If you’re like me, you have a bunch of songs on your iPod/music collection that you have either never heard before or wouldn’t recognize. I filled up my 60gigger about a year ago, and have since been replacing songs every week. That’s one great thing about the iPod… it allows change and diversity in your music on a whim. Anyhow, I had my iPod on shuffle the other day, something that I haven’t been doing lately… I used to shuffle the songs in order to come across unknown or forgotten songs in my collection, and this time worked like a charm. A song came on that caught my ear and I had to go see who the hell it was.
I stood there for a while, trying to remember where I had come across this particular band before. It took about fifteen minutes before it clicked. This last year when I was on tour with Bo Bice, we had a few shows in Florida, the home state of this week’s Featured Artist, Gasoline Heart.
I can’t recall how I got their Cd, probably grabbed it at a venue somewhere… but I do remember spinning it in the bus and thinking “Coolness!” thus adding it to my iTunes.
In his Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame speech to induct U2, Bruce Springsteen said that “Bands come together by accident, but they don’t stay together by accident.” Gasoline Heart is a great example of that point.
Taken from the band’s MySpace page, here are the band’s origins:
Their bio is quite an interesting read… I would recommend taking a look at it (AFTER reading this article, of course!).
You Know Who You Are, Gasoline Heart’s debut album, was recorded in Chicago with Steve Albini at the helm. Albini has worked with a LOT of major acts, like The Pixies, Nirvana, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Jimmy Page & Robert Plant, and The Breeders… the album had an immediate leg-up.
The song that came on my iPod from Gasoline Heart was “When Big Girls Grow Small.” I was immediately grabbed at the start of the tune by the B3 organ that slides right into the pocket. LOVE that B3 sound. I also totally dig DeFabrizio’s voice here… scratchy, poignant, rough yet tender. He shows his range at interpreting emotions throughout the album, but this song is one of my favorite performances as it leaves him the most vulnerable.
To contrast the sound of “When Big Girls Grow Small,” take a listen to “Steam (A Dried Up Well).” The band cuts loose here, showing their muscle as DeFabrizio sings about coming face to face with a past lover: “I pretend to remember your name / And you sort of remember my face.”
I’m going to guess that this is one of the songs DeFabrizio wrote after his marriage ended, as there are some telling lines about his feelings on love:
And if your heart is broken just let it be
I’m not sure anyone was watching
When the one you’re holding
Let you leave
And the refrain of the chorus describes how many of us feel as we work through the heartbreak:
Take a listen to these two songs below in the Dig-It section.
Gasoline Heart released another album in 2007 titled What Now. This collection of full band and acoustic songs highlights their growth as a band and their ability to strip it all clean… check it out on their MySpace page.
I need to put my iPod on “shuffle” more often. It’s a great way to (re)discover bands like Gasoline Heart. They’ve got an excellent album in You know Who you Are, with a sound and style that will be instantly familiar. Yes, keeping a band together is not an accident, as Springsteen said… it doesn’t matter if the individual members have the same passion for music, they all need to have the same vision of what it means to BE in a band. For Gasoline Heart, they explain it well in their bio, stating that their vision is “… the need to take the chance you thought you never could, go out on a limb, give her one last look, and see where it all leads.”
I like that.
Check it out, pick it up, see a show, and spread the word.
Amazon Search: Gasoline Heart
Your Dig-It Downloads
Download: When Big Girls Grow Small
Download: Steam (A Well Dried Up)
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