The Bristol Street Band has already made its mark on the local music scene. The group consists of five talented young men from the western suburbs. They have already played most of the hottest venues in the metro Detroit area including the Crofoot Ballroom, the Hard Rock Café, the Diesel Lounge and are beginning to attract attention from a wider audience. The evening before this interview they were at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, while last Saturday they played a charity event with several other Detroit bands for the animal relief organization, 4 Paws 1 Heart, at the Token Lounge in Westland. Bristol Street is well aware that their success depends upon their fans and you will find them mingling with the audience between sets.
Bristol Street can play all the old favorites along with an ever expanding repertoire of their original songs. GeorgeAneed, their lead singer, is the one who began the songwriting, but it has now become a group effort; and George is the first to admit that the music has improved with the input of the other band members. Goerge, who is ten years older than the others, was influenced by his mother listening to Motown and Elvis when he was young while he gravitated toward many contemporary artists, with Kid Rock being one of his favorites. With each band member contributing what influenced them they have developed an eclectic style that defies description.They like it that way; they don’t want to be labeled.
Their lead singer George has a versatile voice that isjust as hard to pin down as their music. On one of the original songs you would almost believe it was Kid Rock performing, then for the next song he infuses the grittiness of Springsteen. He is well suited for the different types of music they produce. Now that they are somewhat successful they are becoming a little more selective as to which gigs they will take. They plan on spending a lot more time in the studio this winter to finish their first full-length CD. They have recently added a fifth band member who plays piano and sings back-up vocals along with sometimes playing a second guitar. This makes the band just that much more versatile. They all agree that they now have an added dimension that they did not even realize they were lacking.
When asked where he envisioned himself in five years George stated the obvious, but qualified it with, “I realize how many artists there are. It takes not only talent, but a modicum of luck to make it big. I will be happy if I can just make a decent living with my music.” What more can anyone ask than to earn a living doing what they love?
George has just signed on to the internet radio station rawradiox.com to do a show called, “Is This Thing On?” with Kelly Tucker and Caitlin Mondeau every Sunday night from 10 p.m. - midnight.The show will concentrate on the local music scene. Guests will be offered a chance to perform live along with discussing their music. They also intend to provide solutions to the everyday problems that confront any new group. They will talk about how to pick a promoter, where to get t-shirts printed and any of a dozen answers that may not be available elsewhere. Why not give it a listen? Or to hear a sample of their musicgo to bristolstreetband.com.
