2018-19 Guide To Yellow Springs

33 Y e l l ow S p r i n g s N ews the Guide to YelLow Springs y 2018 - 1 9 By Megan Bachman If you’re wondering where rock ’n’ roll went, you’re not alone. Bands today angle for ears in a cacophonous music scene by staking out niche genres — from shoegaze to darkwave — while the music itself has gotten more gloomy. Local four-piece Stark Folk Band, however, is unapologetically rock ’n’ roll and definitively high energy. Tending the flame of 1960s psych- rock, while tapping deeper roots of blues, folk and country, Stark Folk Band plays upbeat — and uplifting — rock ’n’ roll tunes for the indie rock-weary. It’s rock the way it’s meant to be — loud and liberating. “Rock ’n’ roll is supposed to be fun. It’s not supposed to be a drag,” said lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Brady Burkett. A decade-plus-long project of Burkett and three other area musicians, Stark Folk Band is on the cusp of its third full-length release, due out in early 2019. Stark Folk is a garage band with a do- it-yourself ethic and rebellion from the status quo. But the group also casts its music as “rock with a consciousness,” in the words of Burkett, who is working on a Ph.D. in media psychology. “With my lyrics I try to deliver a sense of empowerment and liberation,” Bur- kett said. “It’s aimed at inspiring people.” The name Stark Folk stands for two important elements of the project — stark for its revealed, transparent and raw nature and folk since it is music made by people for people. Filling out the sound are electri- cal engineer and yoga teacher Jeremy Malchow, who lives just outside of the village, on drums, and Dave Jurcsisn of Huber Heights on bass. Shaffer, a local videographer and production worker at Yellow Springs Brewery, sees the project as about “cre- ating a fun experience,” in contrast to much indie music today, where bands on stage eschew audience interaction. As for the new album, “When Odys- seus Wept,” it is the band’s most ambi- tious one yet, according to Shaffer. Home produced and engineered, it’s fitting that the album is named after an epic Greek poem. “For me it combines all of the ele- ments of music and albums that we love — epic 1970s arena rock, psychedelic concept records, blues-rock, folk, early punk,” Shaffer said. “It’s fairly ambitious to create that epic-ness within a pretty lo-fi production setting.” The album’s theme is transforma- tion, Burkett explained, and “all of the triumphs and pitfalls that often accom- pany personal growth.” “It’s about finding one’s voice amidst a barrage of other voices. Who am I? What do I think?” Stark Folk Band already has two full-length LPs: 2010’s “Well Oiled” and 2008’s self-titled “Stark Folk Band,” both through Old3C Records in Columbus, in addition to a seven-inch vinyl release through Toxic Beauty Records in 2014. Burkett and Shaffer have been music collaborators for more than 20 years, previously delving into experimental rock music together as A Landscape Yesterday. After moving to the Yellow Springs area in the mid-2000s, the duo recorded Stark Folk records in the Union School House, in a barn- turned-studio set between woods and a cornfield off of Old Mill Road and at MillWorks’ Studio Z. Above all, Stark Folk is not trying to reinvent the wheel in rock music. Instead, Stark Folk wants to use the medium of rock as it was intended — as a way to challenge authority and an act of creative expression. “It’s a way of tapping into yourself,” Burkett said. “It is a spiritual experi- ence.” 1 Brady Burkett wailed during the Stark Folk Band’s performance at Yellow Springs Brewery in October 2018 during the Porchfest music festival. In the background are guitarist Ryan Shaffer and bassist Dave Jurcsisn. Not visible is drummer Jeremy Malchow. • photo by MATTHEW COLLINS   Stark Folk Band — y  Rock with a consciousness  y The band’s third LP, “When Odysseus Wept,” is due out in early 2019. 237 Xenia Ave., Downtown Yellow Springs • 767-9400 Dark Star Bookstore Visit us on Facebook • e-mail: books@darkstarbookstore.com BROWSE OVER 40,000 BOOKS New, Used, Out-of-Print and Collectible! Games • Graphic Novels • Back Issue Comics WE BUY BOOKS & COMICS • 35 YEARS IN YELLOW SPRINGS WWW.DARKSTARBOOKS.COM • OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK 220 XENIA AVE. third shop from the street in Kings Yard YELLOW SPRINGS, OH 45387 PH 937.767.1966 sameckenrode @ gmail.com Now in our 23 RD year in downtown Yellow Springs— centrally located next to Ye Olde Trail Tavern’s north deck in beautiful Kings Yard! A gallery store for readers and writers open daily 11 to 6 4726 U.S. 68 North Yellow Springs (¾ mile north of Village) 767 - 1997 or 937-654-4506 Your Friendly, Helpful Garden Center