Basement What? brings high energy music to North Vernon Saturday
The rock 'n' roll group Basement What? has come a long way since its formation in 1996.
"We have paid our dues," laughed Dave George, a North Vernon resident who is lead vocalist and guitarist for the four-member band that will headline a concert Saturday at the Park Theatre Civic Centre.
The music of Basement What? has been described as everything from country rock to alternative to high energy. George said their biggest influences include Marshall Tucker, Neil Young, Blind Melon, the Beatles and the Doors. The guitar-oriented group has been compared to Train, Fuel and even Elton John.
"We try not to take it too seriously," George said, "but we love playing music,"
George and co-guitarist Nick Young are original members of the group that started with four Ball State University students. Three years ago, bass player Pete Jacobs and drummer Lou Grant were added to the lineup.
"With the new guys, we have blossomed,' said George, a Valparaiso native. The other three members of Basement What? are from Fort Wayne.
George, who is married to the former Jenny Hughes and has a 5-month-old daughter, Grace, says the group plays about 48 shows a year, about half what it used to do.
"We started as a cover band, playing for fraternity and sorority parties at Ball State, then at clubs in Muncie. Then we started playing at other college towns in Indiana," George said. "We wold perform twice a week or more."
Soon, the group began writing and performing its own songs, building a following in Indiana and the surrounding states.
Basement What? recorded and released "U Listen 2 What?" in 2000, a CD that was independently produced. The next year with the new lineup, it put out a second album titled "Basement What?" after being signed by 30th Century Records, a small East coast label. Now the group is in the process of putting together its third album which George said should be ready in six months.
George writes all the lyrics with the rest of the band members working together on the melodies. The songs on the most recently released album rock all right, and so does the group. The music is mostly pop oriented with catchy hooks, strong vocals from George and tight instrumentation. They remind this writer of the Romantics, especially on "My Beer," a song that makes one smile while dancing.
Meanwhile, George says he and his bandmates can't wait to rock the Park Theatre.
"I stopped in to see it one day and my jaw dropped, it is just so beautiful," he said. "I would drive eight hours to play in a place like the Park Theatre, and here it is right in North Vernon."
Accompanying Basement What? on some of their numbers will be keyboardist-harmonica player Pat Eder, a former North Vernon resident who now lives in Cincinnati. Eder also performed with the group in its only previous appearance in North Vernon - at the 2002 St. Mary's Fall Festival. Eder is the uncle of George's wife.
Opening the concert will be Blue Moon, a bluegrass and popular music group featuring Paul and Sherry Castetter along with Kenny Stacey. The Castetters, who live in Jeffersonville, are originally from North Vernon.
Saturday's show starts at 8 p.m. and admission is $8. Tickets will be sold in advance Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Park Theatre box office and will also be available at the door on the night of the concert.