Back in the 1970's Showdown came together and has been making music and touring ever since. Now in 2013, the band is proud to be releasing another album on January 11, 2013.
Most bands in 2013 are being influenced by artists from the 90s or 2000s but Showdown is still pulling from classic influences such as the British invasion, Led Zeppelin and The Who. Using these influences and their own personal style, Showdown has managed to create a sound that is not only honoring the classics but introducing this type of genre and musical style to an entirely new generation.
Showdown will be releasing their new album on January 11, 2013 at Coach's Pub in Lansing, Michigan. For more information regarding the album release party click here.
I had the chance to interview members of Showdown. We discussed everything ranging from how a band can stay together for so many years and keep making interesting and complex music, to how the Michigan music industry has changed.
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C: When did Showdown come together?
S: Showdown originally started in the 70s. Along with the band's founder, the current cast has been together for most of the past 20 years.
C: What would you consider to be some of your most notable music influences at a younger age?
S: Like for all young people at that time, The British Invasion had a major influence: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and The Who. But Michigan was a special place to live in those days because right in our own back yard was Motown, Grand Funk Railroad, Question Mark and the Mysterians and many others. When playing, we couldn't help but be the product of all these different styles and sounds combined.
C: Showdown in a few words, how would you describe the band's musical sound?
S: On our soon to be released CD, we've already gotten some early feedback. The comments have ranged from comparisons to other successful recording artists (which we consider a compliment) to "80s only better" to "soulful" "the classic Rock we never get to hear anymore." We don't really have an answer for how we think we sound. We like to leave that answer up to the audience to decide.
C: What musical influences do you pull from when you are performing or writing music?
S: When performing, we get inspiration from the audience. When writing, it's the things that mean the most in our lives: love, current events, the lives of friends and loved ones.
C: Showdown has gained quite a large following in the Midwest, what was the process of coming up in the industry like?
S: Pure and simple: put your petty differences aside and work hard: The more you play together, the better you play together, the more people get to know, like and respect you. IT's not about money or fame, obviously: we sincerely LOVE music and LOVE playing it. We think that is apparent to our audience.
C: How would you guys as a band describe the Midwest music scene?
S: Like anything else in pop culture, what each generation likes is different than the preceding one. And, we do have a wide variety of musical styles here. But, while the Midwest does embrace the newer fads like any other part of the country, they are good, down to Earth people who don't cast aside the old fads. We are fortunate to live work where we are still appreciated and can enjoy sharing our craft. In a nutshell, The Midwest is very accepting and supportive of music. We're lucky.
C: How do you all as a band feel social media has helped and will continue to help your career?
S: It's a great way to stay in touch with people. Instead of counting on friends and fans to actively seek our website to see where we're playing, we can push events out to them and make it easy for them to know where we'll be. Only this week we began to announce our CD Release party for next week and the response has been very good. We are expecting to see many current regulars and also pull lots of old friends and fans out of their recliners who don't get out much anymore. And all this was done at zero out of pocket expense. Yeah, we're fans.
C: What does the future of the band hold?
S: The process of recording the new CD was a great experience for all of us. It was motivating and rewarding. If we had never sold a single CD or download, we wouldn't have been disappointed. We love writing and playing music and we're proud of what we produce. We are already well into the process of producing our next CD and expect to release it this year or early 2014. Showdown's future can pretty much summed up in one sentence: If you love what you do, you do what you love. Count us in.
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