and I think it's some of the most next-level jazz fusion stuff I've ever heard. 

I'm definitely glad I picked bass as an interment. I feel like it's the unholy marriage of drums and guitar. You can be either one and both at the same time. You have control over the groove and the rhythm, the feel and the low end. And you can be really percussive. But you can also be really melodic and harmonic and play really interesting stuff. I'm really of the opinion that with music, less is more. And I definitely think that the bass is a very good instrument for someone with that kind of perspective. For me, when it comes to writing music and expressing myself musically, it's not really about trying to show off what I can say. It's really about telling a story. 

What's a song on the new record that you felt like you really nailed that on? Or one you like playing?

I'm not really sure this is demonstrative of that point, but I like playing "Overdrive," which is the penultimate track on the album. The process of writing the song was really fun. That song came together in a very organic way that kind of amazes me. It started out with myself and Caleb, jamming in Kresge, which is an auditorium in the CMU fine arts building. He was on the piano and I had my bass with a little practice amp and he started playing this six-chord progression. I ended up playing along to the roots of it and we decided that was a good starting point. We decided we needed some other bit that could mash up with that, and I guess I came up with the B section of the song. We met up with the other guys at the net practice and while we were writing, Dhruva came up with the awesome drum beat that he plays on that song and Roger came out with some pretty sweet licks. It just started coming together.

Are you happy with the new record?

Yes. I mean, all art is always something that I feel you can keep on perfecting. I feel like no artist will ever tell you their product is perfect. And I'm not about to tell you it is, 'cause its not. But I'm very proud of what we've produced. It definitely means a lot to me. Not just because of the developments and the feedback we've gotten, like this moon thing or people telling us it's good. It means a lot to me sentimentally.

Hear Eastend Mile's new album at their Album Release Party on Sept. 10 at the James Street Ballroom and keep an eye out for Found Sound's review. For now, check out the video for their single "Blood Moon."

Interview: Kevin Saftner of James Street Gastropub & Speakeasy

Image courtesy of Kevin Saftner.

James Street Gastropub needs your help. The iconic North Side jazz spot, home now to three floors full of delicious food, drink and music (and more than a few Found Sound shows), was hit with a noise complaint from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) that could shut the venue down. Kevin Saftner, who's family owns James Street and who runs the front of the house, is passionate about making sure that doesn't happen.

"We love Pittsburgh music and we want to do everything we can to remain a part of it!" reads the IndieGogo site dedicated to saving James Street. The campaign has already raised over $6,500, but even with all of the support already mounting behind the Gastropub, Saftner says it'll take a lot more to #SaveJamesStreet.   

So, you've passed your goal of $5,000, but you need $30,000.

Approximately $30,000. We know for the air conditioning units, it's going to be over $15,000. The electric is going to be over $5,000. And then the rest is we're guessing for soundproofing.

And that's all for the ballroom on the third floor of James Street?

Yeah, that's it. Just up there. That's the only place we have any sound issues. Because there's no air conditioning except to open the windows, you know? And even if they're closed, sound still gets out a little bit.

When did you learn you had an issue?

About a year, a year and a half ago, I believe was the first time we had anybody come around and talk to us from the PLCB.

Have you taken any steps to since then to deal with it?

Yeah. So, we have about 10 windows up there. In the winter we keep them all boarded up and soundproofed. In the summer we open two windows, just because it would get so insanely hot up there if we didn't. And then we leave all of the other ones boarded up so that we can try to keep some sound from resonating out, more or less.

Is the area residential?

Yeah, it's residential. It's so weird how the law works. I don't even know if zoning would matter, honestly. Anywhere that has a liquor license, it's illegal to have amplified sound come out.

Seriously?

Everywhere. So if you walk past a bar, and the bar doors open and you hear the TV outside, it is in fact illegal in the state of Pennsylvania. The PLCB can site you. And that is literally the law we're getting busted with. And from what we were told, it was put on the books in the '30s and it was called an anti-enticement law. It was to stop women from hearing music and wanting to go into bars. From what I've been told, it's like the same sort of thing as like, eight women can't live in a house together because it's a brothel.

Just antiquated.

Yeah, just antiquated laws is pretty much what it is.

So, the plan is soundproofing, AC and electrical work?

That's really all we need to do to get it back up and running. Once that's in, it'll pretty much be a fully-enclosed box in there and we shouldn't have to worry about anything anymore.

Now that you’ve met your $5,000 IndieGogo goal, do you know where the rest of the money is going to come from?

We are going to do some fundraiser shows. [Last] Saturday we [had] a Silent Disco. As soon as this happened I was immediately like, "We're doing a Silent Disco. We have to have this happen." We'll probably do some more of those, since we won't be able to do much up there for a while.

We're doing a jazz jam on Aug. 10. August 14 we're doing a Sunday Funday where just a bunch of some of my favorite bands and some of my friends for a long time are playing. Dave DiCello is a really amazing photographer. He's doing a gallery. That's going to be Aug. 18. He does some crazy stuff. He does some skyline photos I'm sure you've seen of crazy lighting going into the city. Yeah, he's awesome.

So, how long have you been involved at James Street?

It's my family's business. So, December, 2011 is when we opened up. 

Was music always the driving force behind it?

You know, it wasn't at first. At first my mom wanted to just be a restaurant, just the main floor. But everybody that came in just kept talking about James Street Tavern and what it was from the '80s to the early 2000s with all the jazz music there and all of the famous musicians and celebrities. Everybody just really talked it up.

So she quickly realized that we needed to start doing music. We started having music downstairs in the speakeasy a couple nights a week. And then it just exploded and just kept getting bigger and bigger. And then it fully expanded. I've taken over running the whole business in the front of the house.

You like it?

I love it. I went to school for business. I've been in the restaurant and music industry since I was like 15. So it was just, like, second-nature to me. 

What do you think, aside from the history, makes James Street so special as a venue?

I think our diversity there. I mean, everybody always thinks of us as a jazz place. But now with Found Sound doing shows there and Ziggy Sawdust doing shows there and bands from out of town contacting me, Grey Area has shows there. I mean, we do Drag Brunch there. We have Pub Club, which is like a Christian drinking hangout session. We have burlesque. We just have so many different things. I don't think there's another venue in the city that has the diversity that we have. It's a very diverse crowd every night.

Is that important to you?

Oh yeah. Absolutely. It's just more fun that way.

So, aside from continuing to donate to the IndieGogo and showing up to these fundraisers, what can people do to help you? It really seems like Pittsburgh has kind of come behind you to make it happen.

The biggest thing is just everybody being aware of what's going on and to be aware of some of these laws. People have been reaching out to me about wanting to start petitions or wanting to change this law and things like that, which I would love to see happen. But just as long as people keep the dialogue going and talking about it and realizing, how incredibly unjust this is. I mean, it's been a music venue for 30-some years. The same thing has been happening forever.

It shut down as the James Street Tavern in the early 2000s, so it was closed for about 10 years as a major music venue. Whenever we moved there, people were complaining about prostitutes having sex in our parking lot every night. There were literally heroin needles all around the back area. There are so many great people doing great things [in the North Side]. So many awesome groups over there doing so much, and we're definitely a part of all of those people doing all these things.

We don't see the prostitutes over there having sex any more. We don't see heroin needles laying on our block. And somebody's going to get mad now that we're having music? What would people prefer? Those prostitutes coming back and taking over the corner or us having culture? That’s all that we want to get across. We are trying to look at ourselves as a cultural hub that's doing good for the community, not bad.

Do you know of anybody else that's been hit with these laws?

I know that the Rex has had issues. I don't know if they've ever been cited or enforced, but I know that they've had issues. Spirit also has.

Why do you think they came after you? Of all of the places in the city?

It's bad luck. That's all. We've never had any issues. We don't have, like, younger kids coming in. We're a little bit of an older place, so it's not like we've got under-aged kids coming in and trying to sneak drinks or do bad stuff. We've never had any bar fights really. We've never had any issues. It's a jazz club. You know? There's not anything crazy going on there, but it just must be bad luck. That's all there is to it. 

So, is there a deadline for you to get this done?

We have a self-imposed deadline of Sept. 1, because that's kind of when the fall shows start. So we need to be prepared for that. We work with a bunch of different companies as well, and we need to be ready for them, or else they're going to take their shows somewhere else. We're a business that anticipates and employs people for three floors. Right now we have two floors, so our employees are not working as much. You know, we're going to have to lay people off and get people back in and then re-staff and that's something that, as a family business, would be very difficult for us to justify being able to do. So we need that third floor Sept. 1. 

Help Kevin #SaveJamesStreet by donating to the IndieGogo and checking out the upcoming James Street Gastropub & Speakeasy fundraisers.

Shakey Graves @ Mr. Smalls - 7/15/16

While the pews that once packed Mr. Smalls are long gone, Mass was in session on Friday, July 18 in the old Catholic church-turned-music venue. Sweaty bodies swayed, arms raised to the rafters, as the sold-out crowd received the service, the words falling upon them from on high.

"It's a constant fucking and being fucked," Shakey Graves preached. Life, he said, is too short to worry about those you've wronged.

Admittedly, Shakey's no great philosopher. "I'm chock full of horrible advice," he said. But from the moment he stepped on stage, backed by two glowing Edison bulbs and a marquee sign fit for the front of a two-pump roadside gas station, the audience was enraptured. 

Streets of Laredo, a fun five-piece outfit with roots in Brooklyn and New Zealand, prepared the congregation with a blend of upbeat summery jams and subtle near-ballads. Thumping synth bass meshed with punchy horns and simple melodies summoned a kind of "windows down on a sunny day" sensation on their up-tempo tunes. The same formula, when applied to the slower songs, fell flat. 

Once the Streets of Laredo had cleared, Alejandro Rose-Garcia, better known as Shakey Graves, emerged alone. He smiled and strutted around the smoke-filled stage, strumming his guitar. He created loops with his instrument and jumped from stage left to center in a single, twisting bound. Suddenly, with a stick hanging from his mouth like a stogie, he was behind the drums, pounding on floor toms that shook the building. The man was everywhere. And he was just warming up.

Without uttering a single word, he had the audience in worship. When he finally did begin to sing, his Southern charm and earnest lyrics drove home his universal magnetism. Shakey proselytized and each sentiment was met with an unspoken "amen."

He was eventually joined by a bassist, drummer and another guitarist, but somehow the addition of more musicians didn't add up to more sound. Shakey's one-man band was as just powerful as the quartet, though it didn't reach the same grizzly, gnarled depths. Solos and jam sessions moved deftly into hard rock territory before sweeping swiftly back into Americana.

The audience, imbued with the holy spirit of too much PBR, spat back every lyric to "The Perfect Parts" and clapped in perfect time to "Dearly Departed." Each song was spliced with sermons. Loving your hometown. Being kind when you can. The thrill of a Nissan Maxima. Shakey covered it all, each tune blending seamlessly into the next. The music may have lacked diversity, only drifting away from the familiar for those brief genre-bending jams but hey, if it ain't broke, right?

The night ended after an encore on a resounding major chord, filling the sacred space with one last jolt of hope and excitement. Shakey's flock poured from the church onto the streets of Millvale renewed. Hallelujah.