tag:ronspencerband.com,2005:/blogs/blog-6adc25f6-72f6-403c-af41-794f334fd346Blog2022-05-15T17:39:34-12:00Ron Spencer Bandfalsetag:ronspencerband.com,2005:Post/61480822018-08-03T12:00:00-12:002022-03-15T22:43:13-12:00RSB - Into The Blue-"The Inside Story"
<p>Hi Everyone! I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted here to our site, but this is certainly blog-worthy news! We have been working round the clock to finish up our new CD, Into The blue. It's scheduled to drop Labor Day Weekend. We should have it for our show at Harpoon Eddie's on Aug. 31 and certainly for our show at the Blues In The Bay fest in Alex Bay on Sat. Sept. 1st at 6pm.</p>
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">We are excited to share our latest music with all of you. It's been a long time coming, but we feel it will be well worth the wait. This is our best effort yet and for the first time we will be including a couple of cover songs along with eight RSB originals. We've got something for everyone here - Chicago style shuffle, 60's Stax style r&b, up-tempo boogie, swamp blues, T-Bone Walker inspired blues, rockers and a New Orleans second-liner. Recorded to analog tape to get that old school vibe-this is our best sounding record yet!</span></p>
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">Recorded at Moletrax Studio here in Syracuse, NY, by Jeff Moleski. We tracked in the studios' huge tracking room live with the whole band with no headphones! Call us brave or foolish, but we wanted to try to get that live feel of the band playing off of each other. I think the results bear this out. This is not to say that we didn't fix some 'oops moments' and add other instruments in the mix, but the basic rhythm tracks and many of the solos you will be hearing are live and in the moment.! We opted to use the take that had the 'vibe' regardless of a few minor mistakes. 'Perfectly flawed' is what I call it!</span></p>
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">Stay tuned for more of the inside story behind 'RSB-Into the Blue'!</span></p>
Ron Spencer Bandtag:ronspencerband.com,2005:Post/61480812014-02-21T12:00:00-12:002014-02-21T13:28:25-12:00Stories From The Road
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;"><span style="color:#ffffff">Stories From the Road</span></div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;"><span style="color:#ffffff"> RSB has had a serious run of gigs in the past two weeks! Bookended between shows at two of our favorite places to play in CNY - Shifty's and the Green Gate, we were also in Auburn at CC's, Balloons in Ellicottville and The Columbia in Utica. Whoooh! It was great to play for old friends and new friends alike! </span></div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;"><span style="color:#ffffff">We're getting good reviews on Soul Reason, our new CD, and it feels like the live shows have pumped up a notch! The other night, (I can't remember where!) during one of Ron's solos, he did something that I have never heard him play before and, outta the blue, Ross & Jay immediately catch on and start responding to Ron's lick! WITHOUT LOOKING AT EACH OTHER!!!!!!! That is what I LOVE about this band! It is soooo tight and I get to listen all night! </span></div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;"><span style="color:#ffffff">Hey, see you at the next show!</span></div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;"><span style="color:#ffffff">Mark</span></div>
Ron Spencer Bandtag:ronspencerband.com,2005:Post/61480802013-07-09T12:00:00-12:002022-02-06T02:42:57-12:00IT'S A BOY!!!
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">Well, actually it's a girl...sorta. After 9 months(honest!) we're proud to announce the arrival of our new CD, Soul Reason! The title is a play on words that just came to me. I told Mark(Gibson) "I have an assignment; I wrote music and a title, 'Soul Reason', it means that the woman in your in life is your " Soul Reason" for living, etc. It needs lyrics and a melody." He turned in his assignment and got an A+. Now that's a song writing partnership!</span></p>
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">We're very proud of this new set of songs. Especially because they are ALL originals. We feel we've raised the bar for ourselves and believe these to be on par with the best of what's being recorded today. There's a little somethin' here for everyone; from the Memphis groove of the title track to the swamp blues of "You Ain't Gone" (some of Mark's best writing to date!), to the uptown B.B.King style shuffle, Workin' On Her Sins" (another play on words), to the rockabilly rocker, "Ain't Got Nothin'" and to the jump blues of "Lookin' For A Woman". I believe we've covered a lot of stylistic ground here without losing that special somethin' that our fans have come to expect from us. </span></p>
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">Once again we called on a few of our talented friends to help us out and even added some new ones, too! Mick Walker, who has played guitar with some of CNY's finest bands, Downchild, Joe Whiting, the Flashcubes, Marilyn's Chamber, Stroke, and The Shufflin' Hungarians, to name just a few, has also been engineering/producing bands for many years. I especially dug his production work on the Gonstermachers CD. He got a really great 'live' sound that we were looking for. </span></p>
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">Last September our good friends, Shirley Woodcock-Kolb and her husband Larry were kind enough to invite us into their country home to record the basic tracks to the songs. It's an old country store that they converted to a house with very tall ceilings and wood everywhere! The acoustics are amazing and we knew it would help us get that 'live' sound we were searching for. We recorded the vocals, drums, bass and guitar all live until we got '<em>the </em>take' over two days with Mick manning the recording gear. Shirley and Larry were gracious hosts and even fed us! </span></p>
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">Over the following months we added more guitar, keyboards courtesy of Mark Nanni from Los Blancos, and Dan 'Cato' Eaton added some inspired horn work. Mick was also called upon to contribute rhythm guitar to a couple of songs. Mick was the magic ingredient to our blues stew. His great ear, objective viewpoint and sense of humor kept us on track to making this project a success.</span></p>
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">So enough talking already. Where and when can you get your hands on this highly anticipated release you say? Well, It'll be in our hot little hands on July 24th. But most importantly; where can you get it? It'll be available at all of our gigs and of course you'll have the benefit of here those songs performed live by your truly! Locally, Sound Garden will be stocking it and we'll keep you updated as to when it'll be available at CD Baby, Amazon and ITunes. </span></p>
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">Watch for CD release party news in the near future featuring special guests! Meanwhile, have a great summer, come on out and see us in Clayton, Auburn, Sylvan Beach and of course A-Bay! </span><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/394534/e312b575bfacc411b15fd72d4f2a9362fd9949ed/original/soul-reason-cov-jpg.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NTAweDQzNCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="434" width="500" /> </p>
Ron Spencer Bandtag:ronspencerband.com,2005:Post/61480792013-03-25T12:00:00-12:002013-03-25T16:26:43-12:00NEW SONG--FREE DOWNLOAD!!!
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">We've just added a new song, <em><strong>Ain't Got Nothin'</strong></em>, to our audio page from our upcoming CD, <em><strong>Soul Reason</strong></em>, due out May 25th! We're offering free downloads of this song! Yes, that's right FREE!!! </span></p>
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">We're excited about heading down the home stretch with this project. Our goal was to set the bar even higher this time around. We believe the songs are our best yet and Mark is destined to become a songwriting force in the blues/roots field. With Mick Walker in the engineer/ co-producer chair, the production values are a perfect compliment to these new songs.</span></p>
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">So, download <em><strong>Ain't Got Nothin'</strong></em> on us, it's a good 'un and... we've got more where that came from!!</span></p>
Ron Spencer Bandtag:ronspencerband.com,2005:Post/61480782013-02-12T12:00:00-12:002013-02-12T16:44:57-12:00NEW CD PROGRESS REPORT!
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">Our new CD is comin' along great! Another set of all-original material, again exploring the blues-based American roots styles that are part of our musical DNA. After recording the basic tracks in a general store built in the 1800s where we got an amazing sound, we're now adding the icing on the proverbial cake. Mick Walker (Little Georgie & the Shufflin' Hungarians, Joe Whiting & the Bandit Band and Marilyn's Chamber) is manning the recording desk and lending his finely tuned ear. Mark Nanni (Los Blancos) has added his keyboard wizardry and Dan "Cato" Eaton has blown some honkin' sax, really fleshing these songs out as we had originally envisioned them. Stay tuned for more updates!</span></p>
Ron Spencer Bandtag:ronspencerband.com,2005:Post/61480772012-11-13T12:00:00-12:002012-11-13T13:31:30-12:00Oh, Canada....!
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">Well, we're home from Canada! Petersborough, Ontario, to be exact. We had a great gig at the Showplace Events Theatre on 11\6 and rumor has it that we will be going back! I was tickled pink with our Canadian audience. They made us feel right at home and that just got us fired up! Ron was getting standing ovations after his solos! Needless to say, Jay and RossMoe were tight as...... Well, to steal a line from Muddy Waters: they were "a bulldog hug a hound" tight! </span></p>
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<span style="color:#ffffff">We were just getting started at the end of the gig (two 50 minute sets plus an encore) so we hiked for a grueling 30 seconds back to our hotel, retired to Jay's room, had some liquid refreshments, and watched the election results on Canadian TV. (Quick aside: I was astounded at how much the Canadians follow and know about our politics!) </span>
<div><span style="color:#ffffff">And speaking of Canadians, I would like to say that from the desk clerk at the hotel ("the nicest hotel room I've ever had" hotel), to the sound guy, Rael (sp?), to the woman who volunteered to mann our CD sales, to the waitress at the breakfast place the next morning, the people we came in contact with were the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. Thank you, Petersborough!</span></div>
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Ron Spencer Bandtag:ronspencerband.com,2005:Post/61480762012-10-29T12:00:00-12:002022-05-11T04:46:21-12:00RSB presses the RECORD button!
<p><span lang="EN">
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">Well, RSB is knee deep in the process of recording our new CD. We spent a weekend recording out at our friends, Shirley and Larry's old general store. Amazing acoustics in that room! We are trying to do it as "live" as possible. The way this band interacts with each other, we needed to make it as close to a real gig as possible. Two long days and more to come! When we recorded "Roller Coaster Blues" Ron was the producer/engineer, doing it on the fly, while also remembering arrangements and, oh yeah, playing guitar. Too many hats! So we enlisted Mick Walker to engineer and produce the recording and he is doing an amazing job. We're hoping to have a ready to go CD by early spring. All "homemade" songs, ranging from blues to soul and rhythm 'n blues. I was rewriting lyrics a few seconds before recording some of the songs! I've been listening to the rough tracks "under the microscope" and once again, I am amazed by the tightness of our rhythm section. Jay and Ross seem to share one brain (although Ross' part is a bit more perverted!). After listening to Jay's bass playing, I wrote him an email saying that it's a good thing I can't pay complete attention to his playing when we're out gigging. I'd probably stop singing in mid-sentence and just stare at him with my mouth open! Ron's rhythm playing is extraordinary. Once again I am humbled to be able to sing in front of these guys. What a privilege and inspiration!</span></p>
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">Thanks for reading!</span></p>
<span style="color:#ffffff">
<p>Mark</p>
</span></span></p>
Ron Spencer Bandtag:ronspencerband.com,2005:Post/61480752012-07-03T12:00:00-12:002022-05-15T17:39:34-12:00Hot Fun In The Summertime!
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">Wow! It is hot here in Central New York - in more ways than one! RSB is busy with some really great shows. We've been invited to play the Quebec City Summer Music Festival on July 12. This is Canada's largest music fest attended by 1.5 million people over eleven days! There's hundreds of acts, including Arrowsmith and Bon Jovi. We're excited and proud to be apart of this huge event. We then drive back home the next day to play our favorite club, Shifty's, that night. We'll be runnin' on adreniline and pumped to play for our fans in the 'Cuse. The next day we showcase our originals at the NYS Rhythm & Blues Fest in Clinton Square @ 3:15pm! I'm tired just thinkin' about it, but excited as hell to represent the 'Cuse in the fests 21st year! We'll be joined by the "unofficial" fifth member of RSB, our good friend, Dan "Cato" Eaton on keys & sax! it's always a blast when Cato plays with us. Also, I'll be inducting my good friend and mentor & rock & roll legend, Jimmy Cavallo, into the CNY Blues Archives Hall Of Fame, right before his set at 2pm. Latter that night Cato & I will be joing Bernie Clark over at the Wescott Theater as part of the festivals "club crawl" series. Four gigs in three days in two different countries.....I better start taking my vitamins NOW!</span></p>
<p><span style="color:#ffffff">Check out the great piece Jack Bocchino did on us in the July issue of Table Hopping. Click on the link and then go to page 14-15 </span></p>
<p><span style="color:#ffffff"><a href="http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1xfno/TableHoppingJuly2012/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffree.yudu.com%2Fitem%2Fdetails%2F550050%2FTable-Hopping-July-2012" data-imported="1"><span style="color:#ffffff">http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1xfno/TableHoppingJuly2012/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffree.yudu.com%2Fitem%2Fdetails%2F550050%2FTable-Hopping-July-2012</span></a></span></p>
Ron Spencer Band