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The Defeated County. Photograph by Allan Crain
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On Sunday morning, I borrowed a small, handmade notebook. It was a tiny thing, one of those cool little books you pick up for a pittance at a local craft show, before it settles into an empty existence at the bottom of a drawer. I tried to give the book some love, starting it out with interviews with the group Mt. Thelonious and the songwriter of The Defeated County, Langen Neubacher. On Monday morning, it appeared that the notebook, only granted new life a day prior, had met a watery fate in the depths of a washing machine.
Tragic on many levels.
But having just conducted the talks a day prior to sitting down at the computer, I feel confident that I can at least give a few highlights and background bits about the new releases by Mt. Thelonious and The Defeated County. Here goes! Wish me luck!
Mt. Thelonious
The members of Mt. Thelonious are Alyssa Avery (violin), Ian Lubar (guitar and vocals) and Mark Wallace (bass). Recently, the group recorded a nine-song disc, featuring eight originals and the production skills of the well-regarded Adam Long. In many respects, the work was created for a very specific reason: a 16-date tour that the band was undertaking this summer. Figuring that they needed a little bit of product to help keep the gas tank full, the band went into Long’s studio with a good idea of the songs they wanted to perform and how they wanted them to sound.
The sessions with Long yielded a CD that did the trick. All along the band’s tour, the group found receptive audiences, folks willing to give a chance to the band in the live setting and via disc. Perhaps not all of their club shows were smashes; as a band touring for the first time, a few slow nights were had, but those were generally offset by busking sessions during the day hours. One in New Orleans, for example, was a highlight, the band pouring out songs on a street corner to an enthusiastic audience.
“The bar set is very low,” Wallace figures. “It’s a wino with a trombone. If you’re better than a wino with a trombone, you’re a success.”
In fact (and, of course, it goes without saying), the band’s got a much-higher ceiling than that. All three are alumni of Webster University’s music program and have been gigging around town in different variations since graduation; both Avery and Wallace, in fact, play in different configurations with Tommy Halloran, featured in this month’s St. Louis Magazine print edition. (A story which you can also read here.) While still hustling after paying gigs in the hometown, Wallace believes that the recent roadwork confirmed for him that, “you can make a living as a musician in St. Louis.”
Of course, that takes hard work and talent and a bit of luck, too. And friends can help. On this count, they’re covered a bit, having intersected with a variety of creative types in their years at Webster, including videographers, filmmakers and web designers. Their site, for instance, is a handsome one, drawn up by a friend; they’ve dipped their toes into promo videos on YouTube, too, crafted by friend. And they’re looking to take the next step on that level shortly, with video work that goes beyond the simple live-with-instruments variety.
There was more to our conversation, a good discussion, at that.
One thing not sketched out here, maybe not even hinted at, is a notion of how the group sounds. That’s always a bit of a challenge, anyway. They, as a group, call it “American Music,” and that’s a fantastic umbrella term for it. But since our own words are soggy and our descriptive powers feel equally soft, we’ll let the digital style of storytelling make the case for us, with this video for the song “Good Day Sir,” filmed by Randy Hall and recorded by Kevin Cheli:
Mt. Thelonious will officially release their self-titled album with a show at Blank Space, 2847 Cherokee, on Sunday, July 14. Tommy Halloran’s Guerilla Swing, featuring Mark Wallace, will open the show, with a 6 p.m. door.
The Defeated County
On Sunday afternoon at exactly 4:08 p.m., Langen Neubacher took the small stage at Cherokee Street’s Livery Company, thanking people for dropping by and listening her new(ish) band’s debut, self-titled EP. An audience of a couple dozen friends and family paused their conversations to dial into the album’s five official tracks (and one hidden sleeper). Upon conclusion, the pizzas arrived and the room’s mood changed again, becoming a more talkative scene.
The day was meant to distribute the band’s disc, which was recorded through crowdfunding via indiegogo.com. From 3 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Neubacher was flitting through the room, first trying a coax a balky grill to life, then thanking everybody in sight, personally and with great enthusiasm, for their help in getting the project off the ground. Not content with simply handing off a disc to investors, she handed one off to all their friends, too, anyone and everyone who was in the room.
In a more-macro sense, this scene illustrated why Neubacher wanted to go the route of releasing a physical copy of her music: the ability to make a personal connection, to hand music to someone in a very literal way. Interestingly, on Sunday she was doing that with just one member of her band, pedal steel player Glenn Burleigh. As she said during her introductory comments, the band’s a large one, seven members in all, and five of them were working jobs on Sunday.
Similarly, when gigs come around, Neubacher figures that about five members are the baseline for taking a gig; that many players fill out the sound to sufficient levels. Ideally, though, she’d have everyone on-hand: herself, Burleigh, bassist Simon Chervitz, drummer Jeremy Shanas, Bryan Ranney on mandolin, Kevin Koehler on guitar and percussion and second vocalist Irene Allen. The interesting harmonies created by the two singers, in fact, go a long way in helping define the group’s sound.
Which we haven’t described well, have we? Let’s go ahead and let YouTube give an assist, with this cut of “I Wonder,” recorded at Plush earlier this year:
The band, The Defeated County, in some respects, came to life through the making of the EP, which was recorded and mixed by Burleigh, with mastering by Tim Gebauer. As members joined the group, they were added to tracks, the group and the songs growing in an interesting, slightly unorthodox fashion, along two interlocking paths. With the disc, Neubacher hopes that the group’s name will become a familiar one on the lips of local music fans. After playing solo for a good while, with the frequent hosting of open mic shows (often in tandem with her good friend Ellen “The Felon” Cook), Neubacher’s wanting to transition firmly into a band aesthetic.
The biggest first step is releasing the new EP, which will officially happen on Saturday, July 13 at 8 p.m. That night, The DC will be joined at Off Broadway by Fire Dog!, Cassie Morgan and the Lonely Pine, Les Gruff and the Billy Goat, as well as MC/performer Ellen the Felon.
We’d tell you more, maybe give you some better quotes, but we can’t. The notes are gone; just refer to the beginning of this piece. Laugh and mock, if you must.
