2018-19 Guide To Yellow Springs

59 Y e l l ow S p r i n g s N ews the Guide to YelLow Springs y 2018 - 1 9 • Photo by Tracy Perkins-Schmittler The Gin-Soaked Angels was formed about six years ago by musicians who played at the open mic night at the Spirited Goat. The band is known for extensive guitar solos and long musical interludes, with influences ranging from funk to psychedelic to folk. From left is Ryan Stinson, Tony Powers, Jacob Riley, Micah Mapes (on drums) and David Rivera. By Tracy Perkins schmittler On a Saturday in the summer of 2018, a local band gathered in a circle with their fans, each with one arm around another and a cup in the other hand to toast a show at Peach’s Grill before it began. The band was Gin-Soaked Angels, cel- ebrating the release of its very first album. Formed in 2012, the band’s music sounds so seasoned, tight and well-rehearsed that its first release seems overdue. GSA is what many might call a feel-good jam band. “We’re having one big tuning extrava- ganza,” said the highly animated and enthusiastic Tony Powers, one of two lead singers and the lead guitar player in the band. Someone from the audience sug- gested that his phrase should be the title of a new song. “We just had a sun-soaked set in the heat which throws our tuning off,” explained Powers. The group had just played an afternoon set for the Yellow Springs Street Fair. The first number was encouraging and disarming, led by the more mellow and laid-back lead singer and rhythm guitar player Ryan Stinson, who has a voice not unlike that of Billy Corgan, the lead singer of Smashing Pumpkins. “My water tastes strangely like gin,” Stin - son said to the crowd. As a jam band, their sound is akin to the Grateful Dead, with extensive guitar solos and long musical interludes. Their songs range anywhere from a funky groove, a strong, tight punch, swirling sonic guitars, acoustic folk-rockiness, psychedelia, and from happy-dancy to trippy-slowcore. This fusion has all the makings of a ’90s alternative revival band, which itself was a throwback to ’60s and ’70s classic rock and pop sounds, and one can hear all these influences throughout. The fourth song was a funked-up instrumental in a minor key in which listen- ers were transported to “the zone,” so to speak, and everyone “got down,” especially after Powers said, “I don’t see a lot of movement here!” which cued the audience to action. One could feel the love and sentiment pouring out of their music as they per- formed John Prine’s “Angel from Mont- gomery,” which they dedicated to their late band member bassist Ben Rorrer, whose recent death was ruled a suicide. All his musical parts were recorded for the album before he died, and it was very important to the band that his presence be felt that evening. An audience member was waving his phone with a picture of Ben on the screen, which evoked heartfelt emotion in the band. Powers has a smooth, clear, on-cue singing voice that is similar to that of Jason Mraz. He and Stinson, with their contrast - ing and complementary personalities, are like the yin to the yang, as the vocal duo trade-off singing lead. “For those of you who are new to the band, a little history,” Stinson said at the beginning of the second set. “This is how it all began.” They then proceeded with a more folky acoustic set with just Powers and Stinson. When the two first met and started playing together, they were “just two acoustics around a campfire,” they said. It was the Thursday night open mic y  Love & a feel-good jam band y shows at the Spirited Goat Coffee House that brought an influx of musicians from the community, out of which the Gin- Soaked Angels flowed, formed and flour - ished. One evening at the “Goat” six years ago Stinson, then hosting the open mics, was playing Pink Floyd on stage, but Powers was playing along with him in the audience. When Stinson discovered this, he said, “Get up here!” Afterward, they spoke outside and decided to start play- ing together. Micah Mapes, now the group’s drummer, had asked if he could set up his drum kit to play along with the open mic jams. For the longest time, Mapes felt as if he had “one foot in and one foot out” of the band, but eventually he felt fully a part of it. GSA has had a long string of bassists, and most of them have been close friends or relatives. Rorrer, who used to play in the folk group The Great Wide Open, was the fourth. When he was hanging out after open mic one evening, they asked him, “What you got in the case?” (referring to his bass). “Wanna play?” and he did. “Many friendships I have developed have come out of just a simple meeting,” Rorrer once wrote in his journal, which was definitely true in this case. They said he helped their jamming improve, and added something edgier and less folky. The band members faced a real turning point in their loss and grief over Rorrer. They feel him in everything they do, they said, as he is present to them spiritually and emotionally in the music and otherwise. His parents have been a presence throughout the band’s grieving process and performances, and have been very supportive. David Rivera, their present bassist, was a natural fit. Ricky Ware is the current per - cussionist He would come to every after- party, bonfire, and show, playing along in the audience at first. He fell into their hearts and music, so they brought him aboard. Jacob Riley is the newest member, another rhythm guitarist whom they also met around the coffeehouse scene. He came to Yellow Springs to get away from his former life. “I should go grab a guitar,” he thought to himself. 1 Eric Espinosa, M.D. Board Certified Urologist S P E C I A L I Z I N G I N • Erectile Dysfunction • Botox & Biofeedback Treatment of Incontinence • Bladder Cancer • Vasectomy • Kidney Stones • Laser Treatment of Prostate urologyspecialistsofohio.com 937-342-9260 Offices in Beavercreek, Springfield & Xenia Home Storage or Commercial Accounts Welcome “ The Finest Storage Facility in the Area” www.SolidGoldSelfStorage.com 3820 Springfield-Xenia Rd. 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