Music fans in Michigan might just be learning who the Biscuit Grabbers are but fans are realizing that it was worth the musical wait. The Biscuit Grabbers came together back in 2010 and are currently wrapping up recording their second studio album.
Members of the Biscuit Grabbers explained the process of how the band originally came together. "We hit it off musically with a Dutch drummer, Enrico Garcia while on tour in Europe. One thing lead to another and Enrico ended up flying to the US in November of 2010 for a months worth of gigs and to record our first record. As much as we love Enrico, the difficulties of having a Drummer based in Europe lead to us find a third member closer to home. Once we played with Katy, it was a real eureka moment! She's been with us for about eight months or so, and has really helped us find our focus and voice as a band," said members of The Biscuit Grabbers.
The Biscuit Grabbers will be on tour in Michigan for a few dates, before heading back to New York City to finish up recording their second album. Fans of this unique band have a lot to look forward to in 2013.
I had the chance to interview The Biscuit Grabbers. We discussed everything from how the band originally came together and how social media is changing the layout of the music industry.
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C: When did The Biscuit Grabbers come together?
B: Matt and I first met while touring with Wayne Hancock. We hit it off musically with a Dutch drummer, Enrico Garcia while on tour in Europe. One thing lead to another and Enrico ended up flying to the US in November of 2010 for a months worth of gigs and to record our first record. As much as we love Enrico, the difficulties of having a Drummer based in Europe lead to us find a third member closer to home. Once we played with Katy, it was a real eureka moment! She's been with us for about 8 months or so, and has really helped us find our focus
and voice as a band.
C: What would you consider to be some of your most notable music influences at a younger age?
B: Our early influences are all different yet we managed to end up at the same place. Katy was Classically trained, found Bluegrass and traditional fiddle tunes, Country and then moved to Jazz. Matt played Rock as a kid, moving to Blues, Rockabilly, Country, Swing then on to
Jazz. I started out playing Bluegrass and Old Timey music as a kid, moving on to Blues, Rockabilly, Country, Swing and then Jazz.
C: The Biscuit Grabbers in a few words, how would you describe the band's musical sound?
B: We describe ourselves as "Hillbilly Jazz". We are all heavily influenced by traditional American music. Everything from Western Swing, Traditional Country, to early Rock and Roll. When this is combined with our love of Jazz, we can't avoid the two rubbing off on
each other!
C: What musical influences do you pull from when you are performing or writing music?
B: We don't make a conscious attempt to write or perform music in a certain style or genre. I think that all of our aforementioned influences muddle together and come out of us sounding like The Biscuit Grabbers! I think that you can hear all of our influences when we play, but we don't try to copy anyone. Our hope is that even when we are playing a cover tune, it will sound original.
C: The Biscuit Grabbers has gained quite a large following in the Midwest, what was the process of coming up in the industry like?
B: We're working every day to further ourselves both musically and professionally. Coming up in the industry is a never ending process. Our goal has always been to make the best music that we can and hope that success will follow. If your goal is to be rich and famous playing music, then ours is a flawed system. In this day of few major lables and corporate radio, mainstream commercial success is a rarity for roots musicians who consider the quality of their product paramount. We continue to tirelessly book our own shows and tours as well as better ourselves musically, and we believe that it's paying off. We genuinely appreciate each and every person that comes to one of our shows, and our goal is to give them a show to remember!
C: How would you guys as a band describe the Midwest music scene?
B: The Midwest has a great music scene! Both Matt and I are from the Midwest and grew up playing Blues joints, VFW's, and hole in the walls all over the Midwest. We owe a great debt to some of the incredible musicians that we grew up with and have been influenced by. The talent of musicians and enthusiasm of crowds in the Midwest rival any place that I've ever played.
C: How do you all as a band feel social media has helped and will continue to help your career?
H: Grassroots movements have often been the best way for smaller bands to make an impact, and gain a following. Social media has become a great way to gather enough momentum to make that happen. It's the easiest and cheapest way for us to get information to our fans as well as promote ourselves to the largest number of people possible. I can only assume that the value of such media will continue to rise, and it will be interesting to see what the next "big thing" in social media, the internet and digital technology, will be, as well as it's value to the
working musician.
C: What does the future of the band hold?
H: Well, a couple days after we play in Lansing, we will finish up our second record in New York City. We began recording it in April on our last tour to the east coast, and with any luck it will be out later this year. This record will feature Matt, Katy and I, as well as our friend Aaron Comess on drums. Aaron is the drummer for the Spin Doctors and is also an incredible Swing and Jazz drummer. We also have a third record in the works which will more accurately represents our band's current lineup as a string trio. We are signed to a European record label (Rhythm Bomb Records) and are working on a European tour for later this year to promote our recordings. That, as well as more regional and national touring should keep us plenty busy! Our goal is to bring the music we love to the most people possible. As long as people keep coming to our shows, we'll keep coming back!
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